D-NICE PRESENTS TRUE HIP-HOP STORIES: MONIE LOVE

D-Nice Presents True Hip-Hop Stories: Monie Love from D-Nice on Vimeo.

MONIE LOVE - IT'S A SHAME (1990) (Samples The Spinners' "It's A Shame")



THE SPINNERS - IT'S A SHAME (1970) (Released the same year that Monie Love was born)

KOOL & THE GANG - SUMMER MADNESS

Here is a classic and soulful 1975 cut from the Jazz/R&B/Soul/Funk group straight out of New Jersey. Can't put K&G in a box. They are responsible for cuts such as "Celebration," "Get Down On It," "Ladies Night," and countless other hits.

SUMMER MADNESS (1975)


Famously sampled by Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff.

WILL SMITH & DJ JAZZY JEFF - SUMMERTIME (1991)

RUFUS & CHAKA KHAN

Rufus, was a 70s band formed in Chi-Town, which helped launch the career of lead singer Chaka Khan. They are known for such hits as "Tell Me Something Good" (penned by Stevie Wonder), "Sweet Thing", and "Ain't Nobody". Band members included:

* Chaka Khan — vocals
* Andre Fischer — drums
* Dennis Belfield — bass
* Al Ciner — guitar
* Tony Maiden — guitar
* Kevin Murphy — keyboards
* Ron Stockert — keyboards
* David Wolinski "Hawk" — keyboards
* Bobby Watson — bass
* John "JR" Robinson — drums (from 1978)
* Moon Calhoun — drums, street player
* Nate Morgan — keyboards


RUFUS & CHAKA KHAN - "DO YOU LOVE WHAT YOU FEEL"




My girl G put me onto this track below. Here is the remake by Carl Carlton

CARL CARLTON - "SMOKING ROOM" (REMAKE OF THE RUFUS & CHAKA KHAN HIT)

DONNY HATHAWAY: A SONG FOR YOU (1971)

One of the most incredible voices of ALL time. You can just feel his pain in this one. Rest in peace Donny.

MARVIN GAYE (4/2/1939 - 4/1/1984)

Although Marvin passed away a few months before I came into this world his music has influenced my life a great deal. Marvin embodied everything about soul music. He asked, "What's Going On," and spoke of "Inner City Blues". "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" that at times he was a "Trouble Man", but you "Gotta Give It Up" to a brother for having so much "Pride and Joy." Marvin oozed sensuality. I could picture him whispering in a young lady's ear,"You're All I Need to Get By" and "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You" I would, for "Your Precious Love". Because "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing". Man, "That's The Way Love Is" and should be, "I'll Be Doggone". If you think about it, "It Ain't That Peculiar". And I could see Marvin telling that young lady "Let's Get It On" and come get some of this "Sexual Healing". And she's just so smitten that all she can say is "Mercy, Mercy Me".

Happy birthday, Marvin, "You Are Everything".

Albums that reached the Top 10 on U.S. pop albums chart/ UK pop albums chart.

* 1971: What's Going On (U.S. #6)
* 1973: Let's Get It On (U.S. #2)
* 1973: Diana & Marvin (w/Diana Ross) (UK #6)
* 1974: Marvin Gaye Live! (U.S. #8)
* 1976: I Want You (U.S. #4)
* 1977: Live at the London Palladium (U.S. #3)
* 1982: Midnight Love (U.S. #7; UK #10)
* 1994: The Very Best of Marvin Gaye (UK #3)
* 2000: Marvin Gaye Love Songs (UK #8)

"DISTANT LOVER" (SOUL TRAIN LIVE, 1980s)



"WHAT'S GOING ON" (LIVE PERFORMANCE FROM 'SAVE THE CHILDREN' FILM, 1973)



"INNER CITY BLUES (MAKES ME WANNA HOLLER)" (1971)


"SEXUAL HEALING" (1982)

SYL JOHNSON - "IS IT BECAUSE I'M BLACK?"

Listen closely...




Syl Johnson is a Blues and Soul singer responsible for such cuts as "Is It Because I'm Black?", "Different Strokes" and "Come On Sock It To Me". Different Strokes is a heavily sampled track in Hip-Hop, sampled by such artists as Wu-Tang Clan, Kool G Rap, Hammer, and the Geto Boys.

He is also the father of R&B songstress Syleena Johnson.

RECOGNIZE THE SAMPLE: BEYONCE 'CRAZY IN LOVE'

BEYONCE - BET AWARDS PERFORMANCE 'CRAZY IN LOVE' FT. JAY-Z (2003)



Beyonce sampled the horns from this Chi-Lites song for her 2003 hit single "Crazy In Love" featuring Jay-Z.

CHI-LITES - 'ARE YOU MY WOMAN (TELL ME SO)' (1971)

MORE BOUNCE: ZAPP

Also known as the Zapp Band, this soul and funk band was formed by brothers Roger Troutman, Larry Troutman, Lester Troutman, Tony Troutman and Terry "Zapp" Troutman in 1978. They are known for such hits as "More Bounce to the Ounce", "Doo Wa Ditty", "Be Alright", and "Computer Love". Signed by the godfather of funk himself, George Clinton, the Zapp Band enjoyed much success during the 1980s with their seminal self-titled debut album earning platinum success and peaking at the top twenty of the Billboard Top 200 due to the success of their leading single, the Roger composition, "More Bounce to the Ounce", which reached number two on the Hot Soul Singles chart.

Tragically, two of the band members Roger and Larry Troutman passed away April 25, 1999 from a murder-suicide. Although the band was defunct for some time, they are now active with brother, Terry serving as band leader.

Roger was known for using his trademark vocoder.

The group has been influential to West Coast hip-hop and Chicano rap.

Here are some artists that sampled Zapp:

*2-Pac - "Keep Your Head Up" samples "Be Alright"
*2-Pac featuring Dr. Dre - "California Love" samples Roger Troutman's "So Ruff, So Tuff"
*EMPD - "You Gots To Chill" samples "More Bounce to the Ounce"
*Sounds of Blackness - "Hold On (A Change Is Coming)" samples "Doo Wa Ditty"
*Das EFX - "Straight from da Sewer" samples "I Can Make You Dance"

Now this music is gonna make you bounce all over the place!

ZAPP - "MORE BOUNCE TO THE OUNCE"

ZAPP & ROGER - "BE ALRIGHT"

ZAPP & ROGER - "COMPUTER LOVE"

ZAPP - "DOO WA DITTY"

SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE

Released on Motown on September 28, 1976, this classic album became the best-selling and most critically acclaimed album of Stevie Wonder's career.

Track Listing:

Side One

1. "Love's in Need of Love Today" (Wonder) – 7:05
2. "Have a Talk with God" (Hardaway/Wonder) – 2:42
3. "Village Ghetto Land" (Byrd/Wonder) – 3:25
4. "Contusion" (Wonder) – 3:45
5. "Sir Duke" (Wonder) – 3:54

Side Two

1. "I Wish" (Wonder) – 4:12
2. "Knocks Me Off My Feet" (Wonder) – 3:36
3. "Pastime Paradise" (Wonder) – 3:27
4. "Summer Soft" (Wonder) – 4:14
5. "Ordinary Pain" (Wonder) – 6:23

Side Three

1. "Isn't She Lovely" (Wonder) – 6:34
2. "Joy Inside My Tears" (Wonder) – 6:29
3. "Black Man" (Byrd/Wonder) – 8:29

Side Four

1. "Ngiculela - Es Una Historia - I Am Singing" (Wonder) – 3:48
2. "If It's Magic" (Wonder) – 3:12
3. "As" (Wonder) – 7:08

Two of my favorite tracks from the album, "As" and "Isn't She Lovely". You may remember that "As" was featured in the 1999 film The Best Man

STEVIE WONDER - "AS"

STEVIE WONDER - "ISN'T SHE LOVELY"

WILSON PICKETT

Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) fused R&B, Rock and Roll and Soul music into his singing and songwriting throughout his career. Known for his raw and raspy style of delivery, Pickett recorded 50 singles that made the R&B and pop charts. He is known for such songs as "Mustang Sally" and "In The Midnight Hour"

Pickett was heavily influenced by church music. As a young kid, he sang in the choir of the Baptist church in his hometown of Prattville, Alabama. In 1955, Pickett went to live with his father in Detroit, the home of countless soul music legends. Detroit helped him to develop his sound.

"In The Midnight Hour," recorded in a Memphis, Tennessee studio was his first major hit under Atlantic Records. The song, released in 1965, peaked at #1 on the R&B charts, #21 on the U.S. pop charts and was #12 UK hit. The song was composed in the historic Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was killed.

Look at everybody just getting down. Classic.

WILSON PICKETT - LIVE PERFORMANCE "IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR" (Africa, circa 1970)

ALL THE RIGHT ELEMENTS

Earth, Wind & Fire has blessed the world with such great tunes as "Let's Groove," "September" and "Reasons". I have to say that Phillip Bailey's voice is out of this world. He hits those high notes effortlessly. Check out the video for the song "Let's Groove," released in 1977.

EARTH, WIND & FIRE - "LET'S GROOVE"

L&B: LUTHER AND BARRY

In 2003 and 2005 we lost two of the greatest voices of any generation. Luther Vandross and Barry White brought a male sensitivity to music, where a man wasn't afraid to let his woman know how much he loved and adored her. And there is nothing punkish about that at all. Every time I hear this live performance at the 1988 NAACP Awards of "A House Is Not A Home" by Luther, I get chills. I think everyone in the audience did too. Hands down one of the best, if not the best live performance ever!

LUTHER VANDROSS - 'A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME'



I can't get enough of this joint right here!

BARRY WHITE - 'CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF YOUR LOVE BABE'

DIGGIN' IN THE CRATES

Bobby Caldwell - 'What You Won't Do For Love'




This 1978 hit originally released on the self-titled album Bobby Caldwell from the jazz singer/guitarist has was a big hit for Bobby. Most people remember Tupac Shakur's song 'Do For Love,' released posthumously in 1997, which took a vocal sample from the Caldwell classic.

I'm sure I'm not the only person who thought Bobby Caldwell was black. In fact, back in the day in order for Caldwell to get significant airplay on the black R&B stations early in his career, his management team portrayed him only in silhouette on the cover of albums and in advertisements in order to hide the fact that he was white.

On the flip side, back in the day in order for black artists to appeal to mainstream white audiences, white artists would record cover versions of these artist's music. For example, Pat Boone recorded cover versions of a lot of Little Richard's songs. Often these black artists saw the record companies profiting from their art instead of themselves.

See another classic Bobby Caldwell track below:

Bobby Caldwell - 'Open Your Eyes'