Rewind: Rick Ross 'Deeper Than Rap'

In April 2009, Rick Ross released his Third album, 'Deeper Than Rap', which can also boast being his third straight #1 Billboard charting full length. This post will cover the sample sources of 'Deeper Than Rap''s singles and deep album cuts, produced by some of the hottest producers out at the moment.

The single 'Maybach Music 2' was produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and features the heavy hitter line up of T-Pain, Lil Wayne, and Kanye West. J.U.S.T.I.C.E. sample Dexter Wansel's 1978 cut 'Time is the Teacher' from his album 'Voyager' for the cut. On the album's lead single 'Magnificent', a top 10 R&B and Rap charting hit, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League laces Ross and John Legend with a backing featuring samples from Angela Bofill's 80s song 'Gotta Make it Up to You' from her 'Teaser' LP. J.U.S.T.I.C.E. also provide the beat for 'Yacht Club', which utilize Johnny Pate's 'El Jardia' from the 1973 blaxploitation soundtrack 'Shaft in Africa'. Rick Ross rides a sample of Willie Hutch's 'Color Her Sunshine' on 'Rich Off Cocaine'. Finally on the album cut 'Valley of Death', DJ Toomp samples Barry White's 'I'm So Blue and You Are Too' from his album 'Let the Music Play' to great effect.

Ross is already scheduled to release a new album in 2010, tentatively titled 'Teflon Don'.

The Lowdown:
Rick Ross 'Maybach Music 2', 'Magnificent', 'Yacht Club', 'Rich Off Cocaine', and 'Valley of Death'
from 'Deeper Than Rap' (2009) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edits: 'Maybach Music 2', 'Magnificent', 'Yacht Club', 'Rich Off Cocaine', and 'Valley of Death'
Dexter Wansel 'Time is the Teacher'
from 'Voyager' (1978) (MP3 not available/Import CD)
Angela Bofill 'Gotta Make it Up to You'
from 'Teaser' (1983) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Johnny Pate 'El Jardia'
from 'Shaft in Africa' (1973) (MP3/CD not available)
Willie Hutch 'Color Her Sunshine'
from 'Color Her Sunshine' (1976) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Barry White 'I'm So Blue and You Are Too'
from 'Let the Music Play' (1975) (MP3/Import CD)

Related Posts:
Rewind: Jay-Z 'American Gangster' (Part 2) (DJ Toomp appearance)
Rewind: Kanye West 'Graduation' (Part 1) (DJ Toomp appearance)
Rewind: Kanye West 'Graduation' (Part 2) (DJ Toomp appearance)

Rewind: Kanye West 'College Dropout' (Part 1)

After a year full of production credits for other artists, many covered in previous posts on this blog, Kanye West released his own album in 2004. The album, with little initial fanfare, became a critically acclaimed debut which would launch West's celebrity into the stratosphere. This two part post will cover the samples used on his album 'The College Dropout' from 2004.

The opening track 'We Don't Care' is indicative of West's early sped-up soul sample sound with a sample from the Jimmy Castor Bunch's 'I Just Wanna Stop'. The track also features early appearances from future pop stars John Legend and Keyshia Cole. The original beat for the future single 'All Falls Down' featured a sample of Lauryn Hill's 'Mystery of Iniquity' from her album 'MTV Unplugged No. 2.0'; but after Hill decided she didn't want to permit the use of the sample, the hook was resung by Syleena Johnson for the album cut (the early version can be heard on the mixtapes predating the release of the album and don't sound quite as good as the final album version).

One of my favorite beats on 'The College Dropout' is the beat for 'Spaceship' that uses an excellent loop from Marvin Gaye's 'Distant Lover' from his album 'Let's Get It On'. What a fantastic flip of the track! Kanye and Jay-Z 's 'Never Let Me Down' rides over a sample of Blackjack's 'Maybe It's the Power of Love' featuring vocals from Michael Bolton (yes, that Michael Bolton... THAT Michael Bolton) from the 1980 album 'Worlds Apart'. One of the album's biggest singles was 'Slow Jamz', a track for Twista that also appears on his album. The track loops up Luther Vandross' 'A House is Not a Home' from his album 'Never Too Much'.

Check back for our second look at 'The College Dropout'.

The Lowdown:
Kanye West 'We Don't Care', 'All Falls Down', 'Spaceship', 'Never Let Me Down', and 'Slow Jamz'
from 'The College Dropout' (2004) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'We Don't Care', 'All Falls Down', 'Spaceship', 'Never Let Me Down', and 'Slow Jamz'
The Jimmy Castor Bunch 'I Just Wanna Stop'
from 'The Jimmy Castor Bunch' (1979) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Lauryn Hill 'Mystery of Iniquity'
from 'MTV Unplugged No. 2.0' (2002) (MP3/CD)
Marvin Gaye 'Distant Lover'
from 'Let's Get It On' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Blackjack 'Maybe It's the Power of Love'
from 'Worlds Apart' (1980) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Luther Vandross 'A House is Not a Home'
from 'Never Too Much' (1980) (MP3/CD)

Bonus Cut:
Sorry, no download for the Jimmy Castor Bunch's cover of 'I Just Wanna Stop', but you can nab the original Gino Vannelli of 'I Just Wanna Stop'. More Castor Bunch in the future, without a doubt.

Related Posts:
Producer Profile: Kanye West (Part 3, 2003)
Producer Profile: Kanye West (Part 4, 2003)
Producer Profile: Kanye West (Part 5, 2003)

Producer Profile: Kanye West (Part 2, 2001-2002)

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'.