South Central Samples

Well, with the upcoming Straight Outta Compton hitting theaters in a fortnight or two I thought I'd wrap up my sample compilations with the record that started it all. Pulling the material for this one was a real beast; the first thing I learned is that Dr. Dre had a lot of records in his archives and secondly, he produced in a significantly different way then DJ Ready Red of the Geto Boys did. While Ready Red tended to use pretty big chunks of his sample songs, Dre (and I guess Yella to an extent) used only the tiniest snippets from records. Of course there are a few exceptions ("Parental Discretion Iz Advised", "Express Yourself" and "I Ain't Tha 1") but for the most part only a quick drum loop, sound effect or guitar lick was lifted from source songs. And Dre also wasn't against modifying some of the material, case in point the classic drum beat to "Straight Outta Compton" is a significantly slowed down bridge riff from the Winstons' "Amen, Brother." With that being said I don't know if I would have been able to figure a lot of these out (or track them down) without a plethora of assistance from various sample libraries on internet.

Still, it was a little iffy adding some of the songs to the compilation. Including Beastie Boys' "The New Style" simply because Adrock's solitary one-second "Puttin' it on wax!" lyric is used in "8-Ball" was a bit of a game-time decision. Unlike the Geto Boys who culled most of their spoken word from Scarface, Dre used a ton of different records for quick vocal clips. Hell, I probably could have included the entire Eazy-Duz-It and N.W.A. And The Posse LPs as source material as well. Interestingly, a choice few of the sample tunes I included I am not actually sure when they are used in the respective song but I figure someone out there does. There are also a couple that I question their legitimacy - Fishbone's "Lyin' Ass Bitch' for one. Yeah, there's a loud "Biiiitch" yelled in both "A Bitch Iz A Bitch" and at the close of Fishbone's track but is it the same one....?

Once again, here's the song-by-song breakdown, and yes I added "A Bitch Iz A Bitch" simply because it is such a classic fucking song:

1. Straight Outta Compton
        • "Amen, Brother" by The Winstons
        • "You'll Like It Too" by Funkadelic
        • "Engine Number 9" by Wilson Pickett
        • "West Coast Poplock" by Ronnie Hudson And The Street People
        • "Burn Rubber On Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)" by The Gap Band
        • "Take Me To The Mardi Gras" by Bob James
2. Fuck Tha Police
        • "It's My Thing" by Marva Whitney
        • "The Boogie Back" by Roy Ayers Ubiquity
        • "Funky Drummer" by James Brown
        • "Funky President (People It's Bad)" by James Brown
        • "Feel Good" by Fancy
        • "Engine Number 9" by Wilson Pickett
3. Gangsta Gangsta
        • "Weak At The Knees" by Steve Arrington’s Hall Of Fame
        • "Be Thankful For What You Got" by William DeVaughn
        • "N.T." by Kool And The Gang
        • "Funky Worm" by Ohio Players
        • "Troglodyte (Cave Man)" by The Jimmy Castor Bunch
        • "Impeach The President" by The Honey Drippers
4. If It Ain't Ruff
        • "A Star In The Ghetto" by Average White Band & Ben E. King
        • "Don't Believe The Hype" by Public Enemy
        • "Ain't We Funkin' Now" by The Brothers Johnson
5. Parental Discretion Iz Advised
        • "I Turned You On" by The Isley Brothers
6. 8-Ball (Remix)
        • "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye
        • "Paul Revere" by Beastie Boys
        • "Fight For Your Right" by Beastie Boys
        • "Girls" by Beastie Boys
        • "Be Thankful For What You Got" by William DeVaughn
        • "Yes, We Can Can" by The Pointer Sisters
        • "It's My Beat" by Sweet Tee And Jazzy Joyce
        • "My Melody" by Eric B. & Rakim
        • "West Coast Poplock" by Ronnie Hudson And The Street People
        • "Too Much Posse" by Public Enemy
7. Something Like That
        • "Take The Money And Run" by Steve Miller Band
        • "I Think I'd Do It" by Z.Z. Hill
        • "Down On The Avenue" by Fat Larry's Band
8. Express Yourself
        • "Express Yourself" by Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
9. Compton's N The House (Remix)
        • "Take Me To The Mardi Gras" by Bob James
        • "Funky Beat" by Whodini
        • "It's My Turn" by Dezo Daz (featuring D.J. Slip)
        • "Cinderfella Dana Dane" by Dana Dane
10. I Ain't Tha 1
        • "The Message (Inspiration)" by Brass Construction
11. Dopeman (Remix)
        • "Funky Worm" by Ohio Players
        • "Dance To The Drummer's Beat" by Herman Kelly & Life
        • "My Posse" by C.I.A.
        • "Freestyle Live (Edit Version)" by Roxanne (Fly) Shanté (featuring Biz Markie)
        • "I'm Bad" by L.L. Cool J
12. Quiet On Tha Set
        • "Rock Creek Park" by The Blackbyrds
        • "I Get Lifted" by KC And The Sunshine Band
        • "The Unsafe Bridge" by Laura Olsher
        • "Funky Drummer" by James Brown
        • "Take The Money And Run" by Steve Miller Band
13. Something 2 Dance 2
        • "You're The One For Me" by "D" Train
        • "Dance To The Music" by Sly & the Family Stone
        • "'Mighty Mouse' Theme" by The Sandpipers
        • "Change the Beat (French Rap)" by Beside
        • "ORCH5" by David Vorhaus
14. A Bitch Iz A Bitch (bonus)
        • "Papa Was Too" by Joe Tex
        • "Lyin' Ass Bitch" by Fishbone

Phew, what a list. Almost 4 hours of stuff. Y'know when I started writing this blog I was sure it was my swansong compilation but I gotta tell ya, after typing this all out I'm now sort of itching to do Eazy-Duz-It. But until then, sit back, crack a 40 or two of Old E and enjoy.

Part I                                        Part II                                        Part III

It's On

Not sure where or when I got this bootleg CDr but it doesn't have anything from the Cocktails era (and beyond) so I'd guess around 1994. Most of the tracks are culled from Get In Where You Fit In and Shorty The Pimp but "Freaky Tales" makes an appearance from Born To Mack as well as a few from Life Is... and the epic Ice Cube duet "Ain't Nothin' But A Word To Me" from Short Dog's In The House. All in all the mix is just what you'd expect from a Too $hort greatest hits collection - slow plodding bass lines with some overtly dirty lyrics but the addition of "Hoochie" and "Gotta Get Some Lovin'" speed the bpm up nicely. My favorite song on the record is the "Glove Compartment" mix of Shorty The Pimp's "In The Trunk" - an already great tune is remixed with a huge beat and stand up bass. Too bad it's a radio cut but oh well, awesome shit.

BTW, I just checked out $hort's new video - it's pretty solid for a guy who's been doing the same thing for a quarter of a century.

Where They At?

Who's The Next Maggot?

 

Was this album underrated? I know they got some MTV play (and controversy) with "Freedom Got An A.K." but I have yet to meet anyone over the last 23 years who actually owned, much less liked this record. And what a shame. Two of the trio (J-Dee and T-Bone) backed up Ice Cube on his AmeriKKKa's solo debut, bringing on Shorty to round out the threesome in 1992. While sounding a whole lot like what Ice Cube was releasing at the time (thanks both to Sir Jinx's stellar production and constant uncredited appearances by O'Shea himself), Guerillas easily stands on its own with both solid beats and some arguably harsher lyrics than what other L.A. rappers were spitting out on major label LPs (I tell ya, it's still feels somewhat weird to this day being a white guy enjoying this record but what can ya do). Regrettably, J-Dee was sent up the river on a murder charge and the group was forced to find a replacement in Maulkie (of Yomo & Maulkie fame) the next year. Their 1994 follow up is pretty solid but doesn't touch this amazing debut. Enjoy.

Buck You With My Shotgun

Still Wanted Dead Or Alive

A real hidden treasure from hip-hop's golden era, Kool G. Rap's sadly underrated Live And Let Die is significantly more akin to the West Coast style dominating the scene at the time than Rap's previous LPs. It comes as no surprise with Sir Jinx producing that Ice Cube managed to stumble into the studio for a few lyrics as do Geto Boys Scarface and Bushwick Bill. Labelmate Big Daddy Kane shows up as well. Some of the songs are a little akin to the fast-paced stuff Cube did on AmeriKKKA's but there are enough slow bass-heavy tunes (sounding much like Scarface's Rap-A-Lot debut) to keep it fresh. And his ode to cock-blocking is fucking hilarious. It's unfortunate that Warner Bros. balked at the record cover and eventually refused the LP's distribution (the bad taste of Body Count still in everyone's mouth) - Live And Let Die never had a chance at the recognition it deserved. Kool G. Rap has stayed on the scene since and has enjoyed a respectable (and respected) career but this is easily my favorite record of his - enjoy.

Kool Genius

There's just one thing...

Sure he's doing commercials for fucking Coors Light today but back in 1991 no one could fucking touch Ice Cube. The guy leaves a lead vocalist spot in the seminal, multi-platinum N.W.A. to drop AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted with East Coast rivals Bomb Squad producing. Goes platinum in two months. Keeps it real the whole time - shills for St. Ides, moves back to South Central - I remember catching some random MTV Raps expo on him (probably when Kill At Will came out) that showed his crib in Inglewood or wherever; it might have technically been a mansion but it still looked fucking ghetto as shit. And when this fucker of an album dropped my sophomore year in college - it did not leave my fucking CD player for over a month. From start to finish, Death Certificate is probably the smartest and most socially relevant rap album ever released. It is easily Cube's best work and still holds up to repeated listens two decades after it was released. Nearly every song is a classic - from the opening "The Wrong Nigga to Fuck Wit" to the hilarious "Givin' Up the Nappy Dug Out" and epic closer "No Vaseline". N.W.A. actually thought they had the high ground with their silly "Benedict Arnold" jabs on Efil4zaggin. Surprise fuckers! They had nothing compared to the absolute beatdown received in "Vaseline" - without a doubt the best (and funniest) musical dis ever recorded. The beats and production by Sir Jinx are flawless; "My Summer Vacation" and "Alive On Arrival" are my personal faves. Revisit this classic now.

A Bird In The Hand

Tha Muthaphukkin' Real Eazy

Since we're coming up on the 15-year anniversary(!) of Eazy-E's passing, I thought it high time to share one of the rarer (and finest) recordings of his career. Culled from the excellent Eazy-Duz-It, this obscure cassette single contained two fantastic remixes of "We Want Eazy" and "Still Talkin'". Extra verses and better beats helped these two tracks easily surpass their album originals. I'm sure they're on one of his many posthumous compilation CDs but at the time twenty years ago (and in my present-day music collection) they were cassette-only so enjoy this archaic stuff from their original magnetic tape sound recording - hiss included.

UPDATE 9.6.13: Fuck that muddy tape hiss, I've just relinked below to a great, clean, crisp copy - enjoy!

Remix My White Ass