January 20, 2023
New and Notable Tracks: Jan. 20
New tracks that DJs should know about.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
The Sample Behind The Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Juicy’
Legendary funk and soul artist James Mtume reflects on his 1983 hit “Juicy Fruit” in a new video from Red Bull Music. The song was sampled for The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy” in 1994 and is still considered a classic to this day.
“I didn’t quantize it — I didn’t want it to be even. Quantizing that beat would’ve been sterile. I wanted to feel like a human being playing it.”
In the second half of the video, DJ Evil Dee (Black Moon, Da Beatminerz) makes his own version of “Juicy Fruit” with the SP-1200 drum machine and sampler. The Brooklyn-based DJ/producer also reflects on hearing “Juicy Fruit” for the first time:
“I spun ‘Juicy Fruit’ at various parties and it was just tearing parties down. It was destined for somebody to rhyme on it.”
