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Tag Archives: mos def

One for the treble, two for the bass

Saturday, June 5, 2010

I’ve been hearing this line in a lot of hip-hop songs: “One for the treble, two for the time” or “One for the treble, two for the bass” or some variation. I wanted to find out what everybody’s quoting. After some internet detective work, here’s what I’ve got. The phrase is a play on the [...]

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The natural history of the Funky Drummer break

Monday, May 25, 2009

“The Funky Drummer Parts One And Two” by James Brown and the JBs is one of the most-sampled recordings in history. “The Funky Drummer” is a cornerstone of hip-hop and other sample-based electronic music, but for the first decade after its release it was an obscure tune. It’s a nice groove, but as a song, [...]

Filed in Composition, Copyright and Authorship, Evolution, Improvisation, Key Musicians, Music, Sampling | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (3)