J Dilla + Samples
J Dilla was a producer of prolific output, held in high esteem by artists like ?uestlove, Jay Z and Kanye West, and the catalyst for my recent resurgence of interest in him is the release of yet another of his posthumous albums, Jay Stay Paid.
Of all his work, the album Donuts is that which is the most well known; a series of short songs (all under 2 minutes apart from the 10cc-sampled Workinonit) that borrow heavily from the songs J Dilla sampled. I managed to track down somewhere where all the songs he'd sampled for this album could be found, and have included three below followed by the J Dilla songs for comparison. I can't rate them highly enough, and regardless of any view that sampling to J Dilla's extent is pure plagiarism, you have to admire his taste.
The first song wasn't sampled on the album Donuts (although one of the drum breaks resurfaces on Jay Stay Paid) but was used in the single Fuck The Police, which I haven't included purely because Rene Costy's original on its own blows away any chance of comparison.
Rene Costy - Scrabble (highly recommended)
sampled on Fuck The Police
sampled on Glazed
Of these songs J Dilla's product in this instance is the one I'd definitely say makes a marked improvement, driving up the volume of the backing vocals, introducing a searing beat, and only marred by its brevity.
sampled on Light My Fire
the most beautiful opening three seconds of a song you're ever likely to hear
sampled on U-Love
Rufus Wainwright (remixed by Supermayer)
rufus having a morrisey moment
I found this after reading a Pitchfork Guest List interview with Hot Chip guitarist Joe Goddard. Crisp glock and a shining escalade of harp arrangements fade into an elastic club beat, lasting for nearly quarter of an hour.
I'm going to go recharge my honesty batteries now, I have some thinking to do.
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