Five On It: November 2008's Essentials

This one is a killer, we covered some serious beats this past month and I've whitled them down to the best of the best for November's edition of Five On It.

We start with a cross-generation party starter: George Clinton's bugged out canine anthem 'Atomic Dog' (which originally appeared on our Halloween post covering 'We Can't Be Stopped' by the Geto Boys). In our second look at Large Professor's production work, we covered Grand Funk Railroad's rock funk break track 'Nothings the Same' from their album 'Closer to Home'. Grand Funk have a bad rep, but they have some serious beats in their back catalog. 'Apache' by the Incredible Bongo Band was covered in an in depth two part post on this blog. 'Apache' is as essential as it gets, you have to get this one if its not part of your DJing arsenal. The J.B.'s 'Pass the Peas' is just one of the J.B.'s breakbeat necessities produced under the Godfather of Soul, James Brown (this break was mentioned on the first part of our look at 'Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde). In the third part of 'Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde', we first mentioned Skull Snaps' huge 'It's a New Day', another absolutely critical beat for producers.

The Lowdown:
George Clinton 'Atomic Dog'
from 'Computer Games' (1982) (MP3 not available/CD)
Grand Funk Railroad 'Nothings the Same'
from 'Closer to Home' (1969) (MP3/CD)
Incredible Bongo Band 'Apache'
from 'Bongo Rock' (1973) (MP3/CD)
The J.B.'s 'Pass the Peas'
from 'Food For Thought' (1972) (MP3 not available/Import CD)
Skull Snaps 'It's a New Day'
from 'Skull Snaps' (1973) (MP3 not available/Import CD)

BONUS CUTS:
Skull Snaps' self-titled, hard to find album is not limited to 'It's a New Day', it's full of quality samples. A young Pharoahe Monch and Prince Po as Organized Konfusion (with a guest spot from O.C.) rap over Skull Snaps' 'Tresspassin'' on 'Fudge Pudge'.

Producer Profile: Large Professor (Part 2, 1993-1999)

Following the success of Main Source's debut album 'Breaking Atoms', Large Professor's production work became sought after and, although there would be long breaks in his work, he'd go on to produce some stunning tracks.

In 1993, he contributed the beat for 'Keep it Rollin'' on A Tribe Called Quest's album 'Midnight Marauders'. The beat is pinned by a sample of Roy Ayer's Ubiquity era track 'Feel Like Making Love' from his 1974 album 'Change Up the Groove'. Large Professor's next high profile work would come on the debut of Nas, who made his debut appearance on 'Breaking Atoms'. Large Professor produced three of 'Illmatic''s tracks including the single 'It Ain't Hard to Tell'. The track contains a drum sample from Kool and the Gang's 'N.T.' and also contains a clever sample of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' album cut 'Human Nature'.

Through 1995 and 1996, Large Pro worked on his solo album titled 'The LP', but it was shelved in 1996 (it was later released as a promo in 2002). This major label limbo led to a brief dead spot in his career with scant production for Common, Organized Konfusion, and a handful of underground acts until the turn of the century. One of those production credits is for X-Ecutioners DJ Rob Swift who tapped Large Professor for his 1999 single 'Dope on Plastic'. 'Dope on Plastic' incorporates samples from Quincy Jones' 'Ironside' and a huge beat from Grand Funk Railroad's surprisingly huge 'Nothings the Same' from 1969's 'Closer to Home'.

Check back for part 3 of Large Professor's producer profile where we'll cover his production credits from after the year 2000.

The Lowdown:
A Tribe Called Quest 'Keep it Rollin''
from 'Midnight Marauders' (1993) (MP3/CD)
Roy Ayers Ubiquity 'Feel Like Making Love'
from 'Change Up the Groove' (1974) (MP3 not available/CD)
Nas 'It Ain't Hard to Tell'
from 'Illmatic' (1994) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'It Ain't Hard to Tell'
Kool and the Gang 'N.T.'
from 'Live at PJ's' (1971) (MP3/CD not available)
Michael Jackson 'Human Nature'
from 'Thriller' (1982) (MP3/CD)
Rob Swift 'Dope on Plastic'
from 'Dope on Plastic' (1999) (MP3/CD not available)
Quincy Jones 'Ironside'
from 'Smackwater Jack' (1970) (MP3/Import CD)
Grand Funk Railroad 'Nothings the Same'
from 'Closer to Home' (1969) (MP3/CD)

BONUS CUTS:
Get your remix on: Rob Swift's 'Dope on Plastic' (Instrumental) and 'Dope on Plastic' (Acapella).