BREAKS & BITS  1

MAKE WAY FOR THE ORIGINALS

FREDDIE SCOTT - (You) Got What I Need    ><    BIZ MARKIE - Just A Friend

1968
Biz Markie's classic 1989 hit was based on (You) Got What I Need  by fifties and sixties soul singer/songwriter Freddie Scott in 1968. This Biz Markie song is considered to be one of the top 100 hip-hop songs ever. It has been sampled and covered many times over the years. In recent years the style of alternating between rapping and sub-par singing has become very popular but this song - the original - works the best.
1989

OTIS REDDING - Hard To Handle    ><    MARLEY MARL - The Symphony

1968
This Otis Redding soul classic that has been covered dozens of times was released just after the singers death in 1968. In 1988 hip-hop producer Marley Marl sampled the first five notes for The Symphony. In following years these same notes were sampled and used in several other hip-hop records including Hard by Wreckx-N-Effect, The Cypher Part III by Frankie Cutlass and Ghetto Symphony by Snoop Dogg. 
1988

THE ARC CHOIR - Walk With Me    ><    KANYE WEST - Jesus Walks

 1997
Kanye West's Jesus Walks, off 2004's College Dropout album, won a Grammy for Best Rap Song. West performed this song at that Grammy show joined onstage by his mother, Donda West. This is considered ones of West's best and most successful songs. The song samples the Curtis Lundy arrangement of Walk With Me recorded by The Arc Choir.  On the song, West also samples Ode To Billie Joe by Lou Donaldson for it's military sounding drums.
2004 

JANKO NILOVIC - In The Space    ><    JAY-Z - Death Of Autotune

1969
Jay-Z won his eighth grammy for 2009's D.O.A. (Death Of Autotune). The song samples several different songs including In The Space from French composer Janko Nilovic's 1969 album Psyc Impressions. D.O.A. was ironically co-produced by Kanye West who had a reputation the same year for his over-use of auto-tune. Once the D.O.A. track came together, Jay-Z dropped all the tracks with auto-tune from his The Blueprint 3 album.
2009

CHI-LITES - Are You My Woman    ><    BEYONCE FT JAY-Z - Crazy In Love

1970
Crazy in Love was Beyonce's solo debut in 2003. It was the first time she recorded with Jay-Z, who she was dating at the time, and it was a last-minute decision. The song, one of the best selling singles in the world, was envisioned and written by Rich Harrison -  he created the beat by sampling the horns from The Chi-Lites 1970 hit Are You My Woman. At the time he had never met Beyonce and had not particular artist in mind for the song.
2003

HANK CRAWFORD - Wildflower    ><    KANYE WEST - Drive Slow

1973
Drive Slow off Kanye West's second album, 2006's Late Registration, samples a cover Skylark's Wildflower by Hank Crawford. The single features a rap by Paul Wall, but originally it was to be British rapper M.I.A., who was too busy at the time and dropped out. Before his legacy of solo jazz and soul records, Tennessee-born Crawford was Ray Charles's musical director.  
2005

OHIO PLAYERS - Ecstasy    ><    JAY-Z - Brooklyn's Finest

1973
Brooklyn's Finest off Jay-Z's debut album Resonable Doubt in 1996 samples it's groove from The Ohio Players Ecstasy, the title track off their fourth album in 1973. Brooklyn's Finest features Notorious B.I.G. in a friendly rap battle. Jay-Z later said the two months spent recording this song affected him mentally, and that "the studio was like a psychiatrist's couch for me." 
2000

THE MOMENTS - Love On A Two Way Street    ><    JAY-Z - Empire State of Mind

1970
This  New York City anthem released by Jay-Z in 2009 was written by Brooklyn native Angela Hunt, who built her New York anthem around piano loops sampled  from Love On A Two Way Street. Originally Jay-Z turned down this song. When pressed to reconsider he kept the vocal hook and rewrote the rest of the song. Hunt has declared that one day her more powerful original version will be released.
2009

ARETHA FRANKLIN - One Step Ahead    ><    MOS DEF - Ms. Fat Booty

1965
Aretha Franklin's 1965 song One Step Ahead is one of the Queen of Soul's rarest releases. The song was released as a single in 1965, and was never released on a studio album. The song was released a couple years before she signed with Atlantic, which launched her commercial success and fame. In 1999, hip-hop producer Ayatollah sampled from One Step Ahead for Ms. Fat Booty - the lead single off rapper Mos Def's debut solo album
1999

NATALIE COLE - Somebody That I Used To Know   ><   KANYE WEST - Wake Up Mr West

1980
This classic 1980 song from Natalie Cole, the daughter of the legendary jazz pianist Nat King Cole, was sampled and used on two different tracks on Kanye West's 2006 Late Registration album. First the sampled keyboards appear on the Heard Em Say - the album's opening track - later Cole's song re-appears on the track Wake Up Mr. West.
2006