top of page
Search

Hip Hop’s Real Godfather & The Industry's Biggest Secret By Anthony: Featuring DJ Ben E Blanco


I hope you had a good Holiday & great to be back with you. If you are at a party and there is someone there that claims they are into Hip Hop,

you can pull this out as the greatest Hip Hop party trick they ever knew .

It's no great mystery. I'm older than the clouds, but sometimes clouds have silver linings. This specific one was being lucky enough to witness the birth, and the evolution

of Rap / Hip Hop


I was raised with it, exposed to, and watched it grow from the inner city New York , to end up in every other major city across the globe at a young age.

I never even thought for one moment I ever had to have 2nd guest who it was that started it all, as I was witnessing in real time,

So you put that part of the genre on the shelf because you've got it, but It wasn't until about roughly 4 years ago I was in the middle of a deep listening wormhole session

In the Funk / Jazz genre , when out of nowhere, a new track had started.

I recognized the 1st couple of parts immediately sounding awfully familiar.

Within seconds I realized it was from a Run DMC track titled Peter Piper,

or at least that's the impression I was under.

Those are usually one of those moments where you have to find out exactly who it is, and what it is ?


The Who was Bob James


and the what was “Take Me To The Mardi Gras”

In real time I'm finding out that not only it wasn't a RUN DMC song

But this was someone and something I needed more of , and I found a bounty.


I could also hear bits of other songs in the track,

but there was so much in the one song

That I excitedly had to keep playing it over and over.

That same day I had to start digging a bit deeper, and decided to go to the beginning

At this point I had already done some deep investigation to find that he is “The Guy”

and try to find out what was going on with all of it.


The rock I turned over ended up shining the light on how The Jazz Master Bob James was actually the unspoken Industry secret

&

The Godfather of Rap & Hip Hop itself.

James distinguished himself as a keyboardist, composer and arranger after being signed by Quincy Jones to Mercury Records.

Throughout the ’70s, he found himself working on various solo albums, collaborations and soundtracks for film and TV, building his catalogue with his stylized take on smooth jazz. However, he would not anticipate his music catching the ears of so many hip-hop artists at a time where that culture was steadily maturing and rising into mainstream popularity.


“It’s one thing to write, but until the right magical player performs it, that’s where people’s ears gravitate toward it,” James said in an interview with Tracklib.


There is an extremely large portion of Hip Hop that owe it all to Bob James.

songs by Run-D.M.C., Gang Starr, Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, Main Source, Slick Rick, and countless other renowned rap acts. They all recognized Bob’s brilliance, and chose his music to be a part of their sample-based hip-hop masterpieces.


 

The origin of the Hip Hop beat

Bob James: “The way that ‘Nautilus’ found its way into the hip-hop world is completely fascinating to me. It was shocking to me when it first happened, and still to this day, it is an amazing example of how music takes on a life of its own.


In 1974, Bob James released the studio album One. The album’s closing track, Nautilus, featured atmospheric layers of Rhodes piano played by James, along with tight bass and drum grooves from Gary King and Idris Muhammad, respectively.

The very simple and effective grooves on Nautilus would find the ears of many hip-hop artists, who went on to create hundreds of reinterpretations of this sample throughout several eras. This includes big names such as Ghostface Killah, Nas, Missy Elliott, Slick Rick and Freddie Gibbs, along with hundreds of others.


To hear what most consider the origin of the Hip Hop beat

take a listen closely , you will hear the drum pattern where it’s isolated and left sparsely adorned with a couple of stray synth riffs (just after the 3:30 mark)

That would have to be that beat, that gave birth to an entire genre…..

-------

Bob James “Nautilus”-Sampled by Ghostface Killah’s Wu banger “Daytona 500




 

Bob James “Sign Of The Times”-Sampled by De La Soul - “Keepin' The Faith”







 

Bob James “Tappan Zee”-Sampled by Arrested Development – People Everyday




 

Bob James “Feel Like Makin Love”-Sampled By I Want You by Common feat. will.i.am




 

Bob James “Angela” -Sampled by Cab Fare by Souls of Mischief

& The Theme Song from T.V Series TAXI




 

Bob James ‘Love Lips’ - Sampled by Onyx - Last Dayz



 

Bob James “Storm King” NWA Alwayz Into Somethin



 

Bob James “Farandole” Sampled by Blow the Horns by M.O.P.




 

Bob James “Shamboozie” - Sampled by Guess Who's Back by Rakim




 

Bob James "The Sponge”- Sampled by Watch Dem Niggas by Nas



 

There are literally thousands of his tracks sampled

in the Hip Hop/ Rap industry

To date……1596 samples, 78 covers, 3 remixes


Check them all out on this link





Through the entire pandemic one this we did was make sure the music played on

And so has one of our hosts

Black Donnelly Radio & The Mixcloud charts House DJ”s

Ben E Blanco

puts together his show once a week , from house , funk, disco & all that is part of the flow

Check out his brand new

Mixed Bag show

Dedicated to Hip Hop here

Click the picture below

to score the new bag






Ben E Blanco's dedication to Hip Hop

Click Below


DON'T FORGET TO LIKE AND FOLLOW OUR PAGE FOR NEW SHOWS

MAY GOOD JUJU FIND YOU


Comments

Rated 0 out of 5 stars.
No ratings yet

Add a rating
bottom of page