The ’90s Loved The ’80s!

First of all, I wanna big up everyone who checked me out during the first week of DanjLovesThe90s. Just to let y’all know, I’m just gettin’ started, so be sure to keep coming back!

NOW… if you love Hip-Hop and R&B from the ’90s, you kinda automatically love the ’80s by degree of separation. A lot of the biggest hits from the ’90s were songs that borrowed heavily and liberally from ’80s R&B and Pop music. Most artists spent the first half of the decade trying to get away from the one before it, but they ended up spending the second half revisiting it. I ‘m kinda surprised that music of the ’90s hasn’t been heavily re-used during this decade in a similar manner, but then again… I guess it’d be a lil’ harder to do.

A lot of people cried foul when this craze was going on, because they felt it was a little lazy to just snatch loops from songs that were already poppin’ years prior. I saw where they were coming from, but at the same time, I think a lot of them only felt that way because they vividly recalled the songs that were being used. It was no different than when half of Cali spent the early-’90s using funk records from the ’70s, or when hip-hop of the late-’80s practically raided James Brown‘s catalog of the ’60s. It was just more in their faces now that the music of their youth was being jacked.

Admittedly, in some instances, it was unimaginative and somewhat of a get-a-hit-quick move. I’d still have to say some quality songs came out of that trend, though. In keeping with the m.o. of DanjLovesThe90s, I’ll now mention a few of what will be a number of instances where the ’90s sampled the ’80s to great effect. And, as usual… you wanna hear ’em, click ’em.

Jay-Z’s “Can’t Knock The Hustle” (Remix) sampled Meli’sa Morgan’s “Fool’s Paradise”: In ’86, Meli’sa Morgan was a big-haired R&B talent known for her hit “Do Me Baby” and her smaller hit, “Fool’s Paradise”. The latter song found Meli’sa hoping her significant other hadn’t gotten caught up in the “bright lights and big city”, as it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be from her standpoint. 10 years later, Jay-Z recruited Mary J. Blige to sing a piece of it for his single, “Can’t Knock The Hustle”. In light of its’ popularity, he remixed it with the full “…Paradise” sample and a Meli’sa feature (which she KILLS). Couldn’t knock it.

Foxy Brown feat. BlackStreet “Get Me Home” sampled Eugene Wilde’s “Gotta Get You Home Tonight”: Speaking of Jay, he also wrote an even bigger hit for another artist around the same time. Brooklyn‘s Foxy Brown was 17 years old and the raunchiest female rapper out, second only to Lil’ Kim. However, she toned down the “playin’ inside my pubic hairs” talk long enough to score a smash with “Get Me Home”, which sampled a 1984 hit by Eugene Wilde. With BlackStreet on the hook and the Trackmasters on the… track, Foxy set things off nicely for her debut album, Ill Na Na. Oh, and props to whoever suggested Fox throw in the “uh-oh, uh-oh!” on the hook.

AZ’s “Sugar Hill” sampled Juicy’s “Sugar Free”: I’ve mentioned a few times on other sites that while AZ has spent a lot of his career being considered “Nas‘ homeboy”, he actually did something with his first single that Nas didn’t do until his fifth: he scored a legit nationwide hit. The MissJones-featured “Sugar Hill” was hot around mid-’95, and it borrowed from a song that was moderately popular 10 years prior. Juicy’s “Sugar Free” was a minor R&B hit that my mother happened to love, thus I already recognized (and appreciated) it once AZ used it.

Lost Boyz “Lifestyles Of The Rich & Shameless” sampled Club Nouveau’s “Jealousy”: This one fucked my head up, because I was completely oblivious to it for a whole 12 years after “Lifestyles…” dropped. “Jealousy” was a hit by Club Nouveau in 1986. It was also a “dis record” of sorts aimed at the Timex Social Club, whom Nouveau member Jay King had a falling-out with after producing their hit, “Rumors”. Producer Easy Mo Bee managed to slow this record waaaay down and utilize it for the LB Fam’s first hit in ’95. Only a visit to The-Breaks.com in ’07 gave me any idea that “Lifestyles…” sampled “Jealousy”. I can usually spot a familiar sample, but for years, I’d liked both of those songs without ever connecting one to the other.

Much like the “Posse”, I’ll be revisiting this topic here and there in future entries. There’s a lot more that did just as well (if not better) at making the ’80s new for a whole ‘nother generation. It was definitely an important part, for better or worse, of ’90s Hip-Hop, as well as R&B for that matter.