Friday Funk: Sample Roots Edition

A lot of the best R&B and Hip-Hop of the last thirty years owes a great debt to the funk, soul, and smooth grooves of its predecessors. So, I thought it would be fun to take a look at a few of these roots jams; songs you may not be familiar with in whole form, but that you've DEFINITELY heard broken down and re-served up in hot slices within other songs. Whether a drumbreak, keyboard run, or bass track, it had to come from somewhere. Here are just a few of the places it did.


1) Melvin Bliss - "Synthetic Substitution"
Sampled in: Method Man - “All I Need”, Naughty By Nature - “O.P.P.”, Ghostface Killah - "Mighty Healthy", Ice T - "Original Gangster", Public Enemy - "Don't Believe the Hype", Wu-Tang Clan - "Bring Da Ruckus", 2Pac - "The Streetz R Death Row", EPMD - "Scratch Bring it Back" and many more



2) James Brown - "Funky Drummer"
Sampled in: Eric B and Rakim - "Eric B is President", A Tribe Called Quest - "Show Business", Geto Boys - "Read These Nikes", Ice Cube - "Jackin' for Beats", KRS-One - "Outta Here", Public Enemy - "Fight the Power", Snoop Dogg - "Murder Was The Case", De La Soul - "Brain-Washed Follower", LL Cool J - "6 Minutes of Pleasure", Nas - "Get Down", and many more



3) Lyn Collins - “Think (About It)”
Sampled in: Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock - “It Takes Two”, Janet Jackson - “Alright”, Afrika Bambaataa - "Planet Rock", De La Soul - "Jenifa (Taught Me) (Derwin's Revenge)", Heavy D - "You Ain't Heard Nuttin' Yet", New Edition - "Hit Me Off", Public Enemy - "911 is a Joke", Slick Rick - "Slick Rick - The Ruler", Snoop Dogg - "Ain't No Fun", EPMD - "Da Joint", Biz Markie - "Road Block", Kool Moe Dee - "I Go to Work", and many more

James Brown Saves Boston (or the DoF Gets Serious for a Moment)

by Blaine Fridley, Editor-in-Chief

"SOUL POWER, ACTIVATE!!"

In the days after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, America's major cities were ablaze with violent rage.

But over in Beantown, it was a different story.

They had Soul Brother Number 1 on the scene.

An already-scheduled appearance was set for April 5th, the day after the person Tavis Smiley calls the greatest American ever produced was silenced by gunfire in Memphis.

Boston's mayor wanted to cancel it, fearing the racially-charged worst.

Council member Tom Atkins urged him not to. If the show went on AND they televised it live, it might be enough to keep people - and their Molotov cocktails - off the streets.

For Mr. Brown, it took A LOT of convincing and A LOT of money ($60,000 to cover fines he would incur from another TV show for appearing on air before its broadcast), but the show did go on -- at the Boston Garden and over the air waves.

And by all accounts, Brown didn't perform on a stage that night, but a tightrope.

Tensions were high. Brown made several pleas for calm and respect as the balance started to tip the way of chaos.

Brilliantly, Brown made the pleas for peace about him. With an unruly audience openly defying police, and on the brink of mobocracy, the Godfather scolded his fans for lack of respect:

"Now I asked the police to step back because I figured I could get some respect from my own people. Now are we together or we ain't?"

He wasn't playing a show so much as he was attempting to defuse a bomb, which he did.

James Brown. The Soul Brother Super Hero Saves A City.

There's a reason he wore a cape, you know.

Here's footage from the actual show:

And as for Dr. King, take a moment to go waaaay deeper than "I Have A Dream." His legacy is SO much more than the fight for racial equality.

He was the booming voice of justice for everybody: The poor. The war-torn. The neglected.

And he served them all fearlessly.

Thanks, Dr. King. The world misses you.

Election 2008: RNC Wrap-up

By Blaine Fridley, Editor-in-Chief/Pog Enthusiast, Advocate and Ambassador

St. Paul, MN-

So it's over. The Republicans have left our sleepy little capital city, the hookers following in the wake of their SUV convoys like dolphins following the trail of food scraps dumped overboard from a Carnival cruise ship. Dolphins with daddy issues and drug dependency who do double penetration for only $20 extra, that is. 

Yes, finally I can get to downtown St. Paul unabated to enjoy everything it has to offer. Like drinking. And betting on the tumbleweed races. And drinking. And I can do it all without being pepper-sprayed or interviewed by Tucker Carlson whilst on my way there.

To tell you the truth, it was my original intent with this post to recap last week's festivities until I remembered, "Hey, hasn't the mainstream media covered enough of this GOP circle jerk already? Why don't you give your readers something fresh, worthwhile and entertaining? Why, Blaine, don't you give them a dance lesson by James Brown instead?"

And so I replied to myself, "Self, that's a brilliant idea. I love everything about you and what you represent. You're the greatest man I've ever known." [Moves in for a slow, sensual kiss with reflection in mirror]. 

A-hem. Sorry. That got a little weird. Sometimes I forget that other people are reading this. 

Anyway, see you in hell, GOP. It's time to get on the good foot: