Droppin Science’ | Greatest Samples From The Blue Note Label
Droppin’ Science
In Stores 2/12
Blue Note Records
On February 12, Blue Note Records will release Droppin’ Science, a unique collection of the legendary label’s classic late 60s through mid-70s jazz-funk tracks, all of which have featured prominently as samples in some of the greatest hip hop cuts of the late 80s, 90s and beyond. Hip hop artists ranging from Dr. Dre to the Beastie Boys and A Tribe Called Quest have sampled Blue Note grooves by such jazz greats as Lou Donaldson, Grant Green, Donald Byrd, and Lonnie Smith. All of these original Blue Note tracks have been compiled for the first time on Droppin’ Science, which Blue Note will release as a 10-track CD, a 13-track digital album and vinyl LP, as well as individual ring-tunes that are based on the exact sampled loop.
Little known to most of the general public, Blue Note is home to some of the most widely used samples in the history of hip hop. Sampling and the use of breakbeats has been the foundation of hip hop since its advent in the late 70s; yet, during the late 80s artists began looking for the first time into the world of jazz for new and creative sources of music. Blue Note’s extensive catalog quickly became the go-to location for innovative groove based samples. What resulted was an explosion of classic hip hop tracks featuring Blue Note jazz. This explosion is best experienced in the music of A Tribe Called Quest, who used 4 out of the 10 tracks on Droppin’ Science in numerous groundbreaking classics.
Taking the name from a cut off of Marley Marl’s 1988 LP In Control Vol. 1, Blue Note’s VP of A&R Eli Wolf conceived the Droppin’ Science project as a way to connect what he calls the “golden age of hip hop” to the now classic jazz-funk tracks recorded for Blue Note during the late 60s through mid-70s. Selecting from over 25 Blue Note tracks, Wolf has assembled the best of the best from the Blue Note sampleography.
The list of artists both sampled and sampling includes some of the most famous names in the world of jazz and hip hop, and covers a large breadth of time. In 1992, Kool G Rap used Joe Williams’ “Get out of My Life Woman” in his classic cut “Ill Street Blues;” then, nearly a decade later Jill Scott used the same sample in the song “Brotha” featured on her seminal neo-soul debut Words and Sounds: Vol 1. Landmark tracks from Brand Nubian (“Punks Jump Up to Get Beat Down”), De La Soul (“Bitties in the BK Lounge”), and Lox (“Get This $”) all feature a groove from Lou Donaldson’s “It’s Your Thing.” A Tribe Called Quest used Jack McDuff’s “Oblighetto” in their smash “Scenario.” As recently as 2001, Dr. Dre sampled David McCallum’s “The Edge” in the infamous cut “The Next Episode” which featured Snoop Dog. The list continues, with Biggie Smalls’ “One More Chance” remix and Mary J. Blige’s “Everyday It Rains” featuring a sample from Lou Donaldson’s “Whose Makin’ Love.” Blue Note’s influence has even been felt in the pop world where Madonna used a Lou Donaldson sample (“It’s Your Thing”) in her song “I’d Rather Be Your Lover,” as well as a sample of Grant Green’s “Down Here on the Ground” in her song “Forbidden Love.” For a full sampleography, please see below.
These innovative hip hop artists and beyond did their part to bring to light some of the gems of the Blue Note catalog. Yet, these tracks deserve to be heard in their entirety; complete with ripping Lonnie Smith organ solos and David Axelrod produced sound-scapes. Blue Note’s aim is to re-introduce these classics to the public and to highlight the innovative ways in which these artists and producers utilized jazz material in their work. Droppin’ Science brings these jazz tracks together for the first time in a truly distinct, soulful, and funky way.
TRACKLISTING and SAMPLEOGRAPHY
1. Lou Donaldson “It’s Your Thing” – Originally on the album Hot Dog (Blue Note, 1969).
Brand Nubian “Punks Jump Up To Get Beat Down” (Elektra)
De La Soul “Bitties In The BK Lounge” (Tommy Boy)
Lox “Get This $” (Bad Boy/Arista)
Real Live “Day You Die” (Pirate/Big Beat)
Madonna “I’d Rather Be Your Lover” (Warner Bros.)
2. Ronnie Foster “Mystic Brew” – Originally on the album Two Headed Freap (Blue Note, 1972).
A Tribe Called Quest “Electric Relaxation” (Jive)
Rell “Real Love” (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam)
E.T.A. “Ayia Napa” (Flex)
3. Donald Byrd “Think Twice” – Originally on the album Stepping into Tomorrow (Blue Note, 1974).
A Tribe Called Quest “Footprints” (Jive)
Main Source “Lookin At The Front Door” (Wild Pitch)
De La Soul “Simply Havin” (Tommy Boy)
DJ Krush “Big City Lover” (Instinct)
J Dilla “Think Twice” (BBE)
4. David Axelrod/David McCullum “The Edge” – Originally on the album Music: A Bit More of Me (Capitol, 1968).
Dr. Dre “The Next Episode” (Aftermath/Interscope)
5. Jack McDuff “Oblighetto” – Originally on the album Moon Rappin’ (Blue Note, 1969).
A Tribe Called Quest “Scenario” (Jive)
J Dilla “Oblighetto Remix” (Blue Note)
6. Joe Williams “Get Out Of My Life Woman” – Originally on the album Presenting Joe Williams and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra (Solid State, 1966).
Kool G Rap “Ill Street Blues” (Cold Chillin’/Warner Bros.)
Biz Markie “Funk Is Back” (Cold Chillin’/Warner Bros.)
Cadillac Tah “You Loose” (Def Jam)
Jill Scott “Brotha” (Hidden Beach)
7. Grant Green “Down Here On The Ground” – Originally on the album Alive! (Blue Note, 1970).
A Tribe Called Quest “Vibes & Stuff” (Jive)
Madonna “Forbidden Love” (Boy Toy/Warner Bros.)
8. Lonnie Smith “Spinnin Wheel” – Originally on the album Drives (Blue Note, 1970).
A Tribe Called Quest “Can I Kick It” (Jive)
Pete Rock And C.L. Smooth “Act Like You Know” (Elektra)
Brian Austin Green “Didn’t Have A Clue” (Yam Yum Entertainment)
9. Jeremy Steig “Howling For Judy” – Originally on the album Legwork (Solid State, 1970).
Beastie Boys “Get It Together” (Capitol)
10. Lou Donaldson “Who’s Makin Love (To Your Old Lady)” Originally on the album Hot Dog (Blue Note, 1969).
Biggie Smalls “One More Chance” Remix. (Bad Boy)
Marley Marl & Craig G “Droppin Science” (Cold Chillin”/Warner Bros)
Mary J. Blige “Everyday It Rains” (Def Jams)
BONUS TRACKS (Digital album and LP version)
11. Ronnie Laws “Tidal Wave” Originally on the album Pressure Sensitive (Blue Note, 1975).
Black Moon “Who Got The Props” (Nervous)
Jackson 5 “I Want You Back (Remix)” (Motown)
12. Monk Higgins “Little Green Apples” – Originally on the album Extra Soul Perception (Solid State, 1969).
Gangstarr “Code Of The Streets” (Chrysalis/EMI)
13. Donald Byrd “Wind Parade” – Originally on the album Places and Spaces (Blue Note, 1975).
Black Moon “Buck Em Down” (Nervous)
2 Pac “Definition of A Thug Nigga” (Columbia Pictures/Sony) and (Amaru/Interscope/Jive)
2 Pac “Late Night” (Interscope)
Organized Confusion “Stray Bullet” (Hollywood)
Blue Note Records enlisted the help of Hip-Hop elitist to comprise their latest release, Droppin’ Science: Greatest Samples From The Blue Note Lab. ?Questlove, drummer from The Legendary Roots Crew provides the liner notes for the album. While, J Rocc from The World Famous Beat Junkies put together a mix comprised of the originals and Hip-Hop tracks that sampled them. Check out the mix and liner notes below.
Droppin’ Science Liner Notes by ?Questlove of The Roots
DROPPIN’ SCIENCE: GREATEST SAMPLES FROM THE BLUE NOTE LAB
In hip hop’s coming-of-age during the mid to late-’80s, I slowly discovered that my father’s precious record collection was an oasis of endless trivia. Friends and I would sit by his turntable and play endless soul records only to discover, “Dayuuuuuuuum! This is where [enter hip hop producer here] got his idea for [enter artist here] for [hip hop song here]!!!!”
For those not too fortunate with a connoisseur figurehead like mine, there were other options like Lenny Roberts’s Ultimate Breaks & Beats and Paul Winley’s Super Disco Breaks, which basically gave you the Cliffs Notes on beat digging. I’m certain this upset most beat diggers pre-’85 who went as far as to wash the label off the record so that future break vultures couldn’t cheat with the old “look over the shoulder trick” that DJs still do to this day.
Combine all this with the discovery of your uncle’s James Brown 45s, and you pretty much have the soundtrack to the classic hip hop period of the late-’80s. There were some notable exceptions.
The one that makes me the proudest, of course, is my hometown champ (and the greatest, funkiest, and most precise DJ ever!), DJ Jazzy Jeff, who lived up to his name in 1986 with a ditty called “A Touch of Jazz,” a compiled cram session of ’70s funk/jazz trivia looped and scratched to perfection. It was the “DJ cut” — remember those? — on his debut album, Rock the House (along with an MC I haven’t heard from in eons? Any locale for a Will Smith? Anyone? . . . lol).
That was the first time I heard a Bluebreak used in hip hop (my favorite Mizell-penned classic “Harlem River Drive” for Bobbi Humphrey). As time progressed, I slowly started to discover the side of my pop’s record collection that I used to avoid like the plague (I mean the James/Parliament/Cameo/Ohio Players/Earth Wind & Fire smorgasborg was enough for my naive arse). Those records looked like old peoples’ records — what in the hell was a Lou Donaldson gonna teach me?
Enter Idris Muhammad, a crucial general in the Blue Note army that was key to crossing the prestigious jazz label over to the soul side of thangs. That was how I got sucked into Bluebreaks. Same jazz outlook, just a lil’ funkier, to reach the corners of the ghetto that an otherwise (still worthy) Jackie McLean or a Horace Silver couldn’t penetrate. Idris’s drums had equal influence on me just as strong as if he were playing the role of John “Jabo” Starks or Clyde Stubblefield in the James Brown band.
And pretty soon, the progressive element of hip hop entered the picture and traded their Ultimate Discos for post - Reid Miles-designed Disc(os). A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, The Jungle Brothers, Brand Nubian, KMD, Leaders of the New School, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, and even my group, all raided the closet of Blue Note’s funk period. Of course, the benefit to all was now there was a reintroduction to the kids of the parents to whom the initial Blue Note albums were aimed.
Of course, with hip hop now going through a very “curious” phase, compilations like the very one you hold in your hands are very necessary. Sure I can give you the ol’ “can’t know where you going ’less you know . . .” shtick, but at the rate where this “curious” phase feels like the pit of hell . . . then . . . perhaps a cliché might be a breath of fresh air.
— El ?uesto
(aka Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson)
