Monday, February 1, 2010

Old School Mondays:: George Clinton Is Very Much Alive Edition

I have to say, after back-to-back R.I.P. style OSM's, my main aim this week was simply to post songs by folks that were still alive. So while I was thinking about what to post, I saw George Clinton rocking out in the crowd during the Grammy Awards (you know, because my wife was watching it, not because I wanted to see teen-country-pop sensation Taylor Swift *swoon*), and since there likely isn't anyone still living that's been sampled more than George, it seemed like a perfect fit.

Seriously, ole Uncle George is an un-questioned legend (can you think of anyone else who could excite both L.A. OG's and patchouli-powered hippies with the mere mention of their name?) and he's long been revered by hip hop's beatmakers & MC's alike. I could have easily done this post using nothing but songs the sample Atomic Dog (I could actually do like 5 OSM's on it), but I decided to spread it around a bit. That said, any herohill/George Clinton post has to have some Rodney O Joe Cooley in the mix, and so we've got two Atomic Dog-sampling jams, This Is For The Homies from their debut album Me and Joe, and Why Must I Be Like That (sing it hoes!) from the awesomely bitter F___ New York.

So while that sample-usage might be on the obvious side, there's also plenty instances where most would have no idea the source, like Erick Sermon's Hittin' Switches, which samples a song from You Shouldn't-Nuf Bit Fish, which I'd never heard of before. It's also awesome that a perfect slab of old school NY hardcore hip hop like Eric B. & Rakim's Lyrics of Fury samples a song like No Head, No Backstage Pass.

There's also the near-endless output from the bands/collectives that George has been involved in too, any of which could spawn their own army of posts - like Nothing Can Stop Us from Serious Lee Fine not only satisfies the George Clinton requirement due to it's sampling of Funkadelic's One Nation Under a Groove, but it should also please hill alumnus Mr. E as he put in a request for it a while ago. And since I brought up One Nation Under a Groove, we might as well post one of the more quintessential Clinton-inspired (and featuring!) tracks, Cube's Bop Gun. Enjoy.

MP3:: Rodney O Joe Cooley - This Is For The Homies

MP3:: Rodney O Joe Cooley - Why Must I Be Like That

MP3:: Erick Sermon - Hittin' Switches

MP3:: Eric B. & Rakim - Lyrics Of Fury

MP3:: Serious Lee Fine - Nothing Can Stop Us

MP3:: Ice Cube - Bop Gun (One Nation) f. George Clinton