Samples Of The Week: January 22 (Joey Bada$$ Edition)

This Tuesday marked the release of Joey Bada$$' long-awaited commercial debut, B4.Da.$$. We'll be reviewing the album soon enough, but first, we're using this edition of Samples Of The Week to give some shine to the production on the project.

Ever the '90s-revering youngster, Joey's laced his album with allusions and references to '90s hip-hop, mostly in the lyrics department. While he interpolates lyrics from Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, Noreaga and others, we're going to focus on the instrumental samples here, as they're done a little more subtly and often still contain deeper connections to the '90s. Read on to learn about the jazzy originals that coagulated to form B4.Da.$$.

Album opener "Save The Children" shares its title with a Gil Scott Heron track, and opens with a sample of someone calling Bada$$ to the stage, as well as various people saying the titular phrase. When the music gets going, though, it's Azar Lawrence's 1976 track "People Moving" that provides the jazzy backdrop for the song. That source material has also been used by Common and Madlib on releases of their own.

The brief "Greenbax Introlude"is the one song that dope producer Lee Bannon got to do for the album, but he certainly makes the most of it. The noisy, nostalgic skit is bolstered by a sample of the Ahmad Jamal Trio's "Dolphin Dance." Hip-hop heads will recognize it from Common's "Resurrection" and Isaiah Rashad's "RIP Kevin Miller." The band was integral to NYC hip-hop in the '90s, as everyone from Nas to Gang Starr was sampling them. 

The Maverick Sabre and Dyemond Lewis-assisted "On & On" is surely one of the highlights on B4.Da.$$. Freddie Joachim's production really shines on this one, providing a snappy, piano-led beat for Joey to flow over. The track samples one of the most popular drum breaks of the '90s, Clyde McPhatter's "The Mixed Up Cup." In the past, it's provided the backbone for tracks by A Tribe Called Quest, Big L, Mobb Deep, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Common and The Roots. Funnily enough, the album's other most recognizable drum break (on "No. 99") is Jimi Hendrix's "Little Miss Lover," which is almost instantly recognizable as the backbone of ATCQ's "Scenario."

Is Joey a huge Common fan, or is it a mere coincidence that all three of these highlighted samples have been used by the Chicago rapper?