What up y’all? Sample Sundays is here once again to bring the “Flava In Ya Ear” like Craig Mack (If only he would’ve been on a different record label). Now, after all that Thanksgiving food has been digested, and you’re feeling especially rotund, portly, obese, morbidly obese, what have you, don’t worry — I got you. The sampling artist for this week happens to be one of the most notoriously big (hint?) rappers in the history of hip-hop.
But, with all delay necessary, let’s get into the sample — a classic baby maker, one you need on your “get freaky” playlist immediately.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glhdcJ7K3XM&w=420&h=315]
The Isley Brothers — “Between The Sheets”
That’s right people, this week’s sample comes from one of the most soulful and funkiest groups of all time, The Isley Brothers – comprised of an ever-changing lineup of six brothers and a brother-in-law, the Isley Brothers have released 31 (count em’) albums over their musical career, dating all the way from their 1959 debut album, Shout!, to 2006’s Baby Makin’ Music (I already told you).
This heavily sampled song, “Between the Sheets,” comes from the 1983 platinum album of the same name. Between the Sheets is a classic album — in the interest of being self-aware, I know I use this phrase quite often, but there happen to be thousands of “classic albums” out there — and you should at least download “Between the Sheets,” if not the whole album. The sensual vocals combined with the deep, deep (I went there) bass line and tenderly explicit lyrics make for one hell of a time for you and your lover (with this week and last week’s post I see a trend developing).
Now, for the rapper who was so proud of his girth that he put it in his name, the late great Christopher Wallace a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G. (Biggie for short).
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phaJXp_zMYM&w=560&h=315]
The Notorious B.I.G. — “Big Poppa”
(Puffy — he’ll always be Puffy — wasn’t much of a producer in terms of flipping samples, but he definitely had an ear for songs that didn’t necessarily call for that.)
Everyone knows this jam, and there is really no need to tell you that you need the triple-platinum Ready To Die, which features “Big Poppa,” among other tracks that will forever be a part of the hip-hop cannon (“Warning,” “The What,” “Who Shot Ya?,” “Juicy” – basically the whole damn album), on your iPod, your phone, your computer hard drive, your external hard drive, your icloud (topical?), your Pandora playlist you, your turntable and anywhere else you can.
Biggie will forever be on nearly every hip-hop head’s “Top 5 Dead Or Alive” list (a list of your personal favorite MCs of all-time) and every one of his albums (too bad there are only a few) remind us why — lyrics, beats, cadence, persona, the list goes on.
Here is a list of some other artists who have sampled “Between the Sheets” over the years:
A Tribe Called Quest – “Bonita Applebaum”
Audio Two – “The Questions”
Common – “Breaker 1/9”
Conscious Daughters – “We Rollin’ Deepa”
Da Brat – “Funkdafied”
Dre Dog – “Lips”
Heavy D – “Nuttin’ But Love”
Keith Murray – “The Most Beautifullest Thing in the World”
MC Shy D – “I Don’t Want to Treat You Wrong”
Naughty by Nature – “Written on Ya Kitten”
Notorious BIG – “Big Poppa”
Rob Base – “Break of Dawn”
Skee-lo – “Superman”
Under Ground Kings – “Crampin’ My Style”
Vicious – “Nika”
Whitney Houston – “One of Those Days”
Bonus Sample:
This week’s Bonus Sample comes from a little band called Mtume and the not-so-little Biggie Smalls (he deserves a post for every song he is on, it’s only fair that he get two samples in the same post people).
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtw4E_DoWSE&w=420&h=315]
Mtume – “Juicy Fruit”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yix96Oi_R_s&w=420&h=315]
The Notorious B.I.G. – “Juicy” (similar track name???)
Peace y’all. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. One (a.k.a One Love — a common phrase in the hip-hop lexicon, used when parting, as a substitute for “good-bye,” “later,” “late,” and so on.)
