In 1973, Eddie Floyd, Soul/R&B singer and songwriter, released his eight album "Baby Lay Your Head Down". It featured a track called "Check Me Out" that contained a nice melody in the first 15 seconds of the song.In 1996, The Firm released their first track "La Familia" on the B-side of Foxy Brown's I'll Be 12". On that version, Nature replaced Cormega's original verse as he left the group. Cormega was originally on the cut as the track was featured on many mixtapes around that time. The beat was sampled from the first 15 seconds of Eddie Floyd's Check Me Out.
During the same year, Hip-Hop group One and One, which included Doctor Ice of the legendary UTFO, sampled the same part of Eddie Floyd's song for their track "Phenomenon". It was just phenomenal!
In 1999, Gang Starr Foundation member, Afu-Ra, released the track "Equality". It was produced by DJ Premier and also featured the same part of "Check Me Out". The way Premier chopped the sample was incredible! While the beat resembles a lot to "Phenomenon", Premier made it feel like a hardcore beat with the drums and everything...
Fat Joe would also use it on his 2002 album "Loyalty" on "Born in The Ghetto". It was one of the better tracks on the album. The beat went well with the topic. Excellent!
So who got the best track? You decide.
Bonus : Original Sample played at 45RPM
Props to godmc & ho1ogramz
--Thomas V
