Producer Profile: Dr. Dre (Part 2, 1990)

Following the breakthrough success of N.W.A.'s 'Straight Outta Compton' album and production work for Eazy-E and Michel'le, Dr. Dre was hot property in 1990. This post will look at Dr. Dre's production credits from 1990 and the songs he sampled for those works.

'Livin' Like Hustlers' by Above the Law was previously covered here and here, but it bears mentioning again due to the density of Dr. Dre's sample work of the period. On 'Murder Rap', Dre samples a number of notable breaks like Eddie Bo's fantastic NoLa single 'Hook and Sling', James Brown's 'Funky Drummer', the squonky 'Ironside' by Quincy Jones, and Stanley Turrentine's famous 'Sister Sanctified'.

Following N.W.A.'s bombastic debut, Dre produced the stop gap EP '100 Miles and Runnin'', which featured some of N.W.A.'s beat cuts. On '100 Miles and Runnin'', Dre samples Funkadelic's 'Get Off Your Ass and Jam', Herbie Hancock's 'Hang Up Your Hang Ups', and James Brown's 'Give it Up or Turnit Loose' in addition to choice samples from 'Nowhere to Run' by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, 'Run N-----' by the Last Poets, and Vincent Price's contribution to 'Thriller' by Michael Jackson. On the EP's cut 'Real N----z', Dre samples Kool and the Gang's 'Give it Up' and Cheryl Lynn's proto-disco smash single 'Got to Be Real'.

Check back for more information on Dr. Dre's career, which tends to appear on this blog regularly.

The Lowdown:
Above the Law 'Murder Rap'
from 'Livin' Like Hustlers' (1990) (MP3/CD)
Eddie Bo 'Hook and Sling'
from 'Hook and Sling' 7" (1968) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
James Brown 'Funky Drummer'
from 'Funky Drummer' 7" (1970) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Quincy Jones 'Ironside'
from 'Smackwater Jack' (1971) (MP3/CD)
Stanley Turrentine 'Sister Sanctified'
from 'Cherry' (1972) (MP3 not available/Import CD)
N.W.A. '100 Miles and Runnin'' and 'Real N----z'
from '100 Miles and Runnin'' (1990) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Funkadelic 'Get Off Your Ass and Jam'
from 'Let's Take it to the Stage' (1975) (MP3/CD)
Herbie Hancock 'Hang Up Your Hang Ups'
from 'Man-Child' (1975) (MP3/CD)
James Brown 'Give it Up or Turnit Loose'
from 'In the Jungle Groove' (1986) (MP3/CD)
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas 'Nowhere to Run'
from 'Dance Party' (1965) (MP3 not available/Import CD)
The Last Poets 'Run, N-----'
from 'The Last Poets' (1970) (MP3 not available/CD)
Michael Jackson 'Thriller'
from 'Thriller' (1983) (MP3/CD)
Kool and the Gang 'Give it Up'
from 'Kool and the Gang' (1969) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Cheryl Lynn 'Got to Be Real'
from 'Cheryl Lynn' (1978) (MP3/CD not available)

Related Posts:
Producer Profile: Dr. Dre (Part 1, 1988-1989)
Rewind: Above the Law 'Livin' Like Hustlers (Part 1)
Rewind: Above the Law 'Livin' Like Hustlers (Part 2)
Rewind: N.W.A. 'Straight Outta Compton (Part 1)
Rewind: N.W.A. 'Straight Outta Compton (Part 2)
Rewind: N.W.A. 'Straight Outta Compton (Part 3)
Street Sounds: Dr. Dre

Rewind: Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth 'The Creator'

Welcome to the first post from the Crate Creator Blog. In the coming months, I'll be showcasing classic and cutting edge hip-hop, the samples that created it, and essential funk joints. Additionally, I'm doing the digging for you: most tracks and releases will be available (via Amazon) with a single click. Amazon's MP3s are 256 kbit, DRM-free, and are under a dollar. Filling your crate with fire has never been so easy!

This debut post reviews a deep cut from the 1991 'All Souled Out' EP from Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, which would later appear as a B-Side to their monster hit 'They Reminisce Over You': 'The Creator'. Pete Rock's production is stellar, digging deep for the opening horn and drum drop of Eddie Bo's 'From This Day On'. The track has additional samples from 'Honey Pot' by the Mar-Keys and the classic drum breaks of 'Save Me' by Aretha Franklin (from the absolutely essential 1967 album 'I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You'). 'The Creator' can never compete with the fantastic 'T.R.O.Y.' (which will no doubt be reviewed in depth in a later post on this blog), but the upbeat track fits in nicely among proto-hip-house tracks from Delicious Vinyl and other labels from the same era.

The Lowdown:
Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth 'The Creator'
from 'All Souled Out' (1991) (MP3/CD)
Eddie Bo 'From This Day On'
Mar-Keys 'Honey Pot'
from 'The Great Memphis Soul Sound' (1965) (MP3/CD out of print)
Aretha Franklin 'Save Me'
from 'I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You' (1967) (MP3/CD)