
Get On The Good Foot: Hip-Hop's Top 10 James Brown Samples

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10. "Gotta Have It" (2011), Jay Z & Kanye West
Samples: "I'm a Greedy Man" (1971), "My Thang" (1974)
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This most recent James Brown sampled entry doesn't try to reinvent the funk wheel. It's a sparse, distilled throwback that gives Jigga and Yeezy plenty of room to operate. Yet, Brown's authoritative voice is the star of the show.
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9. "You Played Yourself" (1990), Ice T
Samples: "The Boss" (1973)
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Sometimes a groove doesn't need to be stepped on. Such is the case with Ice T's game-spitting standout "You Played Yourself." The Godfather of gangsta rap utilizes significant portions of Brown's chest-beating proclamation "The Boss." If it ain't broke...you know the rest.
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8. "Brand New Funk" (1988), DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
Samples: "Make It Funky" (1971), "My Thang" (1974)
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The next time you hear someone label DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince soft simply play them "Brand New Funk." Mr. Dynamite's propulsive lift adds plenty of cocky swagger to the infectious rhymes of future Hollywood box office king Will Smith. A fun, underrated record that still pops two decades plus later.
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7. "Words I Manifest" (1988), Gang Starr
Samples: "Bring It Up (Hipster's Avenue)" (1967)
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The beauty of the James Brown canon is in it's many musical chambers. Indeed, even on Gang Starr's jazz-centered debut single "Words I Manifest" (The revered duo of producer DJ Premier and late MC Guru mined heavily from Dizzy Gillespie's exotic "A Night in Tunisia"), Brown's simmering, laidback strut connects the dots between two of America's most original musical artforms.
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6. "Heroin Joint" (2010), J Dilla
Samples: "King Heroin" (1972)
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One of Brown's most underrated '70s gems is reworked by departed hip-hop production deity J Dilla. The somber, quiet anger that permeates throughout Soul Brother No. 1's original spoken word sermon against the evils of heroin is flipped brilliantly by the Detroit beat maestro and Slum Village conductor.
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5. "South Bronx" (1987), Boogie Down Productions
Samples: "Funky Drummer" (1970), "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved" (1970), "Get Up Offa That Thing" (1976)
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During the latter part of the '80s and early '90s, it seemed as if the entire rap landscape wanted a piece of James Brown's dynamic sound, including Boogie Down Productions. The the late DJ Scott La Rock and his very young cocksure partner KRS-One salutes their beloved two-fisted borough and birthplace of hip-hop over arguably the most sampled percussive breakbeat in pop music history "Funky Drummer," among other JB tracks. The immaculate,iconic drumming you hear comes courtesy of influential stick man Clyde Stubblefield.
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4. "I Know You Got Soul, (1987)" Eric B. & Rakim
Samples: "I Know You Got Soul," Bobby Byrd (1971, co-written and produced by James Brown)
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When the needle drops on "I Know You Got Soul" the sweaty groove (it's so brutally funky that the frenetic drumming and blusey guitar riffs sound like they were recorded at a slaughter house) and voice of Brown sideman and talented collaborator Bobby Byrd leaps out from the speakers. Even Rakim, the greatest lyricist of his generation, understood the power of Brown's unfiltered soul productions.
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3. "Amerikkka's Most Wanted" (1990), Ice Cube
Samples: "There It Is, Pts. 1 & 2" (1972), "Just Enough Room for Storage" (1971)
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The first of three Bomb Squad productions finds N.W.A. refugee and West Coast powerhouse Ice Cube delivering an uncompromising rebuke of America's racist legal and political systems. Amongst layers of snippets, it's James Brown's aggressive sonics that give added fire power to Cube's lethal mix of aggressive gangsta attitude and cutting sociopolitical observations.
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2. "Night Of The Living Baseheads" (1988), Public Enemy
Samples: "The Grunt" (1970)
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P.E.'s groundbreaking production unit the Bomb Squad lifted the furious horn assault from this obscure instrumental from the Godfather of Soul's mighty backing band The JB's. Listen carefully and you will hear a young Bootsy Collins on bass before his star-making turn as a member of the Funkadelic collective. Not only did Public Enemy sample "The Grunt" for their furious anti-crack statement "Night Of The Living Baseheads," the multilayered gem was also dissected for two additional tracks on the outspoken group's landmark 1988 release It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back, including the screaming manifesto "Rebel Without A Pause."
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1. "Fight The Power" (1989), Public Enemy
Samples: "Funky Drummer" (1970), "Hot Pants" (1971)
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As with most Bomb Squad productions you have to listen very closely for any recognizable musical snippet. Hank and Keith Shocklee, and Chuck D treat the art of sampling like they are mimicking a Jackson Pollock painting. There is a controlled chaos, wall-of-sound eruption happening on "Fight The Power." A vocal clip of civil rights lawyer and activist Thomas "TNT" Todd here (the now famous, "Yet our best trained, best equipped, best prepared troops refuse to fight..." speech); a Trouble Funk "pump me up" sample and a Branford Marsalis' saxophone triplets there. And there's much more in this explosive stew, but it's Brown who pumps blood into Public Enemy's protest anthem as JB-stamped guitars, drums, keyboards, basslines and the force-of-nature's signature grunts move in and out of this monstrous song jam recorded for Spike Lee's seminal film Do The Right Thing.
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