Something old.. Something new..
29 Sep
Something borrowed.. Something err… Blue? OK, maybe not the last one.
No this has nothing to do with weddings or marriage. I’m talking about sampling music. I’m always on the hunt for “new” music to add to my collection, whether it be the latest Curren$y mixtape, a track from Phil Collins or a classic song from Ella Fitzgerald. In a way sampling gives me the best of both worlds. I could hear a track produced by 9th Wonder and look up the sample he used. Bong. New material (well new to me at least).
Let me give you some examples to clarify.
I’m kinda sorta halfway in love with the DC native, Wale. Going through his mixtapes, I heard a lot of familiar songs. From his use of Go Go music (which is growing on me) to Hov’s “Imaginary Player” to Camp Lo’s “Glow“, Wale’s music reminded me of so many songs I loved from back in the day, but probably would have never remembered to get if I hadn’t listened to his mixtapes.
And of course Kanye is always a good person to go to when looking for great samples. One of my absolute favorites from him has to be “Addiction”. He sampled Etta James’ version of “My Funny Valentine” (one of my favorite covers of the song if I might add). No one can ever say that Ye doesn’t have a knack for picking out great songs to sample.
There are those occasions when I feel like samples are a bit.. questionable.
Take T.I.’s song Live Your Life feat. Rihanna + produced by the JERSEY NATIVE (and former Rutgers student lol) Just Blaze. In the beginning you can hear the sample he used, Haiducii’s “Dragostea Din Tei” (shoutouts to Jaye for that info).
Alright.. I guess Just was watching the Numa Numa video when he thought to sample this song. Now, don’t get me wrong. I like Live Your Life, but the original track has to be one of the most annoying songs I’ve ever heard in my life. Did he really have to start the track off like that? I must admit, though, Live Your Life makes me kinda happy and Rih Rih did the damn thing on the song, so I can’t be completely mad at it.
I could go on for days about songs that I absolutely adore (and the songs they sampled that I equally adore lol). Eh, but maybe I’ll just leave you all with a little list.
- Mickey Factz: Good Money (Sampled Billy Paul: Let The Dollar Circulate)
- Cam’ron: Daydreaming (Aretha Franklin: Day Dreaming)
- Kidz In The Hall: Drivin’ Down The Block (Masta Ace: Born To Roll)
- Tupac: I Ain’t Mad At Cha + BLACKstreet: Don’t Leave Me (DeBarge: A Dream)
- Jay-Z: Fallin (The Dramatics: Fell For You)
- Kanye West: All Falls Down (Lauryn Hill: Mystery of Iniquity)
- Wale: I Will (Xscape: I Will)
- Nas: The World Is Yours (Ahmad Jamal: I Love Music–Ahh the way Pete Rock flipped this jawn.. man..)
- Usher: Throwback (Dionne Warwick: You’re Gonna Need Me)
- Maroon 5: Won’t Go Home Without You (The Police: Every Breath You Take — CLASSIC)
- Slum Village: Selfish (Aretha Franklin: Call Me)
- Common: The Light (Bobby Caldwell: Open Your Eyes)
- Fabolous: Breathe (Supertramp: Crime Of The Century–Don’t sleep on it lol)
- Kanye West: Roses (Bill Withers: Rosie–Makes me think of my mommy)
- Nas: Heaven (Eddie Holman: I Love You)
- Jay-Z: Party Life (Little Beaver: Get Into The Party Life)
- Common: They Say (Ahmad Jamal: Ghetto Child)
- Dipset: I Really Mean It (Major Harris: I Got Over Love)
- Nas: One Mic (Phil Collins: In The Air Tonight–My song! lol)
- Common: Break My Heart (George Duke: Someday ♥)
I guess that list wasn’t really little =/ Ah well. You’ll get over it. Shit, maybe even put it to use. Honestly, you should. I ain’t post all those songs for nothing lol.
♥ April Rose
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