February 28th, 2010 | No Comments »
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Kool G. Rap & D.J. Polo
On The Run (Dirty Untouchable Remix)
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Released in 1992
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Ray Bryant
Up Above The Rock
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Released in 1969
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I had a thing at work recently where I was overdramatically quoting (sotto voce) that psycho De Niro speech from The Untouchables:
That same day, my iPod shuffle randomly selected a remix of Kool G. Rap & D.J. Polo’s 5-star classic “On The Run,” which samples that very same quote. Funny how the universe works sometimes.
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Published in Music, Musical Cousins |
January 31st, 2010 | No Comments »
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Common (w/Kanye West & John Mayer)
Go
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Album: Be (2005)
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Linda Lewis
Old Smokey
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Album: Lark (1972)
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Common has had quite the inconsistent career. But when Kanye West came knocking, Common stepped up his game, resulting in the pretty darn awesome LP Be. I fear Be may end up being the apex of Common’s recording career, but I’m still rooting for one of Chi-town’s finest.
Though Be has a number of enjoyable tracks, I’ve been surprised by how much its third single, "Go" has stuck with me. I think it’s the contrast between the mellow beat and the risqué lyrics that keeps it in rotation.
Kanye makes an able hype man and as for John Mayer, I think his contribution is limited to the echoed "Go" that is looped every two bars or so. (And he gets a songwriting credit?)
I hadn’t heard the Linda Lewis track Kanye sampled in "Go." To be honest, I hadn’t heard of Linda Lewis. But "Old Smokey" is a sweet, feel-good song that is ideally suited to a Sunday morning. Whatever led Kanye to isolate the short electric keyboard breakdown that appears towards the end of the song is a mystery to me, but I’m indebted to Yeezy for leading me to this rare groover.
Published in Music, Musical Cousins |
