The rich heritage of sampling in Hip-Hop has given many artists second and third lives. Quite appropriately, it’s often the obscure and/or forgotten artists who either get their first day in the sun or receive a nostalgic dousing of warmth when a notable modern Hip-Hop act samples their music.
Most other forms of music can’t make such claims even if there are great influencers we can hear in the music. Rock, Folk, Blues, Jazz, and Dance-Electronic build upon the work of past musicians and the references can be clear and cited, yet the references are rarely as literal as when Hip-Hop samples a track and has to make a direct credit for building upon the work of another artist. What’s more, many Hip-Hop artists have been known to give “shout-outs” to their peers or to the past artists who have influenced their own work in a song’s lyrics/rhymes. It’s a beautiful aspect of Rap/Hip-Hop making this form of music all the more dynamic and in some senses more interactive than others, as we are often listening to a fusion of past and modern sounds with lyrics that can be both topical and past tense, or even boldly contradictory when an artist is boasting to have unparalleled talent all while making reference to the venerated artists that came before.
It’s a thrilling prospect to think of this genre as a living organism constantly growing; there are always new grafts attaching to the old branches, spawning new forms that may seem foreign at first, but upon closer inspection can be understood as a hybrid of past species we wouldn’t have dared to imagine mating to create a new whole.
In a previous post I created two companion playlists with a matching track order; the first playlist being the original R&B, Funk, or Soul track that has been sampled numerous times throughout it’s prolonged existence, and the second playlist containing one of the modern Hip-Hop tracks that sampled the original. Through the process of creating these two playlists, I went on a real crazy bender. I binged on many classic genres of music, really the progenitors that birthed early Hip-Hop, and in going down this rabbit hole I made some interesting discoveries. Many of the discoveries were artists I had never heard of, however, I also discovered something that wasn’t a musical artist at all. The realization was an overarching and key subplot, or rather a penchant trademark of Hip-Hop, which has become an indelible part of the genre’s identity: the use of obscure or underground music as a primary source of sampling.
The fantastic documentary series on Netflix, Hip-Hop Evolution (2016), makes note of this quality in Hip-Hop and expounds upon this thought through numerous interviews with pioneers of Hip-Hop such as Afrika Bambaataa, Kurtis Blow, Kool Herc, Grandmaster Caz, and Grandmaster Flash. In these interviews the many parents of modern Rap/Hip-Hop relish the use of “basement tracks” or “buried wax” they appropriated for their music. Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa in particular make a point of stating how eclectic and deep their catalogues are, and how they made deliberate efforts to take the “deep dive” tracks and integrate them as samples in their music. This subplot in the story of Hip-Hop adds a brilliant dimension, a parallel universe in some regards, wherein we can share the music of obscure Rap/Hip-Hop artists but also lift another fold and find more obscure music from the past in the artists that have been sampled. Culled together we come to frame the genre of Hip-Hop as this expansive and ever-expanding form of music, but even more importantly, a legacy rooted in the past that is retroactively changing when a modern artist decides to sample a track from the past. Whether the artist from the past desires it or not, they are now part of modern music – they are born again.
When you think of Hip-Hop as a musical heritage embracing sounds from many decades, re-purposing them, molding them, changing an artist’s story with little regard for sanctity or expiration, you start to understand music can be non-linear. The past, present, and future of Hip-Hop is never solidified, it can be flash frozen yet will always change state when it comes to an artist’s act of sampling the past or being sampled in the future. In this way the music is three-dimensional in time, especially in it’s treatment of music as devoid of a definitive timeline. No form of recorded music rests in peace, no form is safe from having it’s story added onto or being rewritten altogether in the future – it’s enough to make you go cross-eyed.
I really enjoyed using tracks from artists such as Sister Nancy (the infectiously staccato “Bam Bam”) in the Borrow For The Game (Part A) playlist (alluded to earlier in the previous post on sampling), as this is a prime example of an artist’s story being rewritten. Sister Nancy and her Reggaeton music was underground for a long time, and was meant to be underground, until Jay-Z and Kanye West both latched onto the beats in her songs and re-purposed them nearly simultaneously, for both of their recent album releases (4:44 for Jay Z, The Life of Pablo for Kanye West). Now a whole new generation went searching for her music, and this new attention on Sister Nancy led to new listeners, some who probably used Sister Nancy as a jumping-off point for a sustained dive into other Reggae and Reggaeton music from the Caribbean.
In Borrow For The Game (Part A), the usual suspects appear, as it was completely necessary to give the nod to the behemoth influencers like The JB’s (and James Brown of course), Ohio Players, Isley Brothers, Isaac Hayes, George Clinton, and Curtis Mayfield, who were among the many crucial R&B/Soul/Funk artists contributing their artistry to the DNA of many of the early Hip-Hop tracks, and continue to have an intractable impact (take Beyonce’s use of Isaac Hayes’ “Walk on By” as a sample on her Lemonade track “6 Inch Heels”). However, I also enjoyed pretending to be one of those savvy vinyl-hoarders when using the tracks from obscure artists- the ones in every half-aware Hip-Hoppers collection. We start to use two synonymous terms at this point, those being “deep funk” and “rare groove”, when we start discussing the old albums that every Producer-DJ, B-Boys, and otherwise anonymous sampler needed in their collection; indeed there is a Pantheon of “deep dive” artists permanently enshrined and forever being borrowed from and re-appropriated via samples. Skull Snaps, and their self-titled 1973 album Skull Snaps, is the poster-child for over-sampled drum beats. The Incredible Bongo Band also has to be on that list, as well as the crossover Rock band Babe Ruth and their album 1972 album First Base, which has strangely been co-opted more by Hip-Hop artists than cited as an influence by modern Rock artists. Others in this Pantheon of obscure/underground artists that have been oversampled include the odd “Space Funk” of Manzel, many of the “kid acts” in the soul game such as Foster Sylvers, Little Sylvia, and the Ponderosa Twins Plus One. There are also all the offshoots of James Brown’s Funky People collective, including Lyn Collins, Maceo Parker, and Sly Slick & Wicked, as well as artists known for having really catchy “beat breaks” such as Kool & The Gang and The Meters, both of whom really straddle the border between household names in popular music of their time and the more obscure findings in the basement vinyl collections. If you really wanted to impress, you would go out and grab a sample from a non-R&B group, especially an Indie Rock group. Take the pervasive use of David Axelrod’s epic and often unnerving instrumental tracks or David McCallum’s cinematic music, famously used in Dr. Dre’s “The Next Episode”. And the use of unorthodox samples from out of the R&B sphere is still going strong; if you’ve ever listened to Earl Sweatshirt’s chilling track “Centurion”, well, the chilling effect was made mostly with a sample of Axelrod’s “A Divine Image”.
Courtesy of Medium/Cuepoint.
In my “deep groove” binge I came across many great resources for finding obscure artists, but also in re-discovering many forgotten artists who will most likely remain underground unless sampled by big-time Hip-Hop artists of the day, sort of in the way Sister Nancy was undeniably elevated. Hours and hours of searching the Internet can be easily circumvented by checking out just one article that distills it all fantastically. Two record-collectors, DJs, and producers, Kon and Amir, gifted us with a wealth of hidden gems in their feature article for Complex.com. This web article is a gateway to a constantly unfurling rabbit hole, the very same one I jumped into, only to come out the other side a day later quite scathed and mind-blown from all the new findings of old greats I never knew existed (though I’m sure some of the folks living in the 60’s and 70’s can recall, but could use the refresher). Use the following link to check it out.
Below is a curated listing of just a few of the underground/forgotten artists I discovered while digging deep for the sources of samples. Some of these artists probably deserve to remain hidden gems, others have me asking why they aren’t deserving a spot more in the fore. The inexplicable reasons may remain a mystery until that day far into the future when the three-dimensional time-space continuum of Hip-Hop finally catches up to it.
Magnum – Fully Loaded (1974)
An obscure band signed to an obscure record label (The Phoenix), this group also suffered from a band name that dilutes things a bit (and makes it fairly difficult to search for them on the Internet without being directed to gun & ammo sites). In searching for more information about them, I discovered there is a Prog Rock band also named Magnum. Nevertheless, this album is simply an amazing hidden gem and will probably remain so. It’s difficult to find information about them, other than it was a group a young black men from Philadelphia in the 70’s who knew a thing or two about great funk music. “Evolution”, the lead-off track, is one of the best funk songs I have ever heard, with a nearly unparalleled energy and attention to compositional detail. The rest of the album is almost as good as that first track. Everyone who has stumbled upon this album has fallen in love with it – myself included.
Cymande – Cymande (1972)
Cymande is one of those underground artists that all of the B-Boys, vinyl collectors, and Producers use as bait to see if you know what you are talking about. You might think this band is African by the name, sound, and most of the artwork, however, they are actually a group comprised of several British Funk artists who teamed-up with musicians from the Caribbean, including the nations of Guyana, Jamaica, and St. Vincent. Together this group produced one of the greatest funk albums ever created, the self-titled 1972 release Cymande. Although it is a well-known and regarded album in the circles of Funk aficionados, Hip-Hop artists, and record collectors, it’s still relatively obscure when it comes to mainstream recognition. Honestly, this is quite tragic, as this album celebrates a melting pot of musical genres, from Calypso to Funk and African Jazz. In the year 2018, when a band like Khruangbin is being embraced for the eclectic world influences integrated into their brand of smooth Funk, it’s worth taking time to honoring this classic album. Even early on in the life of Hip-Hop, this album was being championed, as both Grandmaster Flash and Kool Herc sampled Cymande often.
Weldon Irvine – The Sisters (1979)
Weldon Irvine has fostered a deep respect in the Funk/R&B community over the years, especially after his untimely death in 2002. His life was both joyous and tragic, as his death was ruled a suicide, and his career as a Producer was just taking off. He worked with the likes of Mos Def and Q-Tip in his time, and although born in Virginia, was regarded as a cherished New York City figure in the Soul/R&B scene. His album Spirit Man (1975) has often been sampled, most notably by A Tribe Called Quest on their track “Award Tour”. Weldon’s career in an interesting one, especially to me, in the sense that he spanned many different genres and chose to pursue different sounds at unexpected times in his career. Spirit Man is a Jazz-Funk Fusion album in the vein of Herbie Hancock’s Head Hunters, yet the intriguing aspect to me is how he departed from that successful album to make a more Gospel/Soul sound with The Sisters. This 1979 album is the one that grabbed me. It’s a forgotten album, heck, it might never have landed, as it wasn’t a commercial success. Yet, I’m willing to say that Weldon Irvine is a forgotten artist who is well-regarded in Hip-Hip circles but deserves every vinyl collectors attention, as many of his albums are hidden gems, especially The Sisters.
Eugene McDaniels – Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse (1971)
Eugene McDaniels released a controversial masterpiece in 1971. Needless to say, the album was not for popular consumption. It was daring and artistic and crossed many genres, from Jazz to Soul to even some unexpected Folk. The album is as visionary as it is abrasive, with major themes and a lot to say. Eugene McDaniels says a lot in this album, and very well – he’s a gifted lyricist who often went by “Gene” in the 1960’s when he collaborated with the likes of Roberta Flack and was trying for more mainstream Soul music. I like to think the album cover sums up his mind at that time: he was pent up with anger and needed a release. This one is buried in many a vault because it was not commercial but needed to be released. The statements made in the album or big and shattering, and as relevant in today’s world as in the Apocalyptic vision Eugene had back in 1971. Many of the same themes are sadly made anew today, the wounds picked fresh every so often. Modern artists reference this classic all the time, but is will remain an underground gem. Aloe Blacc covered this album in its entirety at the Montreux Jazz Festival this year, that’s indicator enough of it’s lasting, albeit obscure, influence.
The Farewell Track: The Honey Dripper’s “Impeach the President” (1973)
Speaking of relevant in today’s world, the track I wanted to close with is another fine example of the opening beats being sampled ad nauseum throughout the history of Hip-Hop. I would say The Honey Dripper’s insatiably catchy track “Impeach the President” forms, along with the tracks “Synthetic Substitution” by Melvin Bliss and Skull Snap’s “It’s A New Day”, the Holy Trinity of opening drum beat samples. Yes, The Honey Dripper’s were talking about impeaching President Nixon in 1973, regardless, I just love how I can play this song today and get quite the reaction…….relating to our current President. 2018 is coming to a close and this may be the last post of this year, so with this classic Funk/R&B track, one of the most funky ones out there, I bid you adieu.
Let’s include the other two in the “Holy Trinity” of opening drum beat samples:
