Rewind: Lootpack 'Soundpieces: Da Antidote' (Part 1)

After forming in the early 90s, the Lootpack's first big break with their production and guest verse contribution to the Alkaholik's '21 & Over' album cut 'Turn tha Party Out' in 1993. Six years later, the Lootpack (made up of Madlib, Wildchild, and DJ Romes), released their first (and to date, only) album titled 'Soundpieces: Da Antidote'. This two part arc will cover the sample sources for this early Madlib production credit.

The album's single 'Whenimondamic' samples B.T. Express' 'Do it ('Til Your Satisfied)' album track 'If It Don't Turn You On (You Outta Leave It Alone)'. The album track 'Crate Diggin'', as the name implies, digs a little deeper for Vanilla Fudge's cover of the Beatles' 'Eleanor Rigby' and David Axelrod's 'Merlin's Prophecy' from his 1968 debut album 'Song of Innocence'. On 'Frenz Vs Endz', Madlib samples Miles Davis' classic album 'Bitches Brew' by plucking bits from 'Miles Tuns the Voodoo Down'.

Check back for the second part of our look at 'Soundpieces: Da Antidote'.

The Lowdown:
Lootpack 'Whenimondamic', 'Crate Diggin'', and 'Frenz vs Endz'
from 'Soundpieces: Da Antidote' (1999) (MP3/CD not available)
B.T. Express 'If It Don't Turn You On (You Outta Leave It Alone)'
from 'Do it ('Til Your Satisfied)' (1974) (MP3/CD)
Vanilla Fudge 'Eleanor Rigby'
from 'Vanilla Fudge' (1966) (MP3/CD)
David Axelrod 'Merlin's Prophecy'
from 'Song of Innocence' (1968) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Miles Davis 'Miles Tuns the Voodoo Down'
from 'Bitches Brew' (1969) (MP3/CD)

Rewind: Notorious B.I.G. 'Ready to Die' (Part 3)

This is part three and the final installment of our look at 'Ready to Die'.

To me, one of the best non-single tracks on 'Ready to Die' is the Easy Mo Bee produced 'Friend of Mine'. It contains samples from Sly and the Family Stone expatriate Larry Graham's Graham Central Station ('The Jam') and Kool and the Gang ('Spirit of the Boogie'). 'Unbelievable' lives up to its name; the unbelievable beat from DJ Premier stitches together samples from Patrice Rushen's 'Remind Me' and R. Kelly's top 20 single 'Your Body's Callin''. The uneasy album closer 'Suicidal Thoughts' features a sample of Mile Davis' 'Lonely Fire' from 'Big Fun'. The beat itself was produced by the Funky Technician himself Lord Finesse.

A Bonus track on the remastered extended version of 'Ready to Die' is the B-side track 'Just Playing (Dreams)' which, despite never being on an album, has been referenced again and again in other hip-hop tracks. The Rashad Smith produced beat contains a sample of James Brown's 'Blues and Pants' from the 1971 album 'Hot Pants'.

'Ready to Die' is one of hip-hop's masterpieces and would be the only album released by B.I.G. during his lifetime. The Notorious B.I.G.'s second and final album, 'Life After Death', was released only 15 days after his murder in Los Angeles. 'Life After Death' will be covered in depth in a future post on this blog.

The Lowdown:
The Notorious B.I.G. 'Friend of Mine', 'Unbelievable', 'Suicidal Thoughts', and 'Just Playing (Dreams)'
from 'Ready to Die' (1994) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edits: 'Friend of Mine', 'Unbelievable', 'Suicidal Thoughts', and 'Just Playing (Dreams)'
Graham Central Station 'The Jam'
from 'Ain't No 'Bout-A-Doubt It' (1974) (MP3/CD)
Kool and the Gang 'Spirit of the Boogie'
from 'Spirit of the Boogie' (1975) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Patrice Rushen 'Remind Me'
from 'Straight from the Heart'(1981) (MP3/CD)
R. Kelly 'Your Body's Callin''
from '12 Play' (1993) (MP3/CD)
Miles Davis 'Lonely Fire'
from 'Big Fun' (1969) (MP3/CD)
James Brown 'Blues and Pants'
from 'Hot Pants' (1971) (MP3/CD not available)

Rewind: Main Source 'Breaking Atoms' (Part 2)

Main Source's 'Peace is Not the Word to Play' was the fourth single released from the album 'Breaking Atoms', and though it failed to chart, it is still a strong cut (which goes without saying for this album). 'Peace' picks a sample from Miles Davis' 'Right Off' from another classic album, 1970's 'A Tribute to Jack Johnson'. Additional sample sources include MFSB's 'T.L.C. Tender Loving Care' and beats from 'Britches' by the immortal Meters from their heavily sampled album 'Struttin''. 'Vamos a Rapiar', co produced by Pete Rock, plucks a sample from the James Brown produced Myra Barnes cut 'Message from the Soul Sisters'.

One of the most famous posse cuts in hip-hop history is the Large Professor produced 'Live at the Barbeque', which introduces the world to Nasty Nas (later, of course, Nas) and Akinyele (whose career didn't amount to much more than songs about putting things in peoples' mouths... their motherf---ing mouths). The driving beat of 'Live at the Barbeque' is from Bob James' 'Nautilus', the only reason you need to pick up that copy of 'One' from a garage sale.

Unfortunately, 'Breaking Atoms' would be the only album released with it's classic line-up (their second album, 'F--- What You Think', was delayed and finally released in 1994 after the group's second line up had broken up and just before the Wild Pitch label went under). Large Professor would go on to contribute to Nas' debut album 'Illmatic' and would run into his own label problems when his second solo album, 'The LP', was shelved in 1996 (to this day, the album has never officially been released).

The Lowdown:
Main Source 'Peace is Not the Word to Play', 'Vamos a Rapiar', and 'Live at the Barbeque'
from 'Breaking Atoms' (1990) (MP3/CD)
Miles Davis 'Right Off'
from 'A Tribute to Jack Johnson' (1970) (MP3/CD)
MFSB 'T.L.C. Tender Loving Care'
from 'Universal Love' (1975) (MP3 unavailable/CD unavailable)
The Meters 'Britches'
from 'Struttin'' (1970) (MP3/CD)
Myra Barnes 'A Message from the Soul Sisters'
Bob James 'Nautilus'
from 'One' (1974) (MP3/CD)