GIVE IT UP and DON'T SWEAT THE TECHNIQUE

Listen to GIVE IT UP by Kool & The Gang.
Listen to DON'T SWEAT THE TECHNIQUE by Eric B. & Rakim.

Give It Up is another Kool & The Gang track that got sampled to death during hip hop's golden age. Most DJ's just sampled the drums (like, say, Scenario by A Tribe Called Quest), but few sample the horn lines that stand out most on the original recording.

Why is that? I don't know, but Eric B. & Rakim owned it with Don't Sweat The Technique (don't miss that video, by the way). Seriously, how many phrases from hip hop songs enter the general lexicon? I don't know, but you can get about 24,000 google hits for this phrase that don't even mention Eric B or Rakim. This is not my favorite record or favorite album of theirs--it's a little...sophisticated in a lot of ways, but that can be a very good thing when it hits you right.

Photo: Mural detail (2).