Hip-Hop's Greatest Al Green Samples

“Simply Beautiful” (fromI’m Still in Love With You),on Talib Kweli’s “Good to You”

Christian Lantry

Hip-hop artists have long borrowed Al Green’s sounds.

Related Content

• Wu-Tang Clan - Club Nokia - January 21, 2012
  January 22, 2012
• Is Syl Johnson Rich Off of Rap Samples? He Says So
  February 9, 2012
• Ghostface Killah Changes Mind About Online Impersonator Ghostfase: 'Shout Out to My Mini Muse.... Funny Ass Ninja'
  November 15, 2011
• The Hip-Hop World's Bizarre Co-Sign Of Justin Bieber
  October 31, 2011
• Music Picks: Skrillex, Diplo, Wu-Tang Clan, The Health Club
  January 19, 2012

More About

• Al Green
• Cappadonna
• RZA (Rapper)
• Talib Kweli
• Hip-Hop and Rap

Kanye West, at the zenith of his chipmunk-soul-era peak, carves up one of Green’s most simple but effective ballads. Over the sped-up sample, Kweli shows why he effectively owned the underground during the first few years of the decade.

 
“The Letter” (fromGreen Is Blues), on Capone-N-Noreaga’s “L.A., L.A.”

A response to Tha Dogg Pound’s “New York,” Capone-N-Noreaga and their Queens brethren Mobb Deep snuff Marley Marl’s beat. Along the way, one of Green’s most plaintive instrumentals becomes even colder and more desperate.

 
“The Letter,” on Notorious B.I.G.’s “Long Kiss Goodnight”

In the penultimate track on the second disc of B.I.G.’s classic Life After Death, Christopher Wallace and Puffy tacitly imply they were behind 2Pac’s killing — at least if you believe Chuck Philips’ 2002 L.A. Timespiece. Either way, the haunting track remains one of the finest subliminal salvos ever.

 
“Gotta Find a New World” (fromGreen Is Blues), on Ghostface Killah’s “Iron Maiden”

For the jump-off on the now-canonized Ironman, Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA swipes the plangent crash of Green’s brass section, allowing colleagues Ghostface, Raekwon and Cappadonna space to weave their complex criminology raps.

 
“Here I Am” (fromCall Me), on Cappadonna’s “Slang Editorial”

RZA disciple True Master laces Wu-Tang 10th man Cappadonna with a fat slab of bronze horns and dirt-caked drums. Easily one of the most seminal tracks ever released by a Clan affiliate.

 
“You Ought to Be With Me” (fromCall Me),on Ghostface Killah’s “260”

Looping the tense, paranoid first 10 seconds of “You Ought to Be With Me,” RZA again turned to Willie Mitchell’s production to soundtrack Ghostface and Raekwon’s botched and brutal cocaine heist.

 
“I Wish You Were Here” (fromAl Green Is Love), on Nas’ “Shootouts”

Before they started sampling bad bar mitzvah records, the Trackmasters once had the good sense to steal the elegiac piano line from “I Wish You Were Here” to help paint Nas’ crime scenes blood-red.