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Droppin’ Science Reminds Hip-Hop Producers Of What They Already Knew

Blue Note records just released “Droppin’ Science: Great Samples from the Blue Note Lab,” a collection of cuts that have been sampled by hip-hop producers.

Albums like this have always confused me.

There’s always been a strange disconnect between labels and sampling artists. For the longest time, sampling was seen as a crutch, an easy way out. Perhaps it’s a sea change in attitude, but it strikes me as disingenuous to now celebrate what was once criticized, just because it has become financially viable. Especially when the artists that were criticized and belittled for the sampling (A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul) are now being used to help sell the label’s back catalog.

Where’s the love for expending effort?

Of course, this has always been an artistic justification for sampling. The idea that hearing ATCQ’s “Electric Relaxation” would get you to dig, and consequently go out and buy, an old Ronnie Foster album has long been a rallying cry of sampling artists.

I can’t even count the number of times I have discovered an artist through the songs that have sampled them, from Donny Hathaway to Roy Ayers to Rahsaan Roland Kirk. That’s part of the fun, I think.

When I see compilations like “Droppin’ Science,” it seems too easy to me, all pre-packaged and remastered. It’s too clean, too convenient. Even in this age of torrents and mp3 blogs, there is an element of search and discovery to sampling- the same ears are needed, they just have so many more places to listen.

Snob does not equal Purist

I’m not a purist. I don’t go to my local record store and flip through aisle after endless aisle of vinyl. It’s just not the way I work, but my own personal sample collection is the result of hours upon hours upon hours of searching, chatting, posting, downloading, buying, and trading.

Do I feel superior to someone who buys “Droppin’ Science,” grabs the same sample the Beastie Boys used on “Sure Shot,” and makes a new track out of it?

Well, honestly… yeah, a little.

Who does this compilation serve?

The rather redundant thing about the disc is that anyone who is at all serious about sampling has got all of the tracks on it anyway. Any sample-based hip-hop producer worth his salt has got his library stocked with enough David Axelrod, Donald Byrd, Lou Donaldson, and Grant Green to choke a mule. I’m just not sure of the market for it.

The other thing that strikes me is how it is nearly impossible now to separate the original from the song that sampled it, almost to the original’s detriment. Try to listen to the first few bars of “The Edge” by David Axelrod without expecting it to launch into Dr. Dre’s “The Next Episode”… for me, at least, it is nearly impossible.

Droppin’ Science tracks + sampling artists

For those of you that are curious, here is the track-list (I took the liberty of adding some of the songs that sampled each track). It’s basically a Tribe Called Quest mixtape :

1. Lou Donaldson - “It’s Your Thing”

Brand Nubian - “Punks Jump Up To Get Beat Down”
De La Soul - “Bitties In The BK Lounge”
The Roots - “It’s Comin”

2. Ronnie Foster - “Mystic Brew”

A Tribe Called Quest - “Electric Relaxation”
A Tribe Called Quest - “Stressed Out”

3. Donald Byrd - “Think Twice”

A Tribe Called Quest - “Footprints”
De La Soul - “Simply Havin”
Peanut Butter Wolf - “Don’t Turn Back”

4. David McCallum/David Axelrod - “The Edge”

DJ Shadow - “Dark Days”
Dr. Dre - “The Next Episode”

5. “Brother” Jack McDuff - “Oblighetto”

A Tribe Called Quest - “Scenario”
Ugly Duckling - “Oasis”

6. Joe Williams - “Get Out Of My Life, Woman”

Big Daddy Kane - “Very Special”
Biz Markie - “Funk Is Back”
Kool G Rap - “Ill Street Blues”

7. Grant Green - “Down Here On The Ground”

A Tribe Called Quest - “Vibes And Stuff”
Cypress Hill - “Stoned Is The Way Of The Walk”
Pete Rock & CL Smooth - “Act Like You Know”

8. Lonnie Smith - “Spinning Wheel”

A Tribe Called Quest - “Buggin Out”
A Tribe Called Quest - “Can I Kick It?”
Erick Sermon - “Hostile”
Run-DMC - “Come On Everybody”

9. Jeremy Steig - “Howling For Judy”

Beastie Boys - “Sure Shot”

10. Lou Donaldson - “Who’s Making Love”

A Tribe Called Quest - “Hot Sex”
De La Soul - “Once Again Strong Island”
Notorious BIG - “One More Chance”

11. Ronnie Laws - “Tidal Wave”

A Tribe Called Quest - “The Love”
Quasimoto - “Return of the Loop Digga”

12. Monk Higgins - “Little Green Apples”

GangStarr - “Code of the Streets”

13. Donald Byrd - “Wind Parade”

Black Eyed Peas f. De La Soul - “Cali to New York”
Tupac - “Definition of a Thug Nigga”

Obligatory recapitulation of the pertinent points

I am, as I said, confused by this album, but perhaps I am extolling way too large a proportion of my own preferences and biases on what, on the outset, is a collection of really good music from Blue Note… but I’m Matt, and that’s what I do. The content is solid, it’s the medium that throws me for a loop. [ms]