J Rocc by egotripland.com
If you’re familiar with J.
Rocc first and foremost as a DJ – or more accurately, one of the best DJs on this here Planet Earth – no one can
exactly blame you. Since co-founding the renowned Beat Junkies turntablist crew
in ’92, the Los Angeleno’s destroyed sets wherever steel wheels spin – clubs,
radio, mix-tapes, and live shows (having backed Madlib in concert since the
early ’00s, as well as Madlib and J Dilla when the two performed together as
Jaylib). However, this past April, J. also exhibited
himself to be a damn formidable producer, dropping an excellent and long
overdue debut album, Some Cold Rock Stuf (Stones Throw), that proved his time hangin’ with Otis
Jackson and James Yancey was obviously well spent. With so much knowledge and
appreciation for the construction and deconstruction of tracks in the “Funky
President’s” sphere it was only right that we contact his office to request an
address of his all-time top sample flips.
HEAR & READ J. ROCC’S FAVORITE SAMPLE FLIPS
AFTER THA JUMP…
1. Babu ft. Iriscience, Phil the Agony, Evidence,
Krondon, Planet Asia, Akil, Chace Infinite & Chali 2NA – “Live From Master
Control” (Beat Junkie Sound, 2002)
J. Rocc: I like the
type of records where there’s like five different samples in one song. [This
producer] heard this and that person heard that. The [David Porter song] is one
of them records. RZA sampled the very beginning [for GZA “Duel of the Iron
Mic”], Biggie [“Who Shot Ya”] sampled the middle, and Babu freaked the end.
Even though everybody else flipped it [really well] I like Babu’s. He chopped
about ten different things and put it all together. There’s still shit in there
that people haven’t used.
2. Show & AG – “Soul Clap” (Showbiz, 1991)
J. Rocc: That’s one
of those records that everyone heard and was like, yo, I gotta try to use this
myself. Slick Rick’s the first one I heard use it; Cypress Hill, Kriss Kross,
Organized Konfusion. But “Soul Clap” is the most famous one. James [Brown] is
my shit. But I didn’t pay attention to [samples] like that back in those days.
When I first heard “More Peas” I was like, “That’s this song? Oh my goodness!
That’s the part he flipped? Oh shit.” [The way Showbiz used it] it’s good the
way it builds up. I’m sure he probably found the main bass-line part first and
then was like, yo, I need another part. It’s a classic song
3. Pete Rock ft. Roc Marciano & Trife – “Give It
To Y’all” (BBE, 2001)
J. Rocc: That’s one
of them funny ones. Everybody knows the main [Freda Payne] song but no one
really pays attention to the beginning, the prelude, which is the Pete Rock
shit. The UN track. [Later in the song] it goes into Afu Ra – the Premier remix
of the DJ Cam song, “Voodoo Child. Then it goes into some other shit Madlib
used for Guilty Simpson. That’s one of my favorite loops because it snuck by
everybody and [Pete] got that off. Every time you play it people are like, oh
shit, that’s what that shit is? That song was so banging when it came out.
4. Soho – “Hot Music” (United Sounds of America, 1990)
J. Rocc: One of them
ones where you hear the [sample source] and you’re like, “Wow, how’d [Pal Joey]
hear that? What are you doing listening to this record?” That’s the question
you ask. “Why are you listening to this .99 cent record, right here? Wynton
Marsalis?” And then like he found an all-time classic loop. You can’t front.
That’s a hip-hop and a house classic. You can play that song at both spots and
everybody would know what it is. You could play that anywhere. That’s from that
era when it was still okay for hip-hop heads to hear a little bit of house.
That’s definitely a “Break In Case of Emergency” song. No one’s dancing, what
am I gonna play? [sings piano loop]
And no matter what everybody will come out.
5. Show & AG – “Party Groove” (Showbiz, 1991)
J.
Rocc: I bought that [Jack McDuff] record on pure accident,
just diggin’. And [for a long time] I’d been looking for a double. I finally
found a double so I have a mono pressing and I have a stereo pressing and
they’re two totally different mixes. I think [Showbiz] sampled the mono mix. But
he flipped like five different parts from that song. He used every piece
possible.
This is like the same thing as with [Pal Joey
sampling] Wynton Marsalis: “What are you doing listening to that Jack McDuff
album?” To me, D.I.T.C. are like not gangsters, but they’re some thug fools.
Like, “I’ll fuck you up”-type cats. And that’s a funny record for a “I’ll fuck
you up”-type of cat to be listening to. “Yo, son, throw on that Brother Jack
McDuff!” I just can’t picture that happening. But they were diggin’ in the
crates, man. He found some goofy shit and made it dope, man.
6. Busta Rhymes – “Show Me What You Got” (Elektra,
2000)
J. Rocc: J Dilla
production. My boy C-minus hipped him to that record. One day him and Dilla
were cruising around and he was listening to Stereolab. And Dilla heard that
shit and was like, “Yo what is that? Stereo-what?” That shit is dope to me when
I hear little stories like that. That’s just a crazy loop. I still can’t figure
out what part it starts on. Sometimes I’ll do a live set and I’ll mix into the
Stereolab, but it’s such a weird chop I can never figure out where “the one”
is.
7. Redman – “Gilla House Check” (Def Jam, 2005)
J. Rocc: People slept
on that Redman track. Man, that got so much play when we were still doing Friday Night Flavors, doing the radio show out here.
We used to burn the hell out of that song, man. The Goblin thing is just a loop
but it’s a tricky loop. It’s super offbeat. They just let it ride. Even that
drum roll. That’s another one of them songs a couple of people jacked and made
some stuff out of. I love prog rock, that’s my shit.
8. J Dilla – “Reckless Driving” (Mummy, 2003)
J.
Rocc: Peter Baumann’s the dude from Tangerine Dream. Dilla
found a tricky part of [the song] and looped it up. He listened to all that Tangerine
Dream type shit. It’s a crazy loop. That shit is nuts. He had such a great ear
for electronic loops. When I would talk to him about his shit I’d be like, “Yo,
Dilla what’s this sample?! Yo Dilla, man, what’s the sample for this, man?!”
I’d geek out with him. I’d be so nerdy around him sometimes but he would put up
with it. We’d be smoking and just hanging out and he’d be playing me beats and
I’d be like, “Yo, man, I’ve always meant to ask you, man: what the fuck is blah
blah blah?” “Aw, J Rocc, man. That’s blah blah blah blah. Aw, come on, you got
everything, man, you ain’t got that record? Aw, man, you need to have that
record, J Rocc!” He’d always clown me if I didn’t have the record. “Nah, man, I
don’t buy Peter Baumann. I never looked in the Peter Baumann section, Dilla.”
After that I was definitely looking in the Peter Baumann section.
I’d always ask him, like, “Yo, you played keyboards on
that?” “Nah, man, that’s a sample.” Then I’d be like, “Yo, man, what sample is
that?” “Aw man, that’s me playing keyboards.’ So it was always tricky with him.
Like I never knew what was a sample and what was him on his keyboard fucking
around
9. The Beatnuts – “Let Off a Couple” (Relativity,
1994)
J.
Rocc: The Beatnuts killed it. Apache’s “Gangsta Bitch” was
[before The Beatnuts and was] a big hit, but I wasn’t trippin’ off the sample
with “Gangsta Bitch.” Maybe because it was more disguised. The [Monty Alexander
song] is one of them songs that has about four different samples in there.
There’s all kinds of things that you can chop up and that have been chopped up.
I think I heard this on a comp before I finally found the real album it’s from,
Rass. For the longest I just played
it off of Nuggets Vol. 2.
I was definitely a comp digger. I have no shame in my
game. I’ll buy a comp in a heartbeat. And usually the people who are the ones
that are talking shit about comps are the ones that make ’em. “Aw, man, comps
are wack, man… Yo, I just made this new funk comp.” Man, you were just dissin’
comps. But yeah, I’m definitely a comp digger. That’s like going to the
library. You learn from those comps. If it wasn’t for Ultimate
Breaks and Beats a lot of cats [wouldn’t know anything].
10. N.W.A – “Straight Outta Compton” (Ruthless, 1988)
J.
Rocc: Just like how I was talking about comps “Amen
Brother” was one of them records that everyone was sampling off of Ultimate Breaks and Beats. I don’t
think anybody had an original of “Amen Brother” unless you were some diggin’
cat back in the ’80s. It’s been sampled so many times. Dr. Dre is the ultimate
comp digger. I’m gonna have to say I believe all of Straight
Outta Compton is Ultimate Breaks and Beats
because I used to go to [famous LA swap meet] The Rodium and that’s where Dre
would buy [them]. They were always sold out of the “Funky President” volume and
the “Funky Drummer” one. Homeboy [who worked there] used to always say, “Aw,
Dr. Dre come by here all the time and bought all of them!” And next thing you
know you hear [Straight Outta Compton].
I’m sure he sampled it all off of Ultimate Breaks and
Beats.
“Amen Brother” is just a classic break. It’s been
sample so many times – from techno to drum and bass to house, probably.
Everybody’s messed with it at least one time. And Dre just killed it. He throws
his little Electric Company-sounding sample over it and just he just let that
beat ride. It may not be Electric
Company, but it reminds me of that shit. He had
two SPs synced up, so who knows. He had everything going on under the sun on
that album. He was sample happy.
Psykhomantus Note: Not all tracks recorded.
Download Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?6yu1t3c9ioqe4ug
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