- 01Runnin’The PharcydeHe had launched his career and made classics on it, like “Runnin’” and “Stakes Is High.”in the selected discography
- 02Stakes Is HighDe La SoulHe had launched his career and made classics on it, like “Runnin’” and “Stakes Is High.”in the selected discography
- 03Fantastic, Vol. 2Slum VillageBut until James Dewitt Yancey recorded Fantastic, Vol. 2, no one had tapped the true potential hidden in these key MPC features: not to make a machine beat sound more like that of a “real” drummer, but to make a kind of rhythm that no drummer had ever made before.in the selected discography
- 04Fan-Tas-TicSlum Village2 began with a new song—a tribute to the neighborhood called “Conant Gardens”—that employed the same deceleration technique James had been using on Fan-Tas-Tic.in the selected discography
- 05A Tribute to WesLittle BeaverHe slowed down a guitar riff from the 1974 Little Beaver song “A Tribute to Wes,” exaggerating the swing and the little timing idiosyncrasies in the hi-hat phrase behind it.
- 06Diana in the Autumn WindGap MangioneSo too did “Fall in Love,” crafted from a decelerated piece of Gap Mangione’s “Diana in the Autumn Wind,” the slowed notes of its organ riff lagging behind James’s drums.
- 072U4USlum VillageIn “2U4U” and “Go Ladies,” James, T3, and Baatin added handclaps—sometimes fighting, sometimes flamming with the swung snare.
- 08Go LadiesSlum VillageIn “2U4U” and “Go Ladies,” James, T3, and Baatin added handclaps—sometimes fighting, sometimes flamming with the swung snare.
- 09Get Dis MoneySlum VillageOn “Get Dis Money,” James sampled a piece of Herbie Hancock’s “Come Running to Me,” Hancock’s vocoderized, cyborg melody descending through a seven-note scale over seven measures, a more severe version of the odd, three-bar loops that his mentor Q-Tip liked to use
- 10Come Running to MeHerbie HancockOn “Get Dis Money,” James sampled a piece of Herbie Hancock’s “Come Running to Me,” Hancock’s vocoderized, cyborg melody descending through a seven-note scale over seven measures, a more severe version of the odd, three-bar loops that his mentor Q-Tip liked to use
- 11Once Upon a TimeSlum VillageIn “Once Upon a Time,” featuring a verse from Pete Rock, James pitted every element against each other.
- 12Tutti FruttiLittle RichardIn a famous bit of recorded music, Little Richard’s original recording of “Tutti Frutti” from 1955, Richard bangs out one pulse of straight eighth notes while the drummer, Earl Palmer, launches into a simultaneous pulse of swung eighth notes before pulling himself more in line with the piano.
- 13Penthouse SerenadeErroll GarnerThe pianist Erroll Garner, in his 1955 song “Penthouse Serenade,” rolls in his piano chords languidly behind his drummer’s pulse.
- 14Cuttin HeadsOl’ Dirty BastardWhere hip-hop producers before him obsessed with aligning the junctures of loops with the time grid—making everything seamless and perfect—the RZA found charm in rhythmic imprecision; in songs like “Cuttin Heads” by Ol’ Dirty Bastard, the RZA didn’t seem to care that the sequencer was running too fast for the drum loop of Melvin Bliss’s “Synthetic Substitution” to catch up to it.
- 15Synthetic SubstitutionMelvin BlissWhere hip-hop producers before him obsessed with aligning the junctures of loops with the time grid—making everything seamless and perfect—the RZA found charm in rhythmic imprecision; in songs like “Cuttin Heads” by Ol’ Dirty Bastard, the RZA didn’t seem to care that the sequencer was running too fast for the drum loop of Melvin Bliss’s “Synthetic Substitution” to catch up to it.
- 16World UltimateThe NonceThe Nonce’s 1995 album World Ultimate was filled with those errors.
- 17Heroin JointJ DillaConverting time-signatures—as in his unpublished beat “Heroin Joint,” where he converts a three-count song, James Brown’s “King Heroin,” to a four-count rhythm.
- 18King HeroinJames BrownConverting time-signatures—as in his unpublished beat “Heroin Joint,” where he converts a three-count song, James Brown’s “King Heroin,” to a four-count rhythm.
- 19I Don’t KnowSlum VillageColliding time-signatures—as in the polyrhythm he establishes in Slum Village’s “I Don’t Know” by setting the six-count song, Baden Powell’s “É Isso Aí,” against a four-count beat.
- 20É Isso AíBaden PowellColliding time-signatures—as in the polyrhythm he establishes in Slum Village’s “I Don’t Know” by setting the six-count song, Baden Powell’s “É Isso Aí,” against a four-count beat.
- 21PlayersSlum Village, Abstract OrchestraVerbal illusions—using chopping and filtering to transform words so that they say what he wants them to say, as in songs like “Players,” a sample of the word “Clair”; or Chino XL’s “Don’t Say a Word,” a chopped sample of Frankie Valli’s “Grease (Is the Word).”
- 22Don’t Say a WordChino XLVerbal illusions—using chopping and filtering to transform words so that they say what he wants them to say, as in songs like “Players,” a sample of the word “Clair”; or Chino XL’s “Don’t Say a Word,” a chopped sample of Frankie Valli’s “Grease (Is the Word).”in the selected discography
- 23Grease (Is the Word)Frankie ValliVerbal illusions—using chopping and filtering to transform words so that they say what he wants them to say, as in songs like “Players,” a sample of the word “Clair”; or Chino XL’s “Don’t Say a Word,” a chopped sample of Frankie Valli’s “Grease (Is the Word).”
- 24Come Running to MeHerbie HancockOdd bar loops—as when he samples a seven-bar loop, Herbie Hancock’s “Come Running to Me,” in Slum Village’s “Get Dis Money.”
- 25Get Dis MoneySlum VillageOdd bar loops—as when he samples a seven-bar loop, Herbie Hancock’s “Come Running to Me,” in Slum Village’s “Get Dis Money.”
- 26Dream SuiteDreamsChopping to create new harmonic progressions—as he does with Dreams’ “Dream Suite” in Busta Rhymes’s “Enjoy Da Ride” or Brand New Heavies’ “Sometimes (Remix).”
- 27Enjoy Da RideBusta RhymesChopping to create new harmonic progressions—as he does with Dreams’ “Dream Suite” in Busta Rhymes’s “Enjoy Da Ride” or Brand New Heavies’ “Sometimes (Remix).”in the selected discography
- 28The LightCommonOdd entrances and off loop points—as in Common’s “The Light,” which does not begin on the downbeat, and which is based on a loop that starts in the middle of a phrase from Bobby Caldwell’s “Open Your Eyes.”in the selected discography
- 29Open Your EyesBobby CaldwellOdd entrances and off loop points—as in Common’s “The Light,” which does not begin on the downbeat, and which is based on a loop that starts in the middle of a phrase from Bobby Caldwell’s “Open Your Eyes.”
- 30More Bounce to the OunceZappReharmonizing existing harmonic material—as he does with a bass line and clavinet in relationship to Zapp’s “More Bounce to the Ounce” in Slum Village’s “Do You.”
- 31Do YouSlum VillageReharmonizing existing harmonic material—as he does with a bass line and clavinet in relationship to Zapp’s “More Bounce to the Ounce” in Slum Village’s “Do You.”in the selected discography