Critical Beatdown

The beat sounds like Hell Hath No Fury in 1988. The lyrics are like an enjambment exercise in poetry class. The song is terrific.

Goodie Mob

Traditional jazz-rap indicators tend to lean towards the obvious: Bebop samples and a generally mellow feel. I would argue, however, that this track is jazz oriented, if only because of its relative lack of complete tonal specificity, lending it a generally meandering feel. That the emcees and producers are capable of giving the track such a sense of urgency despite this is rather impressive and the result is such that the lyrics seem to hover in air, melodically driven only by themselves. It reminds me a lot of Amerie's "1 Thing", which accomplishes a very similar end by different means.

Regardless, a great track and group. You may recognize Cee-Lo Green from his later Gnarls Barkley project with Danger Mouse.

Long Red

Ok, so after the previous post, I feel that I have to do a little retrospective on this song that I seem to see sampled in every hip-hop track ever recorded: "Long Red" by Mountain. I, for one, had never heard of the band before, but it seems they were a relatively marginal, early 70's rock band. Using such a song is strange, first because it wasn't one of their hits and second because its rare to see rock music sampled in hip-hop when the artist isn't attempting a rap-rock crossover. Third, and most importantly, all of the songs only sample the intro of a single live version of "Long Red". So why? What's the deal? Well first of all, its a really sweet and unique beat. It has a sort of funky, syncopated feel and I imagine its rare to have bass kicks coupled with an audience of thousands clapping along. Second of all, once one producer uses it, that opens up the gates to all those who hear it and want to use it in their own way. I love how such a small, inconsequencial snippet of sound has become so pervasive just because of this style of music culture. It's incredibly organic, in a way, and it really adds a lot of depth to the genre. When J Dilla used it as the main sample on "Stepson of the Clapper", he wasn't only making an amazing track but he was making a comment, a homage to a long tradition.

I would really like to know who used it first. The earliest I can seem to see is 1986's "Eric B is President" from Eric B. and Rakim's Paid in Full. Anyways, here are all the songs I've heard that sample this track, in my best chronological order. I've written where the sample is located under the video. If I don't list it, it should be pretty obvious:

1:19 and drums


Drums


1:05






0:26

Premeir

A healthy DJ Premier beat here. This almost reminds me of "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", in the sense that its silence defines the beat more than its muddy bass. Unlike Brown, however, this beat is not smooth, defining the head-bobbing hook with stutters rather than just off-beats.

The beat and lyrics may also remind you of these:

Strings

Its hard to sample orchestral sounds in hip-hop, especially those not from R&B or Soul tracks, without the track pigeon-holing itself. Too many artists have used operas and the like to make themselves sound "epic", often sounding cartoonish instead. So when I hear a track that uses strings well, with a light hand, I tend to appreciate it. Freddie Gibbs' first mix tape has a track that fit this bill incredibly. It smartly avoids the fullness that an orchestra can produce, sampling a single violin run in such a way that it seems strange, rather than classical. Compare to Gucci's "Classical", a good song, but not nearly as thematically subtle as the first.

See Me Now

New Kanye West track HERE.

This track is a major reason why Kanye is great. The song is not necessarily weird or groundbreaking, but what it is is intricate, nuanced, and clever. Keep it up bud.

El Chupacabra

Lovin' it.