It's been a hot minute since I've posted up a Stu Reid Sampler, so I thought I'd jump back into things with a big one - one of the coolest samples in my mind. The diversity of tracks featured here, along with the pure brilliance of the original, make this one a winner for sure.
The track in question is "Sinnerman", a 10 minute long jazzy piano tune sung best by all-time great Nina Simone.
The tune is a traditional spiritual, but Simone really makes it hers with her 1965 version. Her voice is distinctively captivating - the kind of voice you know you shouldn't argue with as soon as you hear it. Despite thick instrumentation, Simone manages to carry the track on her back, keeping her audience entranced throughout. The song is an epic feat.
Perhaps even cooler, the song's piano riff is sampled and rehashed in one of my favorite hip hop tracks ever, Talib Kweli's "Get By". Produced by Kanye West (who loves the old-school samples, for sure) the track throws some Simone vocals and piano twinkling in with a heavy beat and chorus to make a completely baller track. So good. This is a great example of a well used sample - the song doesn't just take a sampled lyric, spin it faster, and repeat it for the chorus. Instead, Kanye and Kweli use the original song as a foundation for their jam, recontextualizing the snippets to weave seamlessly into the fabric of a new song. I can't get enough of this song.
Finally, the most recent sampling of "Sinnerman". This time, it's Timbaland who yoinks the song, again using both melody and piano part. Timbo crafts a piano intro before dropping a heavy bass beat punctured by Simone's "Hey" call. The chorus explicitly calls out the original tune, replacing "Oh Sinnerman" with "Oh Timbaland". The beauty of this sample is that Timbo manages to make "Oh Timbaland" still sound like it's being sung by Nina Simone - not some B-side dubbing. Really makes the track work nicely. This cut is much more relaxed than "Get By" but uses the "Sinnerman" sample equally well.
Posting this reminded me how much I like these Stu Reid Samplers. Look for more coming soon.
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