Coldcut are an English electronic music duo composed of Matt Black and Jonathan More. Credited as pioneers for pop sampling in the 1980s,Coldcut are also considered the first stars of UK electronic dance music due to their innovative style,which featured cut-up samples of hip-hop,soul,funk,spoken word and various other types of music,as well as video and multimedia. According to Spin,"in '87 Coldcut pioneered the British fad for 'DJ records'".
Bat-Sheva Ofra Haza was an Israeli singer,songwriter and actress,commonly known in the Western world as "the Madonna of the East",or "the Israeli Madonna". Her voice has been described as a "tender" mezzo-soprano. In 2023,Rolling Stone ranked Haza at number 186 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.
Eric B. &Rakim are an American hip hop duo formed on Long Island,New York,in 1986,composed of DJ Eric B. and rapper Rakim. AllMusic wrote that "during rap's so-called golden age in the late '80s,Eric B. &Rakim were almost universally recognized as the premier DJ/MC team in all of hip-hop." Tom Terrell of NPR called them "the most influential DJ/MC combo in contemporary pop music period." The editors of About.com ranked them as No. 5 on their list of the 10 Greatest Hip-Hop Duos of All-Time,and Rolling Stone ranked them No. 5 on its list of the 20 Greatest Duos of All Time.
William Michael Griffin Jr.,better known by his stage name Rakim,is an American rapper. He is one half of golden age hip hop duo Eric B. &Rakim,with whom he released four albums:Paid in Full (1987),Follow the Leader (1988),Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em (1990),and Don't Sweat the Technique (1992). He also released three solo albums:The 18th Letter (1997),The Master (1999),and The Seventh Seal (2009).
Follow the Leader is the second studio album by American hip hop duo Eric B. &Rakim. Following their debut album Paid in Full (1987),Eric B. &Rakim left 4th &B'way Records and signed with Uni Records,a subsidiary label of major label MCA Records. They recorded Follow the Leader at Power Play Studios in New York City. The duo produced,composed,and arranged the album with additional contributions from Rakim's brother Stevie Blass Griffin,who contributed with various instruments. Eric B. &Rakim worked with audio engineers Carlton Batts and Patrick Adams on the album. In a similar manner to their first album,a "ghost producer" was brought in for two songs. In a 2007 interview with Unkut.com,The 45 King said he produced both "Microphone Fiend" and "The R". "Microphone Fiend" was originally made for Fab 5 Freddy,until 45 King gave it over to Eric B.,the group's "DJ".
Louis Eric Barrier is an American rapper,record producer,DJ,and actor from New York City. One half of the golden age hip hop duo Eric B. &Rakim,he formed the group in 1986 and served as its primary producer and DJ. Their debut album,Paid in Full (1987) was named the greatest hip hop album of all time by MTV in 2006,and the duo were nominated in 2011 for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Paid in Full is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Eric B. &Rakim,released on July 7,1987,by Island-subsidiary label 4th &B'way Records. The duo recorded the album at hip hop producer Marley Marl's home studio and Power Play Studios in New York City,following Rakim's response to Eric B.'s search for a rapper to complement his disc jockey work in 1985. The album peaked at number fifty-eight on the Billboard 200 chart,number eight on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart,and produced five singles:"Eric B. Is President","I Ain't No Joke","I Know You Got Soul","Move the Crowd",and "Paid in Full".
"Pump Up the Volume" is the only single by British recording act M|A|R|R|S. Recorded and released in 1987,it was a number-one hit in many countries and is regarded as a significant milestone in the development of British house music and music sampling. The song derives its title directly from a lyrical sample from "I Know You Got Soul",a hit single by labelmates Eric B. &Rakim,released months prior in that same year.
Let the Rhythm Hit ’Em is the third studio album by hip hop duo Eric B. &Rakim,released on June 19,1990. The group's sound develops further,with Rakim adopting a deeper,more aggressive tone of voice,and more mature and serious subject matter. Musically,the production ranges from smoother soulful tracks such as "In the Ghetto" to the hard-edged assault of the title track "Let the Rhythm Hit ’Em."
"I Know You Got Soul" is a song recorded by Eric B. &Rakim in 1987. A commercial and artistic success,it was ranked #23 by Rolling Stone on their list of Top 50 hip-hop songs,and #396 on their list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
"Im Nin'alu" is a Hebrew poem by 17th-century Rabbi Shalom Shabazi. It has been placed to music and sung by Israeli singer Ofra Haza and others. Haza first performed this song with the Shechunat Hatikva Workshop Theatre,appearing on television on IBA's General Television in 1978. The original version was included on the 1984 album Yemenite Songs,also known as Fifty Gates of Wisdom. The remixed version was part of her international debut Shaday of 1988.
"Girls Around the World" is a song by American recording artist Lloyd. The song features rapper Lil Wayne and was written by Lloyd and Lil Wayne,along with Eric Barrier and William Griffin. The song was produced by his production team,Big Reese and Jasper Cameron,who also produced his breakthrough hit,"You",which also featured Lil Wayne. The song served as the lead single for Lloyd's third studio album Lessons in Love. "Girls Around the World" received positive to mixed reviews from critics,some of whom noted it as generic,and others named it as a top track from the album. It reached No. 64 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 13 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song samples the drum break from "Ashley's Roachclip" by the Soul Searchers,as well as interpolating Rakim's verse in "Paid in Full" by hip hop duo Eric B. &Rakim.
Shaday is an album by Israeli singer Ofra Haza,released in 1988. Shaday,recorded in both Tel Aviv and England,became Haza's international breakthrough album and includes the Hebrew-English language remix singles "Im Nin'alu" and "Galbi," as well as "Shaday" and "Da'Ale Da'Ale," also released as remix singles.
Yemenite Songs is a 1984 album by Ofra Haza,in which the Israeli pop star returned to her roots interpreting traditional Yemeni Jewish songs with lyrics coming from the poetry of 16th century Rabbi Shalom Shabazi. The album was recorded with both traditional and modern musical instruments;wooden and metal percussion,Yemenite tin and tambala,strings,brass and woodwind as well as drum machines and synthesizers. The songs are sung in Hebrew with a Yemenite accent and in Arabic.
"Galbi" is an Arabic musical poem by Yemenite Aharon Amram that was sung by Israeli Yemenite singer Ofra Haza and others. The 1988 remix of the song,taken from the album Shaday,was issued as the follow-up to Haza's worldwide chart hit "Im Nin'Alu ".
"Follow the Leader" is a song by American hip-hop duo Eric B. &Rakim. It was written by group members Eric Barrier and Rakim Allah and released as the first single from their second studio album of the same name.
"I Ain't No Joke" is a song by rap duo Eric B. &Rakim,released as the second single from their debut studio album Paid in Full. It peaked at number thirty-eight on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles &Tracks. Described as one of the album's "monumental singles",Michael Di Bella wrote in the All Music Guide to Rock that "Rakim grabs the listener by the throat and illustrates his mastery of the rhyming craft". A music video was made for it,featuring dancing from Flavor Flav of the group Public Enemy. The song was selected by Jay-Z for the NBA 2K13 soundtrack. It was also featured in the video game Saints Row,as well as in the soundtrack of MLB The Show 23.
"Say Kids What Time Is It?" is the debut single of British dance music duo Coldcut. It is renowned as one of the first tracks to be built entirely around music sampling.
The discography of Eric B. &Rakim,an American hip hop duo,consists of four studio albums,five compilation albums,15 singles,and nine music videos. Eric B. &Rakim formed and signed a record deal with Zakia Records in 1985. The following year,the duo signed a deal with 4th &B'way Records. Their debut album Paid in Full was released in 1987. In the United States,it peaked at number 58 on the Billboard 200,number 8 on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums,and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It appeared on the Dutch,New Zealand,and UK Albums Chart. Paid in Full produced five singles,four of which appeared on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The fifth single "Paid in Full" (1988) peaked in the top five of the Dutch and New Zealand Singles Chart.
"Paper'd Up" is a song by American West Coast hip hop recording artist Snoop Dogg,taken from his six studio album,Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$ (2002). It was produced by Fredwreck and features guest appearances by Kokane and Traci Nelson. The beat,drum breaks and harmonies are heavily sampled from Dennis Edward's 1984 Disco Classic "Don't Look Any Further" featuring Siedah Garrett. The oriental vocal sample is from Ofra Haza's song Im Nin'alu. This combination of sample material was already employed by Eric B. &Rakim in 1987 for their dancefloor classic Paid In Full,which was made famous by Coldcut 's Seven Minutes of Madness Remix.
