I Need A! I Wanna! - Q-Tip Beat Series Part IV

Monty Alexander - 'Love & Happiness'
taken from Rass! (MPS, 1974)

Lonnie Smith - 'Spinning Wheel'
taken from Drives (Blue Note, 1970)

[Note: Thanks to reader 'jaycee' it is clear that my ears did not deceive me. The drum loop in question is Little Feat's 'Fool Yourself' as made famous by 'Bonita Applebum', although it remains a possibility that the sax sample comes from 'Spinning Wheel'. If you know, I'd appreciate the info.]

Apache - 'Gangsta Bitch'
taken from Apache Ain't Shit (Tommy Boy, 1993)

Lack of inspiration and a heavy workload have kept me admirably occupied over the last week or so: apologies for the lack of activity here at FDB. I've had this post in the vault for a while, but it is the magnificent series of recent drops over at Soul-Sides that has finally lit a fire under my arse and inspired me to roll it out. If you've missed out on the 'Who Flipped It Better?' series that Oliver Wang has been churning out at a rate that puts this here blogspot to shame then make sure you check it out: O-Dub is indisputably one of the kings of the blog scene. Tuesday's installment covered the Monty Alexander break 'Love & Happiness' and contrasted the way in which it had been used by both The Beatnuts and Q-Tip, and with my ongoing analysis of The Abstract's deft production style, it feels fitting to finally get around to his work on the Apache track 'Gangsta Bitch'. Let the proceedings commence...

Originally released as a 7 inch by Tommy Boy in 1992, 'Gangsta Bitch' eventually found its place on Apache's release from '93, the humourously titled Apache Ain't Shit. To be honest with you this particular album has always left me a little cold: all the ingredients seem to be in place for something of quality (decent production roster, Flavor Unit affiliations etc.), but as a whole it lacks something that means it has not received a massive amount of airplay from me. Of course, there are still some treats here to savour, no less so than with the aforementioned cut that features Tip on the boards. I believe that Ego Trip rates this song as one of the best single tracks of the year, and although I feel this is an over-exaggeration, it is without a doubt a solid jam whose success relies on the beat as opposed to Apache's lyrical ode to the fly, street-savvy honeys of the ghetto which for me occupies the realms of the mediocre. It's not that the rhymes are bad by any means, but the chorus hook in particular grates, and the result is a tarnishing of the track in its entirety that I struggle to get over.

Tip turns to Monty Alexander's cover of 'Love & Happiness' for the main groove here, yet another example of an artist and song who I have only very recently stumbled across as a result of virtual digging and who I know very little about (oh, to be a genuine, dusty-fingered crate-digger!). The section of the song to focus on arrives at the 4.06 mark with a stripped-down two bars of percussion, electric piano and guitar tracks, although it is really only the electric piano part that survives Tip's use of filters to draw out the main groove for 'Gangsta Bitch'. The Breaks also notes the use of 'Spinning Wheel' by Lonnie Smith, a sample source that Tribe mined on two separate occasions with both 'Can I Kick It?' and 'Buggin' Out' to great effect, but I can't hear it myself: answers on a postcard folks.

There are other subtleties to the composition that fill the beat out, giving it a plush, melodic feel. The echoing horn stabs (perhaps taken from 'Spinning Wheel'?) that appear intermittently throughout the cut provide an extra layer of sound that works very well nestled in between the other samples, and scratches at the chorus add a necessary interest to what is essentially a simplistic piece of production work. What particularly interests me about this song is that although it contains many trademark Q-Tip production touches, it is by no means instantly recognisable as a piece of his work, thereby serving as yet another demonstration of his ability to modify his production style in subtle ways that really affirms his skill and versatility behind the boards during his most prolific period of beat-making.

I'm going to try and sort my priorities out this week (read: I'm going to ignore the responsibilities of the rest of my life in favour of some committed internet time), so stay tuned this week for an increased frequency of posts (just don't hold me to it). Sunday afternoon lazin' awaits: I'll catch you later.

Represent To The Fullest - Q-Tip Beat Series Part III

Nas - 'One Love (Instrumental)'
taken from Illmatic (Columbia, 1994)

[It seems pointless posting up the song with lyrics so here's the instrumental. Can't remember where I came across it exactly, but thanks to whoever may have posted it up in the past.]

Heath Brothers - 'Smilin' Billy Suite Pt. II'
taken from Marchin' On (Strata East, 1975)

Clyde McPhatter - 'Mixed Up Cup'
originally found on Welcome Home (Decca, 1970)

Despite Tip's 'slept on' producer status, there is no denying that he placed himself amongst a elite group of beatmaking individuals when he made a contribution to Illmatic, a record whose magnitude needs little discussion here. 'One Love' is of course a standout amongst standouts and comparisons with other songs on the album are somewhat arbitrary, but it has always been one of the my personal favourites on the LP. I remember watching a 'Making Of Illmatic' video on YouTube in recent times (now deleted unfortunately) where Tip described his vision for the beat as being on some 'ghetto monk type shit', and although this isn't exactly the most eloquent description of the song imaginable, it certainly captures something about the dark, atmospheric vibe of the track that feels fitting. One of Tip's greatest beats deconstructed: here we go.

What I really dig about the Abstract's production style is that he resists the temptation to chop up samples too heavily, thereby keeping the sound fluid and warm. 'One Love' is a case in point, with Tip jacking the first 23 seconds of the Heath Brothers' 'Smilin' Billy Suite Part II' from their 1975 release Marchin' On and doing very little with it beyond the addition of drums and volume changes as the sample is introduced. This introductory section really is masterful, with Mtume Heath's percussion part from the original source gradually building into the mix before its complete introduction after the initial eight bar sequence which brings with it the unveiling of double bass and piano tracks. From here on in there really are very few changes, the different musical elements of the track creating a mystical and hypnotic platform for Nas's musings that simply doesn't require too much fiddling around with. No extra loop at the chorus, no bridge section, only a handful of breakdowns: it's a veritable lesson in measured, instinctive and thoroughly considered hip hop production techniques.

For the drum track Tip turns to Clyde McPhatter's song 'Mixed Up Cup'. Now I'm gonna revoke the ghetto pass here and admit this is a pure internet find which I know very little about and which actually comes off a compilation made of songs that have at some stage been sampled by Tribe (distinctly un-hip hop I know). As a result this is just an excerpt that features the drum break used by Tip on 'One Love'; unfortunately that's all I have to offer you. From my brief research on McPhatter I can tell you that he was a part of the original line up of The Drifters in the early '50s on Atlantic Records, but broke with the group relatively quickly to pursue solo interests. The sounds of the drink being poured during the 'Mixed Up Cup' intro may have seemed harmless enough at the time, but with the knowledge of McPhatter's demise at the age of 39 due to heart, liver and kidney disease after decades of heavy drinking it carries saddening connotations of an addiction that ultimately took him to his grave. Little did he know that two seconds of his music would resonate so heavily amongst an urban subculture called hip hop nearly 25 years after their original commitment to wax: a legacy indeed.

For me there is little doubt that 'One Love' represents one of Tip's finest moments behind the boards, and just as with his contributions to The Infamous, it demonstrates his ability to switch up his production style when the opportunities presented themselves during the most successful and prolific period in his career. If you're still sleepin' on Q-Tip's production stature then let's strip it down to the bare essentials: the man posted a beat on Illmatic. Still need convincing?

Drivin' Me Mad Inside - Q-Tip Beat Series Part II

Cypress Hill - Illusions (Q-Tip Remix)
taken from Unreleased & Revamped (Sony, 1996)

Having waxed lyrical about Q-Tip's proficiency behind the boards in the first installment of this series, his work with Cypress Hill on the 'Illusions' remix actually comes as a slight disappointment. Trav of WYDU fame recently noted that if you're going to remix a track then it better be as good, if not better, than the original, and in this case I am sad to say that The Abstract's reinterpretation of Hill's dark and moody classic falls short of the mark. Don't fret though, there's still a quality to this particular work that demands discussion, and despite its shortcomings, it displays another angle to Tip's production style that is relatively unique amongst his wider body of work.

Let's start with the good stuff. What I like about Tip's production here is his incorporation of dub reggae influences that work well when teamed up with the heavy drum track, and in particular, the crunching snare hits that punctuate the groove. The main loop and its dose of reverb clearly nod to a dub aesthetic, as does the percussive track that replaces the traditional high hat. The last 30 seconds of the song are the most extreme point at which these influences come into fruition, with big slabs of reverb applied to some of the key elements of the cut, creating a whirlwind of sound that would perhaps be better suited to your local bredrens' soundclash than a regular hip hop jam. The bouncy, open nature of the beat is enjoyable and original, and it clearly demonstrates Tip's wide spectrum of musical influences as well as his ability to translate these into a different context.

However, the reason why I am not totally won over by this song is that the production seems to bear little regard for the vocal performance of B-Real, whose distinctive nasal delivery seems uncomfortable here. When paired up with the original beat, the rhymes feel dark and sinister, but Tip's remix detracts from this quality and the impact of these verses is somewhat lost. A truly great remix avoids this fallacy, putting a different spin on existing rhymes and providing them with a new and complementary platform, but in this case, the beat and lyrics jar rather than mesh.

So it's a thumbs up for the beat, but a thumbs down for the remix as a whole. If you're in any doubt as to what I'm getting at, peep the video of 'Illusions' in its original incarnation: to my mind, there's no contest between this and Tip's version:



(As a brief aside, I love the Apocalypse Now reference in this video as it works incredibly well with the vibe of the song: it's seriously dope.)

More Q-Tip beat-based goodness to come in the future: enjoy your Friday night folks.

You Don't Know What You Got... Q-Tip Beat Series Part I

Janet - Got 'Til It's Gone ft. Q-Tip
taken from The Velvet Rope (Virgin, 1997)

I've been toying with the idea of a special Q-Tip production series for a while now, and I had originally intended this to be a straight compilation with extended commentary, but it feels like I would be doing Queens' one and only Q-Tip a disservice by limiting his 'extra-curricular' production credits to just a singular post. Whereas talk often arises concerning 'the best producer on the mic', discussions of the greatest MC on the boards seem more limited, and there is little doubt in my mind that Q-Tip should be considered the blueprint for this category of hip hopping musician. I can see why this imbalance exists: as a producer, you are behind the scenes, crafting grooves in some dusty basement and as a result, there is little opportunity to chisel out a strong sense of identity beyond the music that you create. Conversely, the MC is the person in the limelight, a figurehead for the culture, and the genre pretty much necessitates that you craft a persona which is engaging enough to endure the pitfalls that await any up and coming, fresh faced rapper on the scene. Q-Tip laughs in the face of these generalisations as both the lead voice in arguably the greatest hip hop group of all time, and the creator of a back catalogue of beats that stands up against the top level producers in the game that goes all the way back to the late '80s. Let's get real: there is nobody who has combined both arts as seamlessly as Q-Tip. In what will be a spasmodic series of posts over the coming months, I intend to focus on Q-Tip's non-ATCQ production credits and break 'em down in the style that you've become accustomed to. This will include some of his remix work as well as work with the production super crew of The Ummah, which coincidentally, leads me nicely into the first installment in the series...

Janet Jackson's 'Got Til It's Gone' is in fact a controversial starting point, as rumours still abound as to who actually put this beat together. However, I would be astounded if the team of Q-Tip, Dilla and Ali Shaheed Muhammad didn't produce this song, as both the sound of the track and Q-Tip's guestspot clearly indicate their participation. Taking one of Joni Mitchell's most poignant lyrics from 1970's 'Ladies Of The Canyon' as its thematic focus, 'Got 'Til It's Gone' is the perfect hip hop crossover jam, radio friendly enough to keep your average chart fan happy and with enough musical depth and grit to satisfy true heads. The beautifully crisp drum track puts the strain on your neck muscles almost instantaneously, and it works wonderfully with the bass and mellow organ track that warm the beat throughout the duration of the song. Joni's vocal hook and the baby scratches that introduce it slip perfectly into the mix, and the end result is enrapturing, creating a laid back vibe that is still driven forward with a constant sense of momentum. Perhaps one of my favourite moments in the song is the breakdown at the 3.27 mark. Briefly reduced to just bass and hand claps (you trying to tell me this ain't Dilla?!), the organ rejoins the mix at 3.38 giving you a little time to breath before you're thrown back into the beat ten seconds later with Joni's lyrics still reverberating in your ears: it's bangin'.

On the vocal side of things, I barely even register Janet's voice when listening to this cut, but her sultry, whispered delivery does work well here, adding another layer to the composition that fits in alongside the groove smoothly rather than attempting to dominate it. Q-Tip's verse needs little discussion because it is characteristically excellent, his inimitable sense of style easily carrying the weight of the sixteen bars he gets here, half of which are consumed by the 'why you wanna go and do that' refrain: our man must have rolled this one out in his sleep.

If you have hard evidence to suggest that Tip and the boys didn't produce this then I'm all ears, but as I stated before, it carries so many of The Ummah's trademark features that if it isn't them, it's a striking imitation of their style in this phase of their production output. Perhaps I'm tempting fate: I can already sense imminent evidence to the contrary... hit me up. If I have got this wrong then this will have been the most impotent start to a Q-Tip production series in blogging history, but have no fear: there's more to come over the next few months. I'm outta here.