#SampleSnitch-Curren$y and Jay Worthy ride with The Stylistics

by Dan-O

The Stylistics are a huge marker in whether you’re talking to a real R & B person. Anyone who has ever heard music can monologue on the importance of Stevie Wonder or Marvin Gaye. Those are pop stars. The self-titled 1971 Stylistics album is better than any single album Otis Redding ever released. It is in the upper strata of the genre but it’s not common knowledge. The group had a brief but critical run where the impressive falsetto of lead singer Russell Thompkins Jr gave us ‘People Make The World Go Round’ ‘Betcha By Golly, Wow’ ‘Break Up to Make Up’ so many chart toppers.

I’m assuming producer LNDN Drugs found Pay Back Is a Dog off 1973’s Rockin’ Roll Baby with a lot of excitement in his fingers. Wouldn’t surprise me if it was Curren$y’s idea to sample it. He’s been spitting over dope old school soul music for longer than we’ve had reality television. Either way, that sample is the spine of the lead track Payback from Jay Worthy, Curren$y, and LNDN Drugs collaborative album Umbrella Symphony.

It makes sense to sample The Stylistics whenever you can because Philly soul is a producer’s genre. Thom Bell and Kenny Gamble (who produced Pay Back Is A Dog) are amongst the best producers in any form of music. When you lift and loop you get the high notes and the vocal harmony but you also get the lush orchestration behind it. Both MC’s live for Atmosphere. Jay Worthy is coming off a collaborative album with Cardo and G Perico that was 100% slow head nod G-funk. Both Mc’s are imposingly consistent and greatly enriched by the environment Thom Bell put together in 1973 ( LNDN Drugs definitely got the drum kit working for some additional touches).

This isn’t a soulless business move where a sample gets snipped clipped and used for hits. This is three artists paying direct tribute to the groove. Making sure a new generation understands Kanye wasn’t the first genius producer and Prince wasn’t the first important male falsetto.

The original

Payback