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)

Rewind: Notorious B.I.G. 'Ready to Die' (Part 2)

The track that introduced much of the world to B.I.G. was the album's lead smash single 'Juicy', which would go gold by the end of 1994. For one of Biggie's trademark songs, Sean "Puffy" Combs and Jean Oliver looped segments of Mtume's 80s hit 'Juicy Fruit'. More than a decade after its release as a single, 'Juicy' is still one of the necessary tracks in every DJ's arsenal: it is an essential party mover.

The Bluez Brothers produced 'Everyday Struggle' samples smooth jazz icon Dave Grusin's 1979 song 'Either Way' from his album 'Mountain Dance'. 'Ready to Die''s second single was another smash hit, the Sean "Puffy" Combs / Chucky Thompson produced 'Big Poppa' launched into the Billboard top 10 in 1995. The track famously mines 'Between the Sheets' by the Isley Brothers to fantastic results. Combs and Oliver dissect George McCrae's 'I Get Lifted' for Biggie's 'Respect'. 'Respect' features guest vocals from Diana King, who would receive a record deal due to this appearance and go on to have a solo hit with 'Shy Guy'.

Check back for part 3 of 'Ready to Die'.

The Lowdown:
Notorious B.I.G. 'Juicy', 'Everyday Struggle', 'Big Poppa', and 'Respect'
from 'Ready to Die' (1994) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edits: 'Juicy', 'Everyday Struggle', 'Big Poppa', and 'Respect'
Mtume 'Juicy Fruit'
from 'Juicy Fruit' (1982) (MP3/CD)
Dave Grusin 'Either Way'
from 'Mountain Dance' (1979) (MP3/CD)
The Isley Brothers 'Between the Sheets'
from 'Between the Sheets' (1982) (MP3/CD)
George McCrae 'I Get Lifted
from 'Rock Your Baby' (1974) (MP3 unavailable/CD)

BONUS CUT:
Of course, Biggie was not the only one to use 'Juicy Fruit' as a sample. Warren G's self-produced singles 'Do You See' and 'This D.J.' both pluck 'Juicy Fruit' (and both slightly pre-date 'Ready to Die', although both albums were probably produced around the same time). Several B.I.G. referencing tracks also use 'Juicy Fruit', like the Faith Evans' 2001 album title track 'Faithfully and the 2007 hit 'Let it Go' by Keyshia Cole produced by Missy Elliott who also appears along with Lil' Kim.