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: Pete Rock (Part 2, 1994)

Following the success of singles for Heavy D and the Boyz and his own project with C.L. Smooth, Pete Rock continued lacing the rap world with classics in 1994. One of hip-hop's most revered albums is Nas' debut 'Illmatic'. Pete Rock supplied the beat for one of the album's most memorable singles: 'The World is Yours'. Though it was not the album's biggest single and failed to break the Billboard 100, it is an East Coast rap necessity. The track pulls loops from the Ahmad Jamal Trio's 'I Love Music' from their heavily sampled 1970 album 'Awakening' as well as some vocal snippets from T La Rock's 1984 hip-hop single 'It's Yours' (notably the first production credit for Rick Rubin).

Pete Rock's chart success with Heavy D and the Boyz carried over to their fifth album, 1994's 'Nuttin' But Love'. The Pete Rock produced 'Got Me Waiting' was a top 20 single and one of Heavy D and Boyz' biggest hits. The track samples 'Dont' You Know That?' from Luther Vandross' 1980 album 'Never Too Much'. Another Pete Rock track from 'Nuttin' But Love' was released as a single: 'Black Coffee'. 'Coffee' contains elements of Vaughn Mason's roller skate rink jam 'Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll' and James Brown's funk atom bomb 'The Payback'.

The Lowdown:
Nas 'The World Is Yours'
from 'Illmatic' (1994) (MP3/CD)
Ahmad Jamal Trio 'I Love Music'
from 'Awakening' (1970) (MP3/CD)
T La Rock 'It's Yours'
Heavy D and the Boyz 'Got Me Waiting' and 'Black Coffee'
from 'Nuttin' but Love' (1994) (MP3/CD not available)
Luther Vandross 'Don't You Know That?'
from 'Never Too Much' (1980) (MP3/CD)
Vaughn Mason 'Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll'
James Brown 'The Payback'
from 'The Payback' (1974) (MP3/CD)