![]() ![]() There's a long tradition of funk bands using live drummers over drum machines. He called up 1500 or Nothin' - he refers to them as his little brothers they're a group of musicians and producers who have worked with countless artists - and they played over the "Shaft in Africa" sample. Jay brought " Shaft in Africa" to Just, who understood why he wanted it on "Show Me What You Got." But Just thought it needed more. The original Public Enemy song sampled the Bar-Kays " Son of Shaft," which in turn sampled Isaac Hayes' original " Theme from Shaft." Jay's song went looking for its music in a Shaft sequel - not Shaft's Big Score, which had a not-so-big score by director Gordon Parks, but Shaft in Africa, which had music composed by Johnny Pate. It was more of a sequel, and it acted accordingly. Jay-Z's song wasn't a remake of Public Enemy. Just Blaze's production sampled Flavor Flav saying the title of the earlier song, and also borrowed a second sample from the same song: the Lafayette Afro Rock Band's " Darkest Light" (that's the opening sax loop, immediately familiar not just from Public Enemy but from its appearance in Wreckx-n-Effect's " Rump Shaker" and about a million other hip-hop songs). The first single, "Show Me What You Got," was an openly nostalgic nod to Public Enemy's " Show 'Em Whatcha Got," which opened the Black Side of It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back. Four years later, after Jay-Z had "retired" (the word deserves Sugar Ray Leonard irony quotes), he came back, still king, with Kingdom Come. "You know what? This would sound much better with a real drum kit underneath it." - Just Blaze But it's governed by the desire to make technology reflect humanity.Ģ. It's not that we're not using technology. Dilla's work, and I try to put them in mine. ![]() There was a certain sense of imperfection that came through despite it having been made on a machine that made it somehow more perfect. I wasn't amazed by the drumming in the sense that it was the work of a virtuoso, or that the timing was magnificent, or that it was so complex. It turns out they were his, sort of, or at least his fingers, playing on a drum pad. I called up Just Blaze and asked him whose hands. The sound was crisp, maybe a little tinny, but it seemed like it had real hands behind it. "Right now, I want you to give the drummer some. Jay introduces the band at the beginning - he calls them "Just Blaze and the Blazettes" - and then he singles out one member. Partly this is because I was told to do so. But here was Just practicing true hip-hop, meaning that he took the taboo and made art out of it. Gospel chops are like IF!!!! EVERY!!!! SENTENCE!!!! YOU!!!! EVER!!!!! WROTE!!! WAS!!!!! IN!!!! ALL!!!! CAPS!!!!! WITH!!!! EXCLAMATION!!!!!! POINTS!!!!!!! It's exciting for a while but then exhausting, and the exhaustion lasts longer than the excitement. It works on what I will cautiously call "gospel chops." This is a sticky term, because whenever I describe it, it always manages to offend younger musicians and it makes me sound old and out of touch. ![]() Why didn't we think of that? And the way he did it was brilliant. The helicopter part?" There was almost a shrug in his voice. "Oh, that? That was the 'Diggin' on You' video intro. When I asked him where the music had come from, his answer was so simple and matter-of-fact. run to a studio and sample this NOW!!!!!!" But never once did I make a mental note to myself: "Yo. I must have seen that video a million times. The arrival is accompanied by a fanfare, announcement music. I didn't investigate further, and the song passed into a kind of blind (deaf?) spot, to the point that I guess I didn't pay enough attention to the video version of the song, which showed the band arriving by helicopter for a Las Vegas performance. "Diggin' On You," that final single, was a top 10 hit, but it didn't initially grab me by the collar. Back in 1995, when LaFace Records pulled out the final single from TLC's CrazySex圜ool album, we were so exhausted from not chasing waterfalls that we weren't necessarily looking to the group for inspiration in the same way. This was one of those moments, and in fact the glasses had been on my forehead for seven years. When I first heard " Hovi Baby," the second single from Jay-Z's album The Blueprint 2, I actually had two issues with it: the sample and the drums.įirst, the sample: Everyone knows the "glasses on your forehead" moment, right? It's a staple in comic strips and middle age - you scour the entire earth for something only to discover that it's been in the most obvious location the entire time, and what results is relief swamped by an overwhelming of foolishness. But my friend and hero knows exactly what I mean. Let's just say I was madder than a mofo back in 2002. This second-long quote is only about one third true. We're friends but he hates me." - Just Blaze ![]()
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