I Heart My Polo Lifestyle

I want to say the year was 2000. Y’know… That year of all of the flying cars started coming out. *ha* I lived in a pretty decent two bedroom, hardwood floor apartment in Newark (a.k.a. Brick City… “The Bricks”) RIGHT on the boarder of South Orange. Both townships located in New Jersey (a.k.a. New Jerusalem… “New Jeruz”). I had just come back from diggin’¹ at my spots on Long Island, NY (where I’m from… sort of). I caught a nice stack of vinyl records which I was about to sift thru, normally in the dark with incense burning. Don’t ask me why. I was going for creating a ‘vibe’ those days.

Now I know everybody & they’re kinfolk owns a Jay Dilla beat CD (or .mp3 rather) which have been floating around the information highway we currently know as the Internet thru the years but, back in 2000, Jay Dee (a.k.a. J. Dilla… “beat god”) personally sent me one of his beat cassettes. For all ‘Dilla heads out there, I’m certain you know which tape this was. It was the beat tape which contained the
beats for Busta Rhyme’s “Show Me What You Got“, Lyricist Lounge, Vol. 2′s “Let’s Grow” (ft. Royce Da 5’9″) & so forth. Man… I remember when I first heard this tape. I was truly @ a lost for words AND emotions. I didn’t know whether to “hate” or “congratulate”. I opted to congratulate by the way as I don’t “hate” anyone/anything. Especially those whom I consider my “People“.

So now getting back to this short stack of records that contained music which made IHOP², I was going thru them then came across a song which sounded strikingly familiar. I knew what it was straight off the bat. It was a Jay Dee sample. Back then, every time I came across a sample he had already flipped I would let out a huge sigh knowing that I had gotten my dusty little fingers on that record just a LITTLE too late. Then I’d let out an even bigger sigh knowing that I wouldn’t have even thought of chop’n that particular sample up the way ‘Dilla did… With finesse & ease. I just had to chalk it up to him being extremely dope & me ‘still trying to get there’. Now I vaguely remember when he sent me this tape. It was going into the Summer. All I know is that after hearing (not studying but just listening to) that cassette of beats, I locked myself up in my hot-ass apartment & got BUSY! I was on my super duper chop-suey sh*t that Summer month. Honestly, with the exception of Adam’s Case Files, The Death of Adam & a few beats I’ve made hear ‘n’ there over the years, the beats I made that Summer may have been my best batch of beats I’ve done to date. Seriously! Like I actually impressed mySELF (which didn’t happen often back then).

I won’t get into which sample I found (even though I’m sure you all did your homework) but I respect the ‘code of the beats’ which my guy DJ Premier blatantly laid out for you all. It’s kind of bug’d out that “stop snitchin’” for ME means stop revealing us hip hop producers’ samples which we don’t have to clear for one reason or another but if I see someone shoot my neighbor or stranger & I witness it… I’m tellin’ for sure. If you don’t like it, don’t commit any crimes around me. Sorry.

R.I.P. - Jay Dee, Baatin & Photographer Mpozi Tolbert.

So here’s the song Jay Dee produced. You all know it. While you read this blog post & play this song, no matter where you are or whom you’re with, I’d like you to sing along with this infectious chorus please. It’s [the original] Slum Village‘s “The Look of Love, Pt. 1″ – CLASSIC!!! (Click on photo above to listen & sing-a-long).

Now one of the many beats I made that ol’ faithful Summer was a beat which I used the same exact sample ‘Dilla used to make “The Look of Love, Pt. 1“. However, I decided to take a different approach with the sample. I gets t’chop’n. About an hour or so later I was done. Satisfied & excited with what I made I call Jay Dee to let him hear it. Back then, we used to call each other every now ‘n’ then to catch up with each other & also to play beats for each other over the phone. I couldn’t wait to let him here my chop.

Here’s My Pretty Damn Accurate Recollection of Our Convo:

*riiing, riiing*

Jay Dee: “What up doe?”

88-Keys: “What up kiiid? Yo, what’chu doin’ right now?”

JD: (paraphrasing) “Workin’. What’s the word 88′?”

88: “Man… Let me play you this beat for a second. Hold on. *walks into (make-shift) studio* You ready?”

JD: “Yeah, g’head.”

*plays beat*

JD: “Wooooo. What was THAT? That sh*t was crazy as Hell. What’d you use for that one?”³

88: *slightly confused* “You don’t know? Yo, listen to this sh*t again.”

*plays beat again*

88: “NOW [do] you know what it is?”

JD: “Nah dawg. What’d you use? Play it again one more time.”

*plays beat… AGAIN*

88: “Still?”

JD: (paraphrasing) “Nah I don’t know what the f*ck that is. What IS it?”

88: “Okay. I’m going to play this ONE MORE TIME & tell you what it is.” *plays beat then starts singing* “Y’know what love is… It got somethin’ to do with uh… Being a man-”

JD: *interrupts my singing* “WOOOOOOOOOO! Daaaamn dawg. Hell nah! You chop’d that sh*t the f*ck UP dawg. Hailll nah! Yo play me that sh*t again!”

…& so this [true] story goes.

He asked me to send this beat to him, which I did, via snail mail (because music file transferring over the ‘net wasn’t THAT popular amongst us back then). I wound up sending him all the beats I made that month. I got some positive feedback from him in regards to that beat tape. Needless to say, I eventually sold this beat to Musiq (who then dropped the Soulchild in his moniker) who REALLY liked the beat as well (obviously) but then flipped out when I told him what I sampled. Actually I told him who else used the sample. This was a done deal. After recording the song in Philly w/Mu’ we listened to the song almost all night. The studio turned into Disco Fever with us two dancing up a storm. Man, if you ever get a chance to listen to this song in a (pardon the ol’ school vernacular) BOOMIN’ SYSTEM, I suggest you do so & turn the vol. up to max. This song became a “hidden” track which was ID’d with another song I produced on Soulstar called “Dontstop” (which featured Bilal). So if/when you cop this album & you don’t see the title “Her” on the track listing, just play the 8 minute+ long song “Dontstop” & you’ll hear it. A lot of people missed this song all together because of the way it was ID’d. Bummer! Oh well, you’re about to hear it now so enjoy! (Please click the cover of the Soulstar album to listen & get your boogie on to “Her”).

Note:

1. Going shopping for old vinyl records.
2. There goes that clever mind of mine again. Man… Does it even have an ‘off’ switch?
3. There are only a handful of people I share my sample info with (if I don’t have to clear them): Jay Dee, Q-Tip, Kanye West, Just Blaze & R. Thentic. Everybody else gets the *shrug* or the, “Sample? What sample?”

Shouts:

• To the late/great J. Dilla. May the gift which God bestowed upon you continue to bring good to “A World Full of Sadness”
• Musiq those were the DAYS. Miss you bro’. We have to link & have a sit down for real’a.
• That 2000 Jay Dee beat tape. Man… Got me on my j.o.Beezy for REALS! “Thank You Jay Dee”.

~ by 88-Keys on February 24, 2009.

Posted in Ear Candy (Music), Kodak Moments (Photos)
Tags: 88-keys, her, j. dilla, musiq, slum village, soulstar, the look of love pt. 1