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Kanye West's commercial breakthrough as a producer came in 2001 when he contributed a number of tracks and charting singles to Jay-Z's 'The Blueprint', often cited a sea change in Jay-Z's career thanks, in part, to the sound of West and Just Blaze. 'The Blueprint' will be covered in depth in a future post of this blog, so I will only cover one of Kanye's beats: the excellent 'Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)' which samples generously from Bobby Bland's 'Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City' from his 1973 album 'Dreamer'. Although he produced stellar singles for Jay-Z, his stock was set to rise even more in 2002.
Talib Kweli's 'Get By' was inescapable in 2002, thanks to Kanye's swift edit of Nina Simone's 'Sinnerman' from her album 'Pastel Blues'. The single, laced with then newcomer / future Kanye collaborator John Legend's background vocals, was a new high water mark for both West and Kweli and the track is arguably Talib Kweli's career defining moment to date. 2002 also saw the release of some of his production work for Scarface for his 2002 album 'The Fix'. Kanye samples 'Sunrise' by the Originals for Scarface's single 'Guess Who's Back' with guest appearances from Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel. In 2002, Nas' 'The Lost Tapes' album saw release, which included one of Kanye West's ghost productions for Deric 'D-Dot' Angelettie. 'Poppa Was a Playa' from 'The Lost Tapes' contains a sample of 'The Newness is Gone' by Eddie Kendricks from his album 'Goin' Up in Smoke'.
Check back for the next look at Kanye's production output and also be on the lookout for future posts covering his albums.The Lowdown:
Jay-Z 'Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)'
from 'The Blueprint' (2001) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit:'Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)'
Bobby Bland 'Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City'
from 'Dreamer' (1973) (MP3/Import CD)
Talib Kweli 'Get By'
from 'Quality' (2002) (MP3 not available/CD)
Nina Simone 'Sinnerman'
from 'Pastel Blues' (1965) (MP3/CD)
Scarface 'Guess Who's Back'
from 'The Fix' (2002) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit:'Guess Who's Back'
The Originals 'Sunrise'
from 'Down to Love Town' (1977) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Nas 'Poppa Was a Playa'
from 'The Lost Tapes' (2002) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit:'Poppa Was a Playa'
Eddie Kendricks 'The Newness is Gone'
from 'Goin' Up in Smoke' (1976) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
BONUS CUTS:
Nina Simone's 'Sinnerman' was a popular track to cover by reggae artists (like many soul singles from the United States). Peter Tosh delivers a classic cover with the slightly rewritten 'Downpressor Man' while Tosh's one time collaborators Bob Marley and the Wailers delivered their own 'Sinner Man'.
Welcome to part 2 of this blogs in depth look at Fugee's 1996 album 'The Score'. The album's biggest hit by far was the inescapable 'Killing Me Softly', an update of Roberta Flack's ballad 'Killing Me Softly with His Song'. The Fugees hit peaked at #2 on the Billboard charts and was a #1 R&B hit. The song also featured samples from 'Memory Band' by Rotary Connection and 'Fool Yourself' from Little Feat's 1962 album 'Dixie Chicken'. Talk about a diverse set of sources for a gigantic (and minimalist) pop hit! |
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One of my all time favorite songs is referenced in the chorus on the album cut 'Cowboys'; perhaps it is a regional classic, but the Intruder's Philly soul monster 'Cowboys to Girls' is an essential summer / spring / fall / whenever jam. 'Cowboys' also includes a sample of 'Something 'Bout Love' by Main Ingredient. 'The Score's final single was 'No Woman, No Cry', a cover (or, mostly a cover) of Bob Marley and the Wailers' 'No Woman, No Cry' from 'Natty Dread'.
To date, 'The Score' has sold over 6 million copies in the U.S. alone and peaked at #1 on the Billboard album charts. Though there have been rumors, movie appearances, and one terribly underwhelming single (2005's 'Take it Easy'); it seems 'The Score' will likely be the Fugees swan song.The Lowdown:
Fugees 'Killing Me Softly', 'Cowboys', and 'No Woman, No Cry'
from 'The Score' (1996) (MP3/CD)
Roberta Flack 'Killing Me Softly with His Song'
from 'Killing Me Softly' (1973) (MP3 not available/CD)
Rotary Connection 'Memory Band'
from 'Rotary Connection' (1967) (MP3 Not available / CD not available)
Little Feat 'Fool Yourself'
from 'Dixie Chicken' (1962) (MP3/CD)
The Intruders 'Cowboys to Girls'
from 'Cowboys to Girls' (1968) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Main Ingredient 'Something 'Bout Love'
from 'Afrodisiac' (1973) (MP3 not available/CD)
Bob Marley and the Wailers 'No Woman, No Cry'
from 'Natty Dread' (1974) (MP3/CD)BONUS CUTS:
'Killing Me Softly with His Song' was a Grammy Award winning hit for Roberta Flack, but was actually written two years earlier by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel based on a poem by Lori Lieberman about Don McLean (that's right, the 'American Pie' dude is the dude who is killing girls softly with his song, which is funny as 'American Pie' seems to kill me slowly every time I hear it). Lauryn Hill delivered our generation's most noted cover of the song, but many other artists covered the song as well. John Holt's reggae version titled 'Killing Me Softly with Her Song' is a stellar example of reggae artists covering famous American soul hits. And how is this for digging DEEP: Inger Lise Rypdal covered 'Killing Me Softly' in Norwegian on 'Sangen Han Sang Var Min Egen'. This begs the question, is there a nationally recognized Norwegian pie?
