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, we’re breaking down the samples used in French Montana’s “Once In A While,” the first track from his long-awaited debut Excuse My French:

Three Dog Night are one of the great American cover bands of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. They made sure to write a handful of their own songs on each album they released, but the only ones that seemed to blow up were cover versions of previously released tracks, or songs contributed by outside songwriters. Remember that period in the early 2000s when nu-metal and pop-punk bands would launch their careers with a recognizable cover as their first single, then quickly follow it with an original song that was inevitably not nearly as successful? I’m thinking Alien Ant Farm’s “Smooth Criminal,” Godhead’s “Eleanor Rigby,” and Out Of Your Mouth’s unjustifiable cover of Madonna’s “Music.” It turns out Three Dog Night sold millions of records on that model, decades before the wave of mall punks and MTV goths flooded the market with aggro covers of recognizable songs.

There are at least a few songs that Three Dog Night made famous, but didn’t write. Their earliest hit was the 1969 Harry Nilsson-penned “One,” which for many millennial, will forever be inextricably associated with Paul Thomas Anderson’s delightful mess of a film Magnolia, thanks to Aimee Mann’s haunting version on the soundtrack. They’re also known for recording the most famous version of “Joy To The World,” a.k.a. that “Jeremiah Bullfrog” song you hear at every wedding. You know, the one that makes your uncle with bad knees go apeshit on the dancefloor, while your aunt looks on, concerned.

A downtempo ballad, “I’d Be So Happy” was written for Three Dog Night by Hamilton, Ontario bandleader of the Paupers and Lighthouse, Skip Prokop. It appeared on Hard Labour, a 1974 album with ridiculous cover art:

Oh, there’s also a Kanye West vocal sample in the mix. It’s what you all been waitin’ for, ain’t it? This is the opening line from “Barry Bonds,” form Kanye’s 2007 album Graduation.

Samples from “I’d Be So Happy” and “Barry Bonds” were recently used in French Montana’s “Once In A While,” featuring Diplomats-affiliated (and encarcerated) Harlem rapper Max B:

French Montana has released over twenty mixtapes over the past six years, so the Kanye sample is an appropriate vocal hook for the first track on his debut album. Co-producers Reefa and Rick Steel chop a few bars from the intro of “I’d Be So Happy” and pitch them up for the instrumental, layer in Kanye’s “Barry Bonds” vocal for a secondary hook, and boost the arrangement’s energy with some MPC style boom-bap drum samples, a style that screams classic New York.

Based on subject matter (“MURDA!”), it’s impossible to just glaze over Harlem rapper Max B’s appearance on this track. Max B was a known affiliate of the Diplomats crew, until he was convicted of murder and sentenced to seventy five years in prison. At the top of “Once In A While,” you’ll hear an inspirational message from Max B that sounds like a voicemail. French remains close with Max B to this day, and insists that had he not been locked up, he’d be one of the biggest rappers today.