The Sandwich Shop

The Sandwich Shop

As everybody probably knows, last year The Roots gave up their strenuous touring schedule to become the in house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Their "sandwiches", the musical selection before and after commercial breaks, make the show worth watching IMO. In December 2009, they released an EP entitled Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Sandwiches, which contained 22 of the thousands of interludes that they've recorded for the show. Fast forward to this month, May 2010, Donwill & Von Pea (of Tanya Morgan) release a dope EP of their own putting lyrics to nine of these sandwiches. Check it out!

Standout tracks: Spaintro, Star from Shining, Headphone Rock, Syrup Sandwich

Gameplan

"Gameplan" by Lord Finesse is song filled with clever metaphors and lines. The whole song is spit in a conversational form, which makes the song even more enjoyable. The video does the song JUSTICE. (Peep the Big L cameo at 1:50) The song utilizes a sample of "San Juan Sunset" by Eumir Deodato, which most people recognize as the same sample from Lupe Fiasco's "Paris, Tokyo". When I first heard The Cool, I was with a group of my boys,"Paris, Tokyo" came on and I was like, "Finesse sampled that first!" The homies had no idea what I was talking about...

Eumir Deodato- San Juan Sunset

Lord Finesse ft. Marquee- Gameplan

prod. Lord Finesse

Everybody Is A Star

"Star/Pointro" by The Roots samples "Everybody Is A Star" by Sly & The Family Stone.

Sly & the Family Stone- Everybody Is A Star

The Roots ft. Wadud Ahmad- Star/Pointro
?uestlove

Things I've Been Through

Jadakiss is an artist you can categorize as hit or miss with his music. He goes innnnn on mixtapes and guest appearances, but his last two albums were lackluster. Despite, me saying this I own (in physical form) all 3 of his albums. Take that however you may... Anyways, on his last album he had a joint called "Things I've Been Through", which takes the lsitener on his journey throughout his career as an emcee. We hear about his affiliations with cats such as Jimmy Iovine, Diddy, and The Lox. The song utilizes a sample of "Promise Me" by Luther Vandross. Kiss kept it real with this song, he only spoke about events that dealt with him, he kept it 100. Which is something a lot of rappers fail to do.

Luther Vandross- Promise Me

Jadakiss- Things I've Been Through
prod. by Mr. Devine

Spread Love

I first heard "Spread Love To Ya" by Cvees on Gordon Gartrell Radio back in 2008. DJ Brainchild always puts together a good selection of songs on the podcast, so go listen to all 17 episodes! But, back to Cvees. From the research, they were a trio consisting of Swave Sevah, Probe DMS, and Ike P. I'm guessing they no longer release music together. I do know that Swave Sevah was on Sean Price's "Kimbo Price" mixtape a few months back. "Spread Love To Ya" samples "Spread Love" by the ten time Grammy winning a capella group Take 6. I listen to both of these songs quite often, two smooth songs to chill out to.

Take 6-Spread Love

Cvees-Spread Love To Ya

prod. by Probe DMS

Ho Happy Jackie

I'm pretty sure everybody knows a Ho Happy Jackie or two, or three. "Ho Happy Jackie" by AZ samples "Little Children" by Kool & The Gang.

Kool & the Gang- Little Children

AZ- Ho Happy Jackie
prod. by Buckwild

The Ghetto

"The Ghetto" by Too Short samples the song of the same name by Donny Hathaway. "The Ghetto" is one of Too Short's more "conscious" songs as he provides his views on race and a vivid picture of life in Oakland.

Donny Hathaway- The Ghetto

Too Short- The Ghetto
prod. by Too Short

Find A Way

"Find A Way" is another summer joint, just a smooth song to play in your whip when the temperature reaches triple digits. It samples "Technova (La Em Copacabana)" by Towa Tei.

Towa Tei- Technova (La Em Copacabana)

A Tribe Called Quest- Find A Way
prod. by The Ummah

Right Here

I've posted in the past about Dwele and how dope of an artist he is. As I've delved deeper into his discography I've found some earlier tracks he was featured on. "Right Here" is a joint that was on Japanese producer, DJ Mitsu The Beats, first album entitled New Awakening. The album featured jazz influenced hip-hop songs with some dope samples. "Right Here" samples "Gentle Smiles" by Gary Bartz. "Gentle Smiles" was also one of the four songs sampled in "Butter" by A Tribe Called Quest. The sax in that "Gentle Smiles" is smoooooth...

Gary Bartz- Gentle Smiles

Dwele- Right Here
prod. by DJ Mitsu The Beats

In The Daytime

Cruisin music. Everytime I hear a Dom Kennedy song that's what I say. Get the whip washed, roll the windows down, and just enjoy the weather. "In The Daytime" is another Dom joint that showcases that summertime feel. It samples "Intimate Friends" by Eddie Kendricks.

Eddie Kendricks- Intimate Friends

Dom Kennedy- In The Daytime
prod. by JSkillz

Ain't That A Bitch

"Ain't That A Bitch (Ask Yourself)" is one of my favorite UGK songs. Pimp C, Bun B, and Devin the Dude all came correct on their verses. The song samples "Ain't That Bitch" by Johnny "Guitar" Watson.

Johnny "Guitar" Watson-Ain't That Bitch

UGK ft. Devin the Dude- Ain't That A Bitch (Ask Yourself)
prod. by N.O. Joe

Unreal

NYOIL, formerly known as Kool Kim (of The U.M.C.'s), is an artist I first heard back in 2007. He had made a lot of noise with his song "Y'all Should All Get Lynched", which called out a lot of mainstream artists for "selling out" and coonery. The first song I heard by him was "Unreal" which utilized a sample of "Lonely Little Girl" by The Mothers of Invention.

The Mothers of Invention- Lonely Little Girl

NYOIL- Unreal
prod. by Chrono Kahlid

Nobody Do It Better

"Nobody Do It Better" is a legit summer jam, Keith Murray had Tyrese on the hook and a smooth sample of "Oooh This Love Is So" by Al B. Sure. There hasn't been much noise from the Def Squad member since this song dropped, but it definitely was hot when it came out in 2007.

Al B. Sure- Oooh This Love Is So

Keith Murray ft. Tyrese and Junior
prod. by Erick Sermon

Queens

Pharoahe Monch's debut album Internal Affairs, was taken off shelves because the sample for its biggest hit "Simon Says" wasn't cleared. It utilized a sample of the Godzilla Theme and it is definitely a crowd mover. This post is about "Queens", which is arguably the best song on this album (it's hard to choose one "best song" on this album). It samples "Til the Cops Come Knockin" by Maxwell and the song is just a deep story about "a nigga named Donovan".

Maxwell- Til the Cops Come Knockin

Pharoahe Monch- Queens
prod. by Pharoahe Monch and Lee Stone

Hustler's Ambition

"Hustler's Ambition" by 50 Cent samples "I Need You" by Frankie Beverly & Maze.

Frankie Beverly and Maze- I Need You

50 Cent- Hustler's Ambition
prod. by B-Money