Thursday, March 13, 2008

Sample Set #22




Update (August 1st, 2009)

Update (June 24, 2021)

"I keep it realer than most ... I know you're feelin' it"

At one point in my life, I thought that Reasonable Doubt was a better album than Illmatic. Since then, I've kinda leaned towards ya boy Nasir. But putting this sample set together has kind of pulled me back into the debate. There's no denying that this album has some certified bangers and classics. The samples fully bring that sentiment out. The mafioso/luxury sound of Reasonable Doubt was built on some really catchy soul and jazz, as well as contemporary rap giants like LL, Tribe, Snoop and yes, Nas. One of my personal favorites on this one has gotta be the sample(s) used on 'Dead Presidents II'. Produced by Ski, 'Dead Presidents' featured an excellent jazz cut by legend Lonnie Liston Smith. Blessed with a catchy and sentimental piano riff, Ski turned this one into a classic, and a track that rests happily in my top 3. [Check out this video of Ski talking about this historic beat] I love this sample so much, that I've included two versions of it, just for the heck of it. The rest of this set stands up as well, of course!






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