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How The Story Goes - Jean Jacques Perrey "E.V.A." Sample · by Dan Love
Jean Jacques Perrey from a performance in 2006.
Photo by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid.
To say that Jean Jacques Perrey has made a significant contribution to contemporary popular culture is such a gross understatement of reality that it is almost laughable. His 1970 album Moog Indigo was one of the first instances that the Moog Synthesizer had been used extensively on wax, a piece of equipment that was one of the forefathers of a now incredible spectrum of instruments that have appeared on some of the most successful albums in musical history. Indeed, it’s difficult to listen to Moog Indigo without feeling a jarring sense of implausibility: can this really have been produced over 35 years ago? The somewhat over-used label of ‘ahead of their time’ has rarely felt as applicable.
For those unaware of his work (as I was until about a week ago), there is no doubt that his fits of experimentation found on the second track of the album will contain a sense of familiarity for anybody with even a glancing interest in the culture of hip hop. ‘E.V.A.’ has been a source of inspiration for many a beatmaker, and the break is probably most widely known as the backbone of the Gangstarr classic ‘Just To Get A Rep’. Of course, the magnitude of this song needs little discussion here, but there are several under-acknowledged cuts that have also used Perrey’s work that deserve some shine, hence the trio of tracks that follow.
A Tribe Called Quest – ‘Same Ol’ Thing’
Although Tribe are easily the most high profile of the artists presented here, ‘Same Ol’ Thing’ may have escaped the less obsessive fans amongst you (what do you mean you only own the five studio albums?!). Originally cropping up on The Jam EP that preceded their opinion-dividing fourth album Beats, Rhymes & Life, the song is one of the first meetings of minds for The Ummah production team, and its audio aesthetic clearly falls in line with the sound of the aforementioned album as a whole. Whatever your feelings about the LP in its entirety, ‘Same Ol’ Thing’ is a simple yet beautifully executed cut that utilizes the strange electronic whistling noise that can be found in the first half bar of ‘E.V.A.’ to devastating effect. Two bars of intro prepare you for the main beat drop, and from then on its neck-snapping snares and funky, funky rhymes aplenty. Why this didn’t make the final cut for the album is beyond me, as it easily matches the quality of pretty much any cut on Beats, Rhymes & Life (and I’m not one of the haters), but it only serves to increase the joy of the song for dedicated fans who revel in the thrill of lost or forgotten tracks: I’m rather confidently assuming that you’re one of them.
Da Youngsta’s – ‘It’z Natural’
[What is up with that apostrophe?! Shit drives me crazy…]
Although Da Youngsta’s caught a lot of flack for their derivative approach to hip hop back in the day, there remains little doubt in my mind that they honed some bangers in a surprisingly long recording career of four albums. The Aftermath endures as their magnum opus, the lack of lyrical originality easily carried by a hit list of producers du jour that seems somewhat incredible given the crew’s position as the reserve of the aficionado. One of the standouts for me has always been the Beatnuts produced ‘It’z Natural’, a chunky little slice of boom bap production that deserves a revisit. The use of the ‘E.V.A.’ sample is far more prominent than in either of the other two tracks featured here, with the Nuts jacking the same bassline as used by Premier on ‘Just To Get A Rep’. Paired up with a hard-hitting drum track and infectious sax loop, the result is a slammin’ beat, heavily indebted to Perrey’s original composition, that won’t fail to put your head in a state of perpetual motion and a smile across your face.
Kwest Tha Madd Lad – ‘Skin Care’
Why Kwest’s first and only album has never achieved the recognition it deserves is somewhat beyond me. With a well-conceived mix of quality production, lyrical wit and musical originality, This Is My First Album should have been the platform for the Queens-based MC to go onto bigger things, but alas, it clearly just wasn’t meant to be. ‘Skin Care’ is a richly textured cut with multiple samples involved in its composition, most prominently the Ronnie Laws’ ‘Tidal Wave’ break made famous by Da Beatminerz on the Black Moon classic ‘Who Got Da Props?’. However, listen closely and Perrey’s strange electronic whistling appears once again, an intermittent feature of the verse sections of the song that gives it an undeniable depth and flava. Throw in some deft wordplay by Kwest and the catchy Greg Nice sample at the chorus and you’ve got yourself a very nice cut indeed people: sleep on this one at the risk of playin’ yourself something terrible. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you…
Dan Love also drops science at his blog From Da Bricks.
Comments for "How The Story Goes - Jean Jacques Perrey "E.V.A." Sample"
Great post, all of these joints were dope and I’m glad to have been schooled on the original composition.
— R.H.S. Sep 20, 02:27 PM
a million props to anyone who ever referenced Kwest the Mad Ladd. That is my DUDE!!!!
www.djtrackstar.com
— DJ Trackstar Sep 20, 03:10 PM
what…no gang starr
“just to get a rep” blows away all three…
— michael gonzales Sep 20, 04:15 PM
not hip hop, but also sampled in “I Love Acid” by Luke Vibert.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cmoFNya6P4Q
— Mort Sep 20, 06:08 PM
“just to get a rep” blows away all three…
Yeah but how many million different blog posts have been written about it? I say props to Dan for avoiding the obvious angle.
— Sach Sep 20, 10:09 PM
Dan drops loveliness like this all the time over at From Da Bricks – his site is full of stuff like this.
Great post as usual, Dan.
— floodwatch Sep 21, 07:59 AM
I believe it was JON?DOE who schooled me on Kwest. Good to see OhWord maintaining a tradition of ill.
— sankofa Sep 21, 08:01 AM
I see you Dan Love. Great drop. Yer big, man! Brrrrap!
One.
— Dart Adams Sep 21, 04:19 PM
Daaaaan, making the big time. Good to see one of us “hip hop” bloggers on Oh Word.
— Travis Sep 21, 10:36 PM
Oh Word = Totally big time.
— Rafi Sep 22, 04:20 AM
d-love!! that ‘apostrophe’ comment re: da youngsta’s had me lmfao!!
how about when heads write “my favorite mc’s, cd’s, and dj’s are..”? what is up with the apostrophe?!
did we yakk aboutthat already?!
nice writing, as always.
thanks to travis for pointing me in this direction.
— alley al Sep 22, 05:51 PM
Alley,
Yea, I think I have moaned about these other examples before. Perhaps I should start a grammar sub-section on my blog… or maybe that’s a step too far.
Oh Word = totally big time? Damn straight!
Cheers
Dan
— Dan Love Sep 23, 06:57 AM
Kwest’s album is the joint. I went to V.I.M. when I was in New York just because of his album.
— DJ Flash Sep 24, 11:37 PM
ha, my dad worked down the street from v.i.m. and we’d buy clothes there when i was a kid.
— Rafi Sep 25, 01:08 AM
Has anyone ever sampled the V.I.M. radio jingle?
— R.H.S. Sep 25, 05:48 PM
You gotta love Perrey, and you gotta love posts about sampling history. Somebody mentioned Luke Vibert above – he did a whole album with Perrey called Moog Acid, its pretty tight – downtempo kind of feel. I feel like I’ve heard Perrey in DJ Spooky mixtapes, too. Anyone know?
— the Earl of Bandwidth Nov 16, 01:55 AM
Now does anyone know what the drums that were used as the backbeat in Just to get a rep came from?
— DJ Slice Feb 1, 12:43 AM