MF DOOM
Rhymes Like Dimes (Edit)
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Album: Operation: Doomsday (1999)

Quincy Jones (w/James Ingram)
One Hundred Ways
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Album: The Dude (1981)

MF DOOM may be my favorite rapper at this point in time. He is one of the best rhymers in the game, and the combination of his cryptic lyrics and hoarse voice makes him stand out from other MCs.

Formerly known as Zev Love X, MF DOOM first came on the scene as part of 90s underground hip hop group KMD, until the group came to an untimely end after his partner Subroc died tragically in a car accident.

Many years after KMD fell off my radar, I started hearing tracks from MF DOOM with no clue that he was Zev Love X reborn. Me being an obsessive sort, I started looking into this talented rapper/producer only to be confused by all the different names he recorded under. Was he MF DOOM? Viktor Vaughn? King Geedorah? It didn’t really matter, all incarnations were dope. (And big up to Wikipedia for helping me sort through all of MF DOOM‘s personas.)

One of the recordings I picked up was, Live From Planet X, a ferocious live set from 2005 that included a selection I hadn’t heard yet, “Rhymes Like Dimes.” As usual, MF DOOM’s rhymes and phrasing were amazing (e.g. “Classical slapstick, rappers need chapstick”), but what really got me pumped were the snaky keys. Where did I hear them before?

I racked my brain but couldn’t place them. It wasn’t until I was cooling out with my iTunes “chill” playlist that I recognized the sample source: the mellow solo from 5-star classic “One Hundred Ways.” How did I not peg that classic Quincy Jones sound?

The “One Hundred Ways” sample is way more obvious in the recorded version off MF DOOM’s debut, Operation: Doomsday, as the (overlong) outro from DJ Cucumber Slice (aka Bobbito) features a direct quote from the originating track. Considering MF DOOM raps for two-and-a-half minutes and Bobbito does his hype thing for an additional couple of minutes, I chose to fade the track after MF DOOM completes his verses.

Gwen McCrae
All This Love That I’m Giving
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Album: Melody Of Life (1979)

Cassius
Feeling For You
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Album: 1999 (1999)

This time out on Musical Cousins, two tracks that will make you shake your booty. Spaced 20 years apart, Gwen McCrae’s disco-funk classic, “All This Love I’m Giving,” inspired the arch French duo Cassius to produce “Feeling For You,” a bouncy electro-house track from their underappreciated 1999 album. Two very different approaches to dance music, but don’t make me choose.

Gwen McCrae is one of those 70s soul divas who never quite penetrated the mainstream in the same manner as her contemporaries (e.g. Donna Summer, Diana Ross). Emerging from the shadow of her (allegedly) abusive ex-husband, George McCrae (responsible for the mid-70s hit “Rock Your Baby”), Gwen released a few mildly successful records before getting rediscovered in the UK and enterprising hip hop producers. She’s still at it, but has shifted her talents to gospel music.

Cassius started their career remixing tracks from French house progenitors Daft Punk and Air. 1999 was their debut album, and burned up the dance charts all over the planet. For the single “Feeling For You,” Cassius took a phrase from “All This Love That I’m Giving,” sped it up and looped it, and dropped layers of synthesizers and beats behind it. Sounds simple, but there’s a mathematical precision to how Cassius constructs their tracks, maximizing their danceability quotient.