The two wildly different tracks that sample a Dr Dre classic
Dr Dre got his start as a producer sampling the music of others. However, it’s unsurprising that his own material has been sampled numerous times over the years. During his prime, the Compton musician relied heavily on P-Funk and acts such as the Ohio Players and Rick James. However, his instrumentals have become building blocks for new beatmakers.
Sometimes, when producers sample, it’s highly evident which song has been used. Within hip-hop, there has been a propensity to use a copy-and-paste formula. Not only is it an uninspired way to make music, but it also leaves the listener feeling like they are listening to a mere remix of the original.
Some beatmakers are unbelievably shrewd in how they can hide and blend the samples they use. Sometimes, the songs are hidden with the instrumental so well listeners aren’t even aware one is there.
That said, one Dr Dre song has been used in two tracks that sound wildly different, and it is surprising how one beat can be morphed into songs so spectacularly dissimilar. Not only are the singles distinct they are from extremely different eras, yet they somehow both became hits upon release.
The song is Dr Dre’s classic ‘Nuthin But A G Thang’, which is widely considered the first real G-funk anthem of all time. The track samples the 1975 funk hit, ‘I Want’a Do Something Freaky to You’ and was created in the Death Row studio inside Dr Dre’s LA mansion—former N.W.A member, The D.O.C, also added some finishing touches to the track’s vocals.
Although many don’t like to sample classic tracks for fear of ruining them and upsetting fans, the 1992 single which featured on The Chronic, has been sampled by many artists since its release most notably by the duo Kriss Kross for their 1993 single, ‘I’m Real’ and also by by Ja Rule for his 2001 track, ‘Livin’ It Up.’
Kriss Kross were a teenage duo that first came to prominence with their 1992 hit ‘Jump’. The chart-topping track remained there for two months, and their debut project, Totally Krossed Out, also proved to be worthy of the top spot. However, ‘I’m Real’ was the second single of their less successful sophomore project, Da Bomb.
‘I’m Real’ hears a sample of ‘Nuthin But A G Thang’, more specifically, a verse on which Snoop Dogg raps, “And that’s realer than real deal Holyfield.” The Kriss Kross single has a distinctly West Coast, G-funk sonic. However, the lyrics of the song and the album, more broadly, were not received well as the young teenage duo began branding themselves as gangsters and using the word “n*gga.”
However, regardless of its sound, there is no debate that it is incredibly different from Ja Rule’s ‘Livin It Up’. The latter, released in 2001, is a party record that is, to this day, a club anthem. During one of his verses, the Pain Is Love creator raps, “Cause it ain’t nuttin’ but an Inc thing, baby / I know the word is goin’ crazy,” which is an interpolation Dr Dre’s chorus “Ain’t nothin’ but a “G” thang, baby / Two loced out n*ggas goin’ crazy!”
The two songs show the legacy Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg’s single had on hip-hop and how, whether it’s a year or nine years after people were still paying homage to the song through their own music.