Five On It: June 2008's Essentials

The new Five on It section is a recap of the month's most essential beats for everyone too lazy to sift through a month worth of posts (RE: haters) to find the cream of the crop. Each month, I'll also throw some bonus cuts in there as well. "Six On It" or "Seven On It" really doesn't have the same ring, sorry about the misnomer.

June's five begins with Aretha Franklin's 'Save Me' from Rewind: Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth 'The Creator' (post #1 on this blog). 'Save Me''s driving beat may be an unconventional drum source for hip-hop producers, but it can be deadly on songs in the 120-130 bpm range. Also, slightly fast for conventional hip-hop tracks is 'Superfly' by Curtis from Source Material: Curtis Mayfield 'Superfly', blog post #2. One of my personal favorite rock breaks of all time is the STOMPING organ and drum intro on Graham Nash's 'Chicago' from Producer Profile: Kanye West (Part 1). Never have war protest songs hit so hard (sorry 'Ohio' by Neil Young - I see you).

It may be used to death, but every few years someone flips Bob James' 'Nautilus' (from Rewind: Ghostface Killah 'Ironman') in a new way that makes you forget every Bob James sampling track before it. A note to producers about sample clearance: Bob James will notoriously get his money. He has gone after smaller producers and artists that have sampled his work. Sampler beware. Finally, Zapp's 'More Bounce to the Ounce' was mentioned on post #7's Rewind: Ice Cube 'Jackin' For Beats'. It may not be the most prevalent sample in this Bomb Squad sample massacre, but it's one of the longest living floor fillers and an ongoing sample source for producers.

The Lowdown:
Aretha Franklin 'Save Me'
from 'I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You' (1967) (MP3/CD)
Curtis Mayfield 'Superfly'
from 'Superfly' (1972) (MP3/CD)
Graham Nash 'Chicago'
from 'Songs for Beginners' (1970) (MP3/CD unavailable)
Bob James 'Nautilus'
from 'One' (1974) (MP3/CD)
Zapp 'More Bounce to the Ounce'
from 'Zapp' (1979) (MP3/CD)

BONUS CUT:
Aretha's stormer from 'I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love you', 'Save Me', was covered two years later for an equally storming (and samplable) version by Nina Simone. Simone's version of 'Save Me' is one of the funkiest tracks in her catalog, and those who know her songs, this is saying a lot. Check it out.

Producer Profile: Kanye West (Part 1, 2000)

Previous to hit records on his own and for others, mega-package tours, and paper cut-out shades; Kanye West was just another hungry beat maker. 2000 saw his breakthrough onto major labels with a few notable productions leading to his break out beat for Jay-z's 'Izzo' in 2001. The first track to put West on the Rocafella map was an album cut for Jay-z's 'The Dynasty: Roc La Familia' titled 'This Can't Be Life' that samples 'I Miss You' by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. This inclusion on Jay-Z's album would lead to production on four tracks for 'The Blueprint' including three of its singles. 'The Blueprint' will be examined in depth in a future post of this blog.

Kanye West also produced for Rocafella rapper Beanie Sigel in 2000, lacing him with a stomping track cut from Graham Nash's protest anthem 'Chicago'. The rolling rock stomp of 'The Truth' foreshadows the beat for Jay-Z's 'Takeover'. Another unusual sample choice from West is Pat Benatar's 70s hit 'Heartbreaker' for Lil Kim's 'Don't Mess with Me' from her 2000 album 'The Notorious K.I.M.'.

The Lowdown:
Jay-Z 'This Can't Be Life'
from 'The Dynasty: Roc La Familia' (2000) (MP3/CD)
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes 'I Miss You'
from 'Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' (1972) (MP3 unavailable/CD unavailable)
Beanie Sigel 'The Truth'
from 'The Truth' (2000) (MP3 unavailable/CD)
Graham Nash 'Chicago'
from 'Songs for Beginners' (1970) (MP3/CD unavailable)
Lil Kim 'Don't Mess with Me'
from 'The Notorious K.I.M.' (2000) (MP3/CD)
Pat Benatar 'Heartbreaker'
from 'In the Heat of the Night' (1979) (MP3/CD)

BONUS CUTS:
Kanye West admits to using the drums from Dr. Dre's 'Xxplosive' to beef up 'This Can't Be Life'. For best results in jacking the beat for your own track, check out the instrumental for 'Xxplosive'.