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 is taken from legendary Bronx rapper Big Pun’s “The Dream Shatterer”:

Though he struggled with weight problems for his entire life (which would ultimately be fatal), Big Pun is widely regarded as one of the most technically proficient rappers of his era, due to his ability to spit rapid-fire, multi-syllabic rhymes without having to pause to take a breath, or simplify his flow.

Big Pun broke through when producer Knowbody remixed his song “I’m Not A Player” with an interpolation of R&B vocalist Joe’s “Don’t Wanna Be A Player.” The single brought Pun, Joe, and Knowbody mainstream success, peaking at #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #6 on the R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart. It was Big Pun’s most successful single to date, and it made him the first solo Latino rapper to go platinum. “The Dream Shatterer” is an album cut on Capital Punishment, but it’s a perfect demonstrator of how Pun was ferociously adept both lyrically and technically.

On February 7th, 2000, before his second album had even been released, Big Pun suffered a fatal heart attack. At the time of his death, he was 698 pounds.

A vocal sample from Big Pun’s “The Dream Shatterer” was recently sampled by UK electro vocalist Jessie Ware on the Julio Bashmore produced single “110%”:

British songstress (and sometimes SBTRKT vocalist) Jessie Ware had a massive breakthrough in her homeland last year, with the stirring electro-soul debut Devotion. Island Records is currently promoting Ware to an American audience, but not without a few headaches along the way.

Island Records chose five tracks from Devotion for a US-only EP (released January 15th) that would act as her formal introduction to Americans. “110%,” one of the five cuts from Devotion, contains a sample of Big Pun’s “The Dream Shatterer.” If you listen to the clip above, you can hear that the song begins with a pitched down sample of Big Pun’s lyric “I’m carvin’ my initials on your forehead” (the original can be heard at 0:15 of “The Dream Shatterer”).

Due to a sample clearance dispute with Big Pun’s estate, the track had to be renamed (Jessie chose “If You’re Never Gonna Move”), and the sample had to be replaced. The new mix sounds almost identical, but this time around, Ware has recorded her sample from scratch. It’s a pitched-down voice saying “always on a mission like a warhead.” Listen below:

How often do you hear about an album getting delayed due to sample clearances these days? “110% / If You’re Never Gonna Move” is a perfect example of how even though the practice of sampling can breathe new life into a forgotten classic, it gets messy when both sides don’t want to play along.