Breaks And Samples With Mr Thing

Mr Thing rocked Doctor’s Orders in Room Three a few weeks back when we were all reminded what a great DJ he is. He’s in the middle of releasing a series of albums featuring the best breaks from the 60s and 70s.  And being a bit of an expert on such matters, we asked him to give us a little lesson on some classic breaks and where they’ve been used in hip hop. The results make for some interesting reading, listening and watching; Shaft in Africa, Big Daddy Kane and Ghostface all in one article. Boom…

We’ve got three copies of ‘Strange Breaks & Mr Thing II’ to give away, to win, just email hotdesk@fabriclondon.com with another classic break and a hip hop track it’s used in – the more unique the better! (more clips after the jump).

Baby Huey - 'Hard Times' (Curtom Records)

This track is an instantly recognisable tune, mainly due to its heavy usage in 90s hip hop, most blatantly on Ghostface Killah's 'Buck 50'. It was also used by Ice Cube, Naughty by Nature, A Tribe Called Quest and many other huge names.





Bob James - 'Take Me To The Mardi Gras' (CTI Records)

The first four measures of this track laid down the fundamental breakbeat of hip hop. It was later used by Naughty by Nature, LL Cool J, The Beastie Boys & Wu-Tang Clan. Not bad from an artist recognised as a smooth jazz musician. Nowadays it's best known for the Missy Elliot remix.





The Emotions – ‘Blind Alley’ (Stax/Volt Records)

‘Blind Alley’ formed the basis of Mariah Carey's 'Dreamlover', as well as hugely influential tracks from LL Cool J and Big Daddy Kane.  In their own time, association with Earth, Wind & Fire brought them a great deal of success in the late 70s and 80s many years after this track was released.





Johnny Pate – ‘Shaft In Africa (Addis)’ (ABC Records)

‘Shaft In Africa’ is an old school b-boy break. In 2006, TNC Record released an 80th birthday tribute album. This track was sampled by Just Blaze for Jay-Z's 'Show Me What You Got', and also later for Diddy.





The Fatback Band – ‘Let The Drums Speak’ (Event/Polydor Records)

Fatback is just a classic funk break with big open drums at the start. The band also went on to release what is often regarded as the first commercially available Rap single 'King Tim III' in October 1979, check them both.