Day 3, Song 3:
Faith Evans - You Used To Love Me [Ummah Remix] (Produced by The Ummah)
I had to dispense atleast one Ummah produced diamond during this marathon of mighty melodies. For those ig'nant scalp-scratchers I'll drop science before the dandruff submerges your face: The Ummah was a legendary production team comprised of Jay-Dee alongside A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad- a holy trinity that formed (like Voltron) around '95. The trio were responsible for the majority of Tribe's 4th and 5th classic LPs Beats, Rhymes & Life (1996) and The Love Movement (1998), aswell as Tip's solo opus Amplified (2000) though without Ali Shaheed (post-Tribe disbanding).
Additional members to the team during other works have included that mildly tortured (loose-brere) virtuoso D'Angelo and his slightly more sober coequal Raphael Saadiq, though this evolved at the turn of the century into a wider musical collective regarded as The Soulaquarians that most notably encompassed Common, ?uestlove + The Roots, D'Angelo, Erykah Badu and James Poyser. To quite explain the significance these CRAFTSMAN had on my adolescent years, I would unremittingly smack the physical compact disk cases of The Roots' Things Fall Apart, D'Angelo's Voodoo, Common's Like Water For Chocolate and Erykah's Mama's Gun up side your head for 4 years (no lunch, nap or piss breaks) until you agreed on their magnificence.
Earlier, I received a request in my MySpace inbox from a goodly gentleman, Retch...The Chef, and despite my ignorance towards the calibre of his culinary skills, I had to comply with his Like Water For Chocolate demands as it set the score for my sombre Sunday evening Supermalt sipping session. Feel me? Feel this.
Common - Nag Champa (Afrodisiac For The World) (Produced by Jay-Dee)
A toast to the Sabbath.
This evenings deep-fried baked good at the top of this post however, is an unreleased remix of a Faith Evan's single from '95. Jay-Dee's influence is crystal with the dreamy organ keys merging with Tip's penchant for dense boom-bap drums; the reverb (echo) on which adds an atmosphere that completely supersedes the original song. It's shame that not many people have heard this, it's mid-90s R&B at it's most dynamic and scrotal (if you dig that vibe I recommend you peep Groove Theory's '95 self-titled LP, renowned for their hit single 'Tell Me').
And here's a video of the original release that incidentally charted to Gold in the US (ya know, back when people used to buy music...psshhhh- whenever the fuck THAT was.) I implore you to watch the clip, it features the late Biggie Smalls as (yes you guessed it) a fat guy clad like an elephant hunter that gets more honeys than you ever will.
Cream bowler hat = gash bow down to the crown.
Till tomorrow then- anticipate a hardcore Monday. Shan Phearon makes sure everything remains raw...
4 comments:
Another thoroughly enjoyed Dilla Joint!
They have been getting better by the day ... starting off with something along the lines of Tesco Value 6 ring doughnuts for a pound and ranging up to Krispy Kremes for £1.20 a go.
In no way is that really a fitting analogy but still,it is only day 3 and we've been treated to some supreme goodness!
that tune brings back some magic memories...i think possibly the happiest time of my life. big ups :)
I'm about implode over that Common joint;
"We be that, we be that afro-disiac, disiac........"
This blogage so far is indeed the gift that keeps on giving...a rainy Tuesday never felt so fly.
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