Unless you've been living under a boulder these past few weeks (and even that might not have been enough to ignore the rollout cycle), you've heard Kanye West's The Life Of Pablo by now, his anti-traditional, darkly personal, occasionally ugly, and frequently great seventh studio album.Recently on THUMP we looked at the rapper's relationship with electronic music throughout his career, and how he went from making beats to setting trends with every album. While his cast of collaborators has ballooned and changed over the years, West's knack for picking samples, both obscure and unexpected, (and the right producers to turn them into chart-topping hits) remains unparalleled.
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Without further ado, here's a guide to every song sampled on The Life Of Pablo.Sampled On: "30 Hours"What's crazier, LA producer Karriem Riggins prominently using the cult legend's "Answers Me" from his 1986 album World of Echo, or the fact that 'Ye got Andre 3000 in the studio and only used him to hum an outro?Sampled On: "Fade"
Originally used in "Deep Inside" (see below).Sampled On: "Pt. 2"Why get Future for a feature when you can get an 18-year-old NYC soundalike for one-tenth the price? Hopefully G.O.O.D. Music's latest signee got a good deal for the use of his (admittedly catchy) only hit to date.Sampled On: "Facts (Charlie Heat Version)"Want to feel old? This song came out four months ago.Sampled On: "Waves"They don't do countdowns in songs like they used to.Sampled On: "Facts (Charlie Heat Version)"While the original "Facts" was an anemic SoundCloud loosie with lazy Nike disses, the album version gets beefed up by producer Charlie Heat, while keeping this soulful sample from a 1973 record unearthed by archival label Numero Group.Sampled On: "No More Parties In L.A."Observant fans will remember this Supreme Clientele vocal was previously used by Kanye for "New God Flow" off the 2012 G.O.O.D. Music compilation Cruel Summer.
Desiigner, "Panda"
Father's Children, "Dirt And Grime"
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Sampled On: "Freestyle 4"Remember Goldfrapp? Remember the early 2000s? The ominous violin throughout "Freestyle 4" is lifted from the London electronic duo's song, which appeared on their debut album Felt Mountain.Sampled On: "Feedback"From the Iranian pop singer and actress' 1992 album Pol.Sampled On: "Fade"We got excited when we first heard) Louie Vega, Kenny Dope, and Erick Morillo's classic house anthem in "Fade" back in October and the final version doesn't disappoint.Sampled On: "Famous"
In the words of YouTube user "BeatProvider Italy": "I'm italian and didn't even know this song…what a samples digger!"Sampled On: "30 Hours"For those missing the "chop up the soul Kanye," there's no better throwback then the skittering drums on "30 Hours."Sampled On: "No More Parties In L.A."After Madlib revealed in a 2010 L.A. Weekly interview that he had five beats for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy put on hold, fans of the LA producer wondered if any of them would ever see the light of day. At the risk of sounding greedy, hopefully we'll see the rest one day.Sampled On: "No More Parties In L.A."While he's best known as Drake's uncle and The Life Of Pablo studio inspiration today, Larry Graham was a member of legendary American group Sly and the Family Stone and founder and frontman of funk band Graham Central Station. "Stand Up And Shout About Love," from the bassist's 1980 solo album One In A Million You, provides the perfect outro after Kanye finishes airing out a laptop-jacking cousin.
Il Rovescio Della Medaglia, "Mi Sono Svegliato E… Ho Chiuso Gli Occhi"
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Sampled On: "Low Lights"Kings Of Tomorrow is one of New York house DJ and producer Sandy Rivera's many aliases, and we're betting Los Angeles duo DJ Dodger Stadium brought this track to the table.Sampled On: "Fade"How can one song interpolate so many bangers?Sampled On: "Ultralight Beam"Nowadays it's common for viral Vines to be turned into club-ready songs, but Kanye went one step further and opened his seventh album with a 4-year-old's Instagram video.Sampled On: "Famous"After previously flipping Nina Simone's "Strange Fruit" into the colossal Yeezus anthem "Blood On The Leaves," Hudson Mohawke borrows from the iconic singer's discography again, this time her cover of The Four Tops' 1969 song "Do What You Gotta Do."Sampled On: "Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1" & "Pt. 2"Early on Kanye described The Life Of Pablo as "actually a Gospel album," and it's hard to argue with that distinction on the record's leadoff track, which borrows its title from Chicago pastor (and con artist) T.L. Burnett's "Father I Stretch My Hands" and features R&B singer-songwriter Kelly Price and Chance The Rapper.Sampled On: "Fade"The vocals at the beginning of "Fade" belong to Gil Bridges, lead singer of Motown-signed blues rock band Rare Earth.
Mr. Fingers, "Mystery Of Love"
Nina Simone, "Do What You Gotta Do"
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Section 25, "Hit"
Yoko Shimomura & Isao Abe, Street Fighter II
Sampled On: "Facts (Charlie Heat Version)"Kanye's hardly the first to sample music from the Street Fighter video game series, but there's a geeky pleasure to hearing sound bites by characters Dhalsim and Guile punctuate "Facts."Max is on Twitter.