Dilla is LOVE

Last week a listener asked me to explore some J Dilla beats on the SEVEN O CLOCK SAMPLE, so I said… Ok, let’s TURN IT UP! DIlla passed away in 2006, after a long battle with Lupus.  Many knew Jay Dee was sick, but few saw his death coming. When he passed, the Hip Hop [...]

Get By Sinnerman

This week we are exploring samples used by Mr. Kanye West. In 2002, Kanye was at ( in my opinion ) his production peak.  He was working with most of my favorite rappers of the early 2000s, including the prolific and talented Talib Kweli.  Talib and Kanye crafted this masterpiece for Talib’s Rawkus release QUALITY. [...]

Common takes the witness stand.

This week on the Seven O Clock Sample, I’ve decided to open Pandora’s box, and explore the music samples of Kanye West. There is no doubt that Kanye has lost his mind over the past few years, …but his production quality has remained stellar! In 2005, Common called on Mr. West to bring the soul [...]

VMA Disgrace?

Is John Legend “Lost For Words”?

This morning’s seven o clock sample has brought me back to one of my favorite “surprise sampler” John Legend. Legend’s “Once Again” album teams the R&B crooner with such great producers as, Will.I.Am, Raphael Saadiq, Craig Street, Sa-Ra and Kanye West. West offered up a fantastic sample for the 12th track on Legend’s platinum project, [...]

Summerfest Journal: Interview, Malik Yusef

As some of you know Lupe Fiasco is performing tonight at the Miller Oasis Stage at 10pm at Summerfest.  However, at 8pm a multi-talented artist also from Chicago is performing.  His name is Malik Yusef.  He is a spoken word artist, MC, and actor.   He has been featured on Def Poetry Jam and played [...]

808s and Nina Simone BREAKS!

Today’s 7 o clock sample is from one of my least favorite albums of 2008. LOL! Kanye’s 808s and Heartbreaks didn’t do much for me. Sarah F and I had numerous conversations about this album. It wasn’t that the album was bad, it just wasn’t my flavor. Anyways, as usual Kanye sampled some real magic [...]

Video: Common x Kanye West x Erykah Badu Live @ SXSW

So I missed another SXSW, and by all the the tweets it was really good.  I have to figure to get our station to send me down next time. To be honest, I was getting sick of all the SXSW tweets though. However, this video of Erykah, Common and Kanye performing “The Light” was real [...]

Common’s Ghetto Child

Today’s seven o clock sample comes to us from Common’s 6th studio release BE. This critically acclaimed record was viewed as many , as Common’s come back record. After receiving mixed reviews about his ELECTRIC CIRCUS project, he teamed up with Kanye ( and Dilla ) for a boom bap heavy album. Here is the [...]

Artist KAWS proves that Graffiti is an Legitimate Art Form.

I was really interested in the post that Jordan did on the graffiti issue that is going on in Milwaukee.  With schools around the country cutting music and arts programs and politicians making it hard for the youth to find places to be creative, this country will lose its edge as far as creative innovation. [...]