Rewind: Notorious B.I.G. 'Life After Death' (Part 1)

It's hard to believe, but the Notorious B.I.G. released only one solo album during his lifetime, 1994's 'Ready to Die' (previously covered in depth on this blog here, here, and here). Biggie's follow up album was finished before his untimely murder in 1997 - his second, prophetically named studio album 'Life After Death' was released less than a month after his death. This three part post arc will cover the music of 'Life After Death', the producers, and the sample sources.

The Dramatics' excellent single 'In the Rain' is the basis for the Carlos Broady, Nashiem Myrick, and Puff Daddy produced album track 'Somebody's Gotta Die'. The album's smash hit is the unstoppable 'Hypnotize'; a decade later it is still nitro on the dancefloor. The production team of D-Dot, Ron Lawrence, Puffy and the Hitmen sampled the breakdown of Herb Alpert's 'Rise' and heavily interpolates the lyrics from Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh's 'La Di Da Di'. One of my favorite Biggie cuts is the DJ Premier produced B-side 'Kick in the Door' that makes remarkable use of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' 1950s voodoo freakout 'I Put a Spell on You'. Truly awesome work by Primo. Easy Mo Bee, returning from his work on 'Ready to Die', laces B.I.G. with the beat to 'I Love the Dough'. The track features a guest spot from Jay-Z and Angela Winbush from René and Angela on the hook, who happens to be the source of the track's sample: 'I Love You More' by René and Angela.

Check back for part 2 of our look at 'Life After Death'.

The Lowdown:
The Notorious B.I.G. 'Somebody's Gotta Die', 'Hypnotize', 'Kick in the Door', and 'I Love the Dough'
from 'Life After Death' (1997) (MP3/CD)
The Dramatics 'In the Rain'
from 'Whatcha See is Whatcha Get' (1971) (MP3/CD)
Herb Alpert 'Rise'
from 'Rise' (1979) (MP3/CD)
Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh 'La Di Da Di'
from 'The Show' (1985) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Screamin' Jay Hawkins 'I Put a Spell on You'
from 'I Put a Spell on You' (1956) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
René and Angela 'I Love you More'
from 'Wall to Wall' (1981) (MP3 not available/CD not available)

BONUS CUTS:
'I Put a Spell on You' is a classic cut and has been covered (not to mention sampled) many times. Two notable covers of the song are Nina Simone's take on 'I Put a Spell on You' from 1964 and Creedence Clearwater Revival's cover from 1968.

Rewind: Das EFX 'Dead Serious'

Formed in 1988 and found by EPMD at a talent show, Das EFX's platinum selling debut 'Dead Serious' became part of the soundtrack of 1992 with a series of charting singles with some popular sample sources. This entry into the Crate Creator blog will look at Das EFX's debut album in depth.

Lead single B-Side 'Jussummen' takes its refrain (and a few samples) from Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh's classic 1985 b-side 'La-Di-Da-Di' from their 'The Show' 12". 'Jussummen' also samples the Emotions' open break necessity 'Blind Alley' produced by David Porter for Stax. Das EFX's biggest single was their debut track 'They Want EFX', which samples James Brown's 'Black Caesar' soundtrack album cut 'Blind Men Can See It' as well as the heavy title track from his 1973 album 'The Payback'. Also sampled on 'They Want EFX' is Malcolm McLarens cash-in turned classic 'Buffalo Gals' from the highly suspect 'Duck Rock' album. The album track 'Dum Dums' takes its name from its source material: 'The Happy Song (Dun-Dum)' by Otis Redding. Finally, Das EFX's 'East Coast' samples East Coast phenoms ESG who emulated extra-terrestrial phenomena on 'UFO'. The track also samples Isaac Hayes' 'Ike's Mood I / You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'' from '...To Be Continued' (worth the price of the album on its own) and the beat from James Brown's 'Funky President (People It's Bad)' from his 1975 album 'Reality'.

The reality of Das EFX's career was their signature rhyming style would be their downfall. After hitting big with the 'Check Yo Self' remix with Ice Cube, many other emcees bit their 'iggity' rhyme style, prompting Das EFX to drop it and more or less drop off themselves. Although they've released four albums since their debut, none have been able to copy the success of 'Dead Serious'.

The Lowdown:
Das EFX 'Jussummen', 'They Want EFX', 'Dum Dums', and 'East Coast'
from 'Dead Serious' (1992) (MP3 not available/CD)
Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh 'La-Di-Da-Di'
from 'The Show' (1985) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
The Emotions 'Blind Alley'
from 'Untouched' (1971) (MP3/CD)
James Brown 'Blind Man Can See It'
from 'Black Caesar' (1973) (MP3/CD)
James Brown 'The Payback'
from 'The Payback' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Malcolm McLaren 'Buffalo Gals'
from 'Duck Rock' (1983) (MP3/CD not available)
Otis Redding 'The Happy Song (Dun-Dum)'
from 'The Immortal Otis Redding' (1968) (MP3/CD)
ESG 'UFO'
from 'ESG' (1981) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Isaac Hayes 'Ike's Mood I / You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin''
from '...To Be Continued' (1969) (MP3/CD)
James Brown 'Funky President (People It's Bad)'
from 'Reality' (1975) (MP3 not available/CD not available)