Sound Lesson: 1

I decided to start a weekly thread that traces the original samples of classic Hiphop / Electronic /Nu-Soul / 'whatever genre I want' joints. At first I wanted to limit myself to finding the most obscure shit around, but that constraint really is silly. Instead, I'm just going to post up the illest shit no matter it's popularity.

Let's get to the program then. Remember young Jay-Z when he used to kick with The Jaz as part of The Originators in the late 80s and early 90s? Rumors abound that the Jaz gave Jay-Z his name, or even his original style from which he gained the name Jay-Z, having something to do with his bullet paced, saxophone swaying flow.

In the end, who the hell knows since their egos get too thickly in the way for any simple answers. Even though the two have the funny beef that always haunts people who want to define themselves uniquely from their closest influences, they used to rock it like no one else, leaving for our politically minded bodyrocking pleasure the funky Nation of Islam slam "The Originators."





Oddly enough, I never hear DJs bumping this track even though Jay-Z drops a heated verse with more tongue-twisting technique than Das EFX. Apparently all of Brooklyn got down with the skibbidy hibbop yabbadoo steez.

Considering the track is entitled the Originators, it's only fitting to go back into history to find the source of that inspiration. For the production, Jaz sliced up the aggressive saxophone and resonant drum break of The Last Word's "Keep on Bumpin'." The Last Word was actually a tiny side project of the J.B.'s in the mid 70's that tended to more of an upbeat sound friendly to the hip grinding moves of the bump fad. The sax melody is layered with some sharp keyboard effects that raise into an alarming doppler style blast in the middle of the track. This shit is fresh.