For part two of Each One Teach One we were going to move on to 1992 after covering Black Sheep’s A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing.  But really, how could we leave 1991 behind without delving into what is probably that year’s most important hip-hop record ‘Breaking Atoms’…

Breaking Atoms was released on July 23, 1991 on Wild Pitch Records. It was Main Source’s debut LP and although the group is credited on the sleeve of the LP as collectively being responsible for production, it’s the Large Professor (aka Large Pro aka Xtra P) that is mainly responsible for the ground breaking sound of the group.

Main Source came together in 1989 with the group consisting of Large Pro alongside K-Cut and Sir Scratch from Toronto.  Working together they created what is now regarded as one of the most important hip-hop records ever produced. The sampling techniques employed by Large Professor pushed the EMU SP1200 to the very edge of its capabilities and the overall approach to the structure and use of the samples in the songs would instruct various influential producers such as Q-Tip, Pete Rock, The Beatnuts and Showbiz for the next decade.

The term ‘Jazz Rap’ is often bandied around to describe this record.  Much like the term ‘Trip Hop’, ‘Jazz Rap’ is a lazy way to describe a progression in sound rather than a new branch of the genre.  Breaking Atoms simply represented a move into sampling that reflected a more mature and astute understanding of the records that had inspired the DJs of the late 70s and early 80s to start looping breaks.  Breaking Atoms is a hip-hop record in it’s purest sense, reflecting an amalgamation of styles both vocally, musically and also in terms of source material for the samples.

It’s worthy to note that Nas (then called ‘Nasty Nas’) makes his debut on Live at the Barbeque alongside Akinyele and Joe Fatal.  Just three years later Large Pro would contribute to Nas’ undisputed stone cold classic Illmatic alongside DJ Premier and Pete Rock.

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Main Source – Each One Teach One Part 2 by ChoiceCuts

Each One Teach One Playlist

Main Source – Each One Teach One Part 2 by ChoiceCuts

Snake Eyes

Original recording artist: Jesse Anderson
Sample taken from: ‘Mighty Mighty’
Appears on: Single 7″
Released by: Thomas 1970

Originally written by Curtis Mayfield and also peformed with amazing gusto by the legendary vocalist and musician Baby Huey this is a much more break-laden version of Mighty Mighty than the original.  Jesse Anderson got his start early in the 60s recording for Federal, moving on to Cadet, then the revived Thomas label, and finally the Outta Cyte imprint.   This version of ‘Mighty Mighty’ is Chitown funk at it’s best; much heavier and ‘crunchier’ than the original, with a powerful rhythm section driven by a great wah-wah guitar. The drums are prevalent the whole way through but check out the break in the middle.  Add this to a funky flute brige and it sounds like S.O.U.L. stepped into the studio for a second!

Just Hangin Out

Original recording artist: Gwen McCrae
Sample taken from: ’90% Of Me Is You’
Appears on: Rockin Chair LP
Released by:Cat 1975

This track has been sampled a lot.  A LOT.  Large Professor has revisited it once or twice (Tragedy – “Da Funk Mode” for example) and the chorus has been used to great effect by  NO.ID on Common’s ‘Stolen Moments Part 1′.  McCrae enjoyed mainstream success after her Husband, George, had a huge hit with ‘Rock your Baby’ which undoubtedly opened doors for her.  ‘Rockin Chair’ was a smash for Gwen and gave her the following her label (T.K.) were hoping for to justify the release of a long player.  Rockin’ Chair is a great album in it’s own right but ’90% Of Me Is You’ is the stand-out track showcasing Gwen’s inate ability to merge the soulful with the funky.

Looking At The Front Door

Original recording artist: The Detroit Emeralds
Sample taken from: ‘You’re Getting A Little Too Smart’
Appears on: Single 7″
Released by: Westbound 1973

What a drum break.  Right at the beginning of the track too.  It’s easy to imagine that when Large Professor first heard this he must have made a conscious decision to not touch the drum arrangement at all.  In true early-90s sampling style this is a clean 4/4 drum sample with a slight 808 kick thrown in for good measure.  ‘Chick a Boom’ by the Pazant Brothers provides the vocal hook but it’s the Detroit Emeralds drummer who gives ‘Looking At The Front Door’ it’s status as a guaranteed floor filler every time.  Check out the video for this track also for some great footage of Main Source in action.  Looks like Lord Finesse wasn’t the only DJ with a fade and a half-moon back in 1991!

Just A Friendly Game Of Baseball

Original recording artist: Lou Donaldson
Sample taken from: ‘Pot Belly’
Appears on: Pretty Things LP
Released by:Blue Note 1970

Pretty Things is jazz saxophonist Lou Donaldson’s LP recorded for the Blue Note label in 1970. Featuring Blue Mitchell, Leon Spencer, Ted Dunbar and Idris Muhammad the album represented a fresh reworking of the Donaldson sound that most Blue Note fans had become accustomed to at that stage.  ‘Pot Belly’ is another one of those tracks that has been pillaged for samples (most notably the opening 2 bars) over the years but it’s safe to say Xtra P was the first to flip it and get it down on vinyl.  If you want to hear how this has been used (and used and used) on other tracks you could do worse than checking out A Tribe Called Quest (If the Papes Come), Pharcyde (4 Better or 4 Worse), Big Daddy Kane (Let Yourself Go), Freestyle Fellowship (Respect Due), Leaders of the New School (The End is Near) or Lord Finesse (Do Your Thing)

Peace Is Not The Word To Play

Original recording artist: The Meters
Sample taken from: ‘Britches’
Appears on: Struttin’ LP
Released by: Josie 1970

Leo Nocentelli on guitar.  This has got to be one of the pluckiest guitar riffs known to man.  Excuse the dreadful pun considering there’s a hen on the cover of what was The Meters’ third LP release from 1970 but this is one of the best tunes the group has recorded (in my humble and thus irrelevant opinion).  Their southern roots are perfectly captured in this funk/hoedown amalgamation of styles. Overall this is a pretty understated track when considered in the wider context of how influention The Meters were over various funk bands that followed them.  No slamming drum breaks from Joseph Modeliste, no groundbreaking keyboard playing from Art Neville – just a steady tempo and consistent melody that was set in stone thanks to the cohesion of the talented players involved.

Vamos a Rapier

Original recording artist: The Three Sounds
Sample taken from: ‘Repeat After Me’
Appears on: Soul Symphony LP
Released by: Blue Note 1969

If you don’t like jazz (but wonder what it would be like if you did) you should check out The Three Sound’s Black Orchid on Blue Note (1964).  It’s not an important jazz album by any means (when you compare it to something like Kind of Blue or Giant Steps) but it’s one of the easist jazz albums to listen to without having to endure listening to easy jazz (go on, read that sentence again).  Take a great jazz band and throw in a heavy dollop of hardbop  (funky keyboards and a heavy R&B influence) and you end up where The Three Sounds were for their second-last LP recorded together in 1969.  This album is The Three Sounds at their funky best.  Listening to the first 4 bars of this track makes it obvious why it caught the attention of Pete Rock who sat in on production of Vamos a Rapier alongside Large Professor.

He Got So Much Soul (He Don’t Need No Music)

Original recording artist: Lou Courtney
Sample taken from: ‘Hey Joyce’
Appears on: Single 7″
Released by: Popside 1967

This was recorded in 1964 and everytime I play it out (usually around 2am when everyone except me is plastered) at least 5 people ask me what it is.  It’s great to see a record that’s 46 years old get such a great reaction from people half it’s age.  The lyrics, the drums, the production – everything about this record is drenched in soul.  Thanks to Shadow and Cut Chemist including this on their Brainfreeze mix late in the 1990s the price of this 7″ went through the roof and it’s remained up there beside the chimney pots ever since.  When people are getting down to this in front of the DJ booth it reminds me how much for granted I take Serato these days.

Live At The Barbeque

Original recording artist: Vicki Anderson
Sample taken from: ‘I Want To Be In The Land Of Milk & Honey’
Appears on: Single  7″ (B Side to ‘I’ll Work It Out’)
Released by: King 1971

Any hip-hopper worth their salt knows ‘Live At The Barbecue’ is the track that Queensbridge MC Nasty Nas made his debut on.  A slammer of a tune and a true hiphop classic the majority of this track is made up of a tiny sample from this great Vicki Anderson 7″.  Vicki sang with James Brown until she was replaced by Marva Whitney (who has been a guest of ChoiceCuts twice in as many years) in 1968.  She rejoined the James Brown Revue in 1969 and stayed on until 1972 when the legendary Lyn Collins stepped in.  Vicki married Bobby Byrd in the mid-sixties and gave birth to Carleen and Jhelisa, both of whom established musical careers of their own in the early 1990s.

Watch Roger Do His Thing

Original recording artist: Funkadelic
Sample taken from: ‘You’ll Like It Too’
Appears on: Connections and Dicsonnections LP
Released by: Lax 1981

To be honest not much of this particular track is actually present in Watch Roger Do His Thing but it’s woth noting for two reasons.  One, ‘You’ll Like It Too’ is a damn good song and one of Funkadelic’s best. Two, the drum break at the beginning.  It’s the reason (along with the Bobby Byrd sample) that Eric B and Rakim’s ‘I know You Got Soul’ has so much soul.  Because of that track it’s probably one of the most recognised drum breaks in hiphop history (after It’s a New Day by Skull Snaps that is).  Eric B used this break back in 1988 which was a full 3 years before Large Professor chopped things up in his style.  It’s a great demonstration of sample re-usage  that exemplifies the arrangement that wasn’t apparent to the previous producer.

Fakin’ The Funk

Original recording artist: Main Ingredient
Sample taken from: ‘Magic Shoes’
Appears on: Tasteful Soul LP
Released by: RCA 1971

‘Fakin The Funk’ wasn’t on Breaking Atoms.  It was a 12″ single release that featured on the EP ‘White Men Can’t Rap’ back when (apart from possibly three exceptions*) white men couldn’t actually rap and it was OK to say the same.   A taste of things to come the sticker on the limited 12″ release said “From the EP White Men Can’t Rap.  Look out for the Main Source album ‘The Science’”.  The Science never appeared.  Large Professor left the group in 1992. Sir Scratch and K-Cut went on to record ‘Fuck What You Think’ with new MC recruit Mikey D but the album was shelved before getting an official release.  It’s a real shame the group parted ways when they did because if Fakin’ The Funk is anything to go by the group had a lot of creative energery left to burn.

*3rd Bass, Beastie Boys and Everlast