I absolutely love this — shows just how much sampling has created its own diverse musical map.    Talk about bridging the gap!  Check out the original here.

Arguably the dopest, most consistent producer over the last 20 years, Primo represented on this ‘classic’ track.

Featuring Rakim, Kanye West and KRS One and created for Nike for the 25th anniversary of Air Force One’s (2007), this feels like NYC hip hop, circa 1988.

You can check out more on the Nike celebration here.

In keeping with our “samplin’ sport” series, the remix features a sample from the original Kung Fu Master, Carl Douglass himself, “Dance The Kung Fu”.
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Rotary Connection

A Tribe Called Quest

Ok, here we go again. This round features a very distinctive sample, “Memory Band”, (Robert Rudolph, Charles Stepney), (Chess/1967) from a fairly obscure group, Rotary Connection. If it doesn’t ring a bell, it will at about :17. If you knew this one (and you’re not a DJ or producer), get at me! I’ve got plans for you…..

Now, there’s also the jazz influenced, Roy Ayers produced “Daylight” (William Allen, Roy Ayers, Edwin Birdsong), from Ramp (Roy Ayers Music Productions), that contains elements that serve as the bass line for the  A Tribe Called Quest classic, “Bonita Applebum” (People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm/Jive/1990) and also the Fugees, “Killin’ Me Softly”.

From their AMG bio:

Rotary Connection’s psychedelic chamber soul continues to sound ambitious and progressive decades after the group’s departure. Instantly recognizable from the dramatic string arrangements of Charles Stepney and the five-octave voice of Minnie Riperton, the group released six albums between 1967 and 1971 that combined rock, soul, and psychedelia to theatrical and occasionally transcendental heights. The racially mixed group never really broke out of the Midwest, a region in which they frequently played out. Their failure to become more than a regional cult act can be partly attributed to their management’s decision to spurn a slot at Woodstock in order to play a more lucrative festival in Toronto. Despite some patchy albums and poor management decisions, Rotary Connection’s status as an influential cult group has steadily risen since the ’70s.

Source
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