SAMPLED: DJ Khaled β€” "They Ready" feat. J. Cole, Big K.R.I.T., & Kendrick Lamar

by Aaron Zorgel

September 6, 2012

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SAMPLED is a column that examines the skeletal production of a contemporary Rap/R&B/Hip-Hop or Pop song. From what song did the loop, sample, or chopped up vocal providing the backbone for a new interpretation originate? This week, the sample is taken from Willie Hutch's 1969 song "That's What I Call Lovin'."

SAMPLED is a column that examines the skeletal production of a contemporary Rap/R&B/Hip-Hop or Pop song. From what song did the loop, sample, or chopped up vocal providing the backbone for a new interpretation originate? We look at the original song with some historical context, and then review the modern-day production that samples the original. For better or worse, this is the process by which a huge portion of contemporary pop music is assembled. On a weekly basis, SAMPLED aims to approach it case-by-case, and examine the dividing practice of using samples in the creation of music.

This week, the sample in question comes from Willie Hutch’s 1969 song “That’s What I Call Lovin'”:

William McKinley Hutchinson was a Los Angeles-born singer, songwriter, and producer who flourished on the Motown Records during the 1970s and 1980s. Spending his formative years in Dallas, Texas, William joined a doo-wop group called The Ambassadors when he was a teenager. After graduating high school, he shortened his name to Willie Hutch, and started a music career, releasing his first single “Love Has Put Me Down,” on Soul City Records. Hutch moved to Los Angeles with the hopes of becoming a songwriter and producer. After releasing two solo albums on RCA, Hutch landed a gig writing lyrics and vocal melodies for the Jackson 5 song “I’ll Be There,” Willie Hutch was signed-on (by Berry Gordy himself) as an in-house songwriter and producer for Motown Records. Willie would work closely with The Jackson 5, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, and Smokey Robinson, before releasing his own solo material on Motown. In 1973, Hutch released Fully Exposed, his first of ten releases for Motown. Willie Hutch had several notable singles during this period, including “Brother’s Gonna Work It Out,” “Slick,” and “Love Power,” his highest charting single, which reached #41 on the Billboard Hot 100. He passed away in 2005, but Willie Hutch’s legacy lives on in the songs he wrote, the records he made, and on the many recordings that sample his work.

“That’s What I Call Lovin'” was recently sampled by DJ Khaled (and by that I really mean that DJ Khaled had virtually nothing to do with it) on “They Ready,” a song featuring J. Cole, Big K.R.I.T., and Kendrick Lamar:

“They Ready” just might be the best offering on DJ Khaled’s Kiss The Ring, and considering Khaled utters a mere two words on the track (“DJ” and “Khaled,” natch), this acclaim is deserved only by the track’s featured guests J. Cole, Big K.R.I.T., and Kendrick Lamar. This is a trio of the fastest rising stars in hip-hop, and Khaled scored a huge coup just by getting them together on one beat. Speaking of the beat, J. Cole produced the track, chopping and stuttering Willie Hutch’s original to the point that it’s barely recognizable outside of the song’s intro.

Tags: Music, Featured, News, Big K.R.I.T., DJ Khaled, J Cole, Kendrick Lamar

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