remix

BeatSession 02|21|12 (Whitney Houston Tribute)

The Original Sample:

Love is Holding on by Cissy Houston / Whitney Houston

They say it comes in threes. First Etta James, then Don Cornelius, and now Whitney. We’ve done a lot of tributes here at WBS, but choosing a sample for this week was just tough. I mean, as many hits as Whitney Houston has had (and there are many), they aren’t the type of songs we’d normally sample. Regardless, I knew we had to pay tribute to the most awarded female artist of all time.

I knew if I went back far enough, I’d find something.  One thing was certain — we weren’t going to sample “I Will Always Love You”. Here are the samples that were given consideration:

• Memories by Whitney Houston (1985) – First Lead Vocal ever by Whitney Houston
• Look Into Your Heart by Arethra Franklin (1976) – later performed by Whitney for a curtis mayfield tribute
• Hold Me by Teddy Pendergrass feat. Whitney Houston
• Nothings Gonna Stop Me by Cissy Houston
• Empty Place by Cissy Houston
• Love is Holding On by Cissy Houston/Whitney Houston (Mother/Daughter Duet)
• Life is a Party by Michael Zager Band – Whitney’s first vocal recording at 15 years old

I ended up going with the Mother/Daughter duet which was released on Cissy Houston’s 1978 album release, Think it Over. Whitney started performing at New Hope Baptist Church at the early age of 9, following in the footsteps of her mom, Cissy Houston. She started recording at age 14 and did back up vocals a year later for Chaka Khan’s I’m Every Woman.  With Dionne Warwick as her cousin and Aretha Franklin as her aunt, you know she was immersed in music at a young age. She lives on through the music she left us — a catalog of albums that have sold 170 Million worldwide.

Quick Update:
► New Video + Free Maxi Single – Lookin’ Up by Prometheus Brown and Bambu -  The Maxi Single features a Generation ILL remix courtesy of illa and PMBeatz.

peace, @illa0804 /@generationill

Featured Beats and Producers:

Nothing Left by Hydroponikz (Queens, NY)

Whitney Raps by Low Profile of Beat Boys Club (Queens, NY)

WEH JOINT (For Whitney) by Mr. Klimatic (Toledo, OH)

Echoes in the Dark by Blackph03nix (London, England)

The Sorry by Blackph03nix (London, England)

After All by Agent Smith 78 (Chicago, IL)

The Quickie / 1st Stand Up by Sideways (Portland, OR)

Nothing Left Inside by Sadik The BEAsTMASTER (Houston, TX)

Say Goodbye C. Bran (Charlotte, NC)

My Desire by DJ Magic Of Beast Coast (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)

Love is by Ambishuz (Houston, TX)

Nothing Left by Gee (Toronto, Canada)

Horse by Chrizo (Las Piñas, Philippines)

BeatSession 08|22|11

Original Sample:

Dedicated by Axis

Progressive or Psychedelic? Many people use the terms interchangeably, but there is a difference. Progressive Rock is a cousin (or more like a little brother) to Psychedelic Rock. It usually has extended non-traditional song structures, change in time signatures, esoteric subject matter. The genre borrows elements from jazz and classical music. Psychedelic Rock is more trippy — its almost like an acid trip in music form. We’ve sampled Psychedelic Rock twice before: BeatSession 02|28|10 and BeatSession 11|22|10. This week’s sample comes from Axis, a Greek band that was based out of Paris. I think they fall into the Progressive Rock category. I think. But what do I know? I’m a hip hop head at heart. I do know that both genres LOVE using Mellotrons!… uh what?

Ok. Honestly, I wasn’t familiar with the term, Mellotron, until 2 hrs before this post when I googled it. So when I saw it listed as one of the instruments used on this album, and when I found out what it actually was, I had to dedicate a portion of this write-up to it. A mellotron was one of the first sample-playback keyboards ever created. It used a bunch of tape heads located under each key. Here’s an old Mellotron advertisement from when it was first created:

Quick Updates:
► Illustrious Labs – Chrizo’s new studio located in Pasay City, Philippines (aka the reason he’s been MIA on WBS). Also, check out the fb page here.
► Deadbeat Moms (The Story Of Bruce) – Bruce Juice’s most recent project.
► Swag’r Jack’n REMIX by Rocky Rivera feat. Talia Taylor – Another Rocky Rivera remix courtesy of PMBeatz

peace, @illa0804/@generationill

Featured Beats and Producers:

See The Light by Bruce Juice (Orlando, FL)

Better Off Dead (Pop Killer Remix – Rocky Rivera) by Paper Son (Los Angeles, CA)

Augustus by Mr. Klimatic (Toledo, OH)

No Discernible Anything by illa (Miami, FL)

Horizons Internal Shine by NeV (Augusta, GA)

Lights Out by Francis Peralta (Toronto, Canada)

Beat1 by Dondon (Paranaque, Philippines)

Going Home by Ryan Pena (San Diego, CA)

Just Beat by 1stup (Greensboro, NC)

3rd Coast Interlude by 25/8 (Miami, FL)

Purple Love by Blackph03nix (London, England)

Shine Lite by C. Bran (Charlotte, NC)

(Gettin Busy) 1 Time by thadizzie1 (San Francisco, CA)

Almost White Dress, Little Pink Bow and The Indigo by Sideways (Portland, OR)

Your Eyes by Gee (Toronto, Canada)

Finding Nemo by PMBeatz (Washington, DC)

Next To Go by Dingo (Detroit, MI)

Redemption Series #7 by Chrizo (Las Piñas, Philippines)