Thursday, February 12, 2009

Who Flipped It Better? Company Flow, Parallax, Lord Digga?


Yes, I know these aren't the only tracks to sample this Bob James cut, but they are the focus of the day. The first time I heard this used was on one of my favorite obscure 12 inches, Parallax "Bleeding Hate". It felt like such a perfect, vibe out, meaningful beat. Then, I heard theCompany Flow usage for "Juvenile Techniques", which I thought was incredible at the time. I really dig the whistling sample in Co Flow's version and the overall vibe to it.

Anyway, fast forward to around 2002. So, I'm visiting my father in some godforsaken town in Wisconsin and I'm bored to death. I brought my MPC, but obviously couldn't bring crates of vinyl with me. What I did manage to lug along was a bunch of CDs. One of them was Bob James Two, which contains the original song sampled for these cuts. So, I figured why not do my own rendition of this sample. I liked the way two separate bass pieces sounded , so I let them play at the same time and I think it came off nice. Check it out with the rest below, labelled Verge - Parallaxin'. Feel free to leave your thoughts on this in the comments section.

Fast forward to 2008. I join the T.R.O.Y. forum and soon learn that this song has been sampled to death. Other than myself, Company Flow, and Parallax sampling this, we also have:

Shyheim & Gp Wu used the bass line to great effect for Let's Go To Lap. I think I hear a little bit of  "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" on there, too. 

Almighty Arrogant used the sample for Arrogant SOB. This is from an unreleased demo tape excavated by Kev Beacham. Very, very ill shit right here. It sounds like they used a piece from the same part that Parallax used, except with an extra sample in there.

Miilkbone's track, Mind Gamez',  uses one of the sections that I used. Not a bad working at all.

Lord Digga has one of my favorite flips of this sample on Take The Cake. This was off the unreleased High Plains Drifter EP that finally saw the light of day thanks to One Leg Up Records[only 200 copies were pressed]. Peep their pretty thorough interview with the Diggaman here.

Kaotic Sypher used it for Tight Situation, off of his first album One Million Strong. I don't know much about this cat or his crew, but you can check his discog here. Dope rhymes over tight production is all I can really say.


Previews: 
Bob James - I Feel A Song (In My Heart)


Parallax - Bleeding Hate


Company Flow - Juvenile Techniques


Shyheim & Gp Wu - Let's Go To Lap


Almighty Arrogant - Arrogant SOB


Miilkbone - Mindgamez


Lord Digga - Take The Cake


Kaotic Sypher - Tight Situation


Verge - Parallaxin'


Download this whole collection here.

I'm still torn between Parallax, Lord Digga, and Company Flow. Let us know who you think did best flipping the sample in the comments. This doesn't mean it has to be your favorite song out of the bunch, just the best beat.

--Verge




21 comments:

  1. Gotta go with Mindgamez by Miilkbone.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Parallax got an awful snare, imo Coflow flipped it the best but that Milkbone joint is right up there.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very tough call here, but I might have to go with Lord Digga. But that could change on any given day.

    Verge - your beat is pretty dope, the whole thing has a kind of momentum to it I like. The drums you chose were probably a bit too dirty for this instance, but still a good flip.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the feedback.
    I probably like the Parallax for sentimental
    value.
    Now, it's between Digga and Co Flow for me.

    ReplyDelete
  5. not my favorite out of these, but parallax flipped nicely. i'm goin' with that - and verge, nice beat!

    ReplyDelete
  6. this is kind of hard, you forgot pain by king just, but ima have to go with lord digga, parallax and company flow, its hard to choose but i would have to pick parallax, it has a very unique sound to it, its crazy that dj shok of ruff ryders fame made that beat.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Um, we need Kev Beascham to leak this Arrogant tape in its entirety. I feel trapped in sentence, caged in parentheses.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I freaks the juvenile techniques.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The science dropped here never ceases to amaze me. Had that Parallax joint on a Stretch tape and never knew who it was till now. After listening I would say Parallax is the winner with Co Flow a close second. I also remember a dope freestyle on Stretch with Black Thought and Shabbam Sadeeq flowing over a beat with the same Bob James sample.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Diggin that milkbone joint as well, but didn't dilla produce that "goin out" joint by elzhi from witness my growth?

    Uses the same Bob James Sample.

    http://www.sendspace.com/file/e9hgrf

    Beat is very onpoint and elzhi drops it

    ReplyDelete
  11. digga without a doubt. then Shyheim & Gp Wu. miilkbone is real good too, and i liked that Kaotic Sypher -- never heard it before.

    i wore my old co-flow tape out when it first dropped but juve tech does NOT hold up well, surprised everyone is riding them

    the verge beat is nice to listen to in a fat jon outtake kinda way

    ReplyDelete
  12. Miilkbone & Company Flow both flipped it better than other ones. and King Just is real tight.

    ReplyDelete
  13. 1 shy and gp wu - flipped it the hardest

    2 co flow

    3 almighty arrogant

    etc etc

    verge i think you flipped it pretty well, reminded me of the lord digga version a bit.

    ReplyDelete
  14. it's a 3-way tie between Company Flow, Milkbone and Lord Digga.....Verge's version was just aaaight to me.....

    ReplyDelete
  15. I think Ayatollah uses the same sample in one of his instrumantal joints as well... It could even be called I got a song (in my heart).

    ReplyDelete
  16. Daddy-O first used this sample on 'Come For Mine', from his sole solo LP (look it up; the title is too long), in 1993. I believe that pre-dates the earliest track on the list by at least a few months. I remember back in the 90s, I would wonder if producers were sharing the same record sources with each other, because every other song had the same sample. Now, of course, we know that was the case in some situations.

    ReplyDelete
  17. ^^^Of Stet fame, no doubt, if you were wondering. Holla.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I'm glad heads checked this and left some positive feedback. Thank you. I know there's a grip of other worthy cuts that also used the same sample, so I'll take you cats' recommendations and try to put together a part 2 to this sample post.
    I got a couple other things cookin' first, so lookout for Part 2 of this within the next month.You can leave more suggestions for tracks that sampled this here in the comments.
    Peace

    ReplyDelete
  19. I would probably pick Juveniles Techniques as it's the one that I have played the most out of all of 'em.
    2nd - Parallax
    3rd - Miilkbone

    ReplyDelete
  20. This has got to be the sickest blog post i have ever seen. For me the miilkbone joint comes first then bleeding hate.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anyone know what that whistling sample El-P uses in Juvenile Technique is called or where its from ?

    ReplyDelete