SAMPLED examines the skeletal production of a contemporary rap, R&B, hip-hop or pop song — Where did the loop, sample, or chopped up vocal providing the backbone originate? SAMPLED gives you the history, the context, and the insight.

This week, the sample in question is taken from Grant Green’s 1971 jazz guitar composition “Maybe Tomorrow”:

Grant Green was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1935. An only child, Green was taught to play the guitar by his father and his uncle after they bought him a beat-up guitar and amplifier. He began playing jazz guitar in church groups at the age of twelve, and with his parents’ blessing, Green dropped out of school in the ninth grade to focus on playing professionally with jazz and R&B ensembles.

After touring with jazz saxophonist Lou Donaldson, Green relocated to New York City, where Donaldson introduced him to Alfred Lion of Blue Note Records. Throughout his career, Green would record almost exclusively for Blue Note, playing on over a hundred albums, thirty of them featuring him as the band leader. Grant Green passed away of a heart attack at the age of forty-nine, while en route to a performance at George Benson’s Breezin’ Lounge in New York City.

Grant was known for his single-note melodic picking style as well as a signature mid-heavy tone, which allowed him to cut through the mix like no other in early recording environments. He left behind a massive back catalogue, and his work has been rediscovered and sampled by many classic hip-hop acts, including A Tribute Called Quest and Public Enemy.

“Maybe Tomorrow” appears on Grant Green’s 1971 album Visions, and nicely showcases Green’s laid-back, melodically satisfying style of guitar playing.

“Maybe Tomorrow” was recently sampled on Kendrick Lamar’s “Sing About Me, I’m Dying Of Thirst,” a 12-minute opus appearing on his Aftermath debut good kid, m.A.A.D. city:

Kendrick Lamar’s profile has been rising steadily since he released his critically heralded independent debut Section.80 in July of 2011, and expectations for his major label debut grew higher with every fantastic single he dropped leading up to its release. good kid, m.A.A.D. city was unveiled this week, and on first listen, it’s an ambitious concept record with a surprisingly cohesive sound, considering the fact that so many different producers were involved — a total of fourteen different producers contributed to the twelve track album.

“Sing About Me, I’m Dying Of Thirst” contains two main movements separated by a dramatic skit. For the purposes of this column we’ll be focussing on the first movement, “Sing About Me,” since it’s the section that contains the Grant Green sample. Kendrick Lamar is very much a narrative rapper, so it’s fitting that “Sing About Me” is about how storytelling in hip-hop is a way to combat death, inform future generations, and leave a lasting legacy.

“Sing About Me” was produced by Like from California hip-hop group Pac Div. A sped-up and pitched-up section of “Maybe Tomorrow” is the focus of Like’s instrumental; he adds only a subdued hip-hop beat throughout, with occasional string samples swelling during the chorus. The end result is a hip-hop storytelling masterpiece — Kendrick tells the vivid stories of two Compton characters with his lyrics, and Like shines a light on Grant Green’s guitar-playing in the instrumental.