13 October 2016, No. 202, Syl Johnson, ‘Different Strokes’

As far as I can tell, the Ultimate Breaks and Beats version of No. 202, Syl Johnson’s “Different Strokes,” is identical to the seven-inch version, which is not the case with many Ultimate Breaks and Beats songs, but I guess this song didn’t need any extra looping to point people toward the sampleable bits.

And sample bits they did, but everyone latched onto the break and the grunts at the front. Until RZA. Thanks to Mr. Diggs’ looping, I can’t hear anything but Wu-Tang’s “Shame on a Nigga” when those five horn stabs hit, and that’s okay because this is one case in which I think the interpolation is as good as or better than the source material. What the interpolation is not, however, is “safe for work,” so don’t blast Ol’ Dirty Bastard rhyming diarrhea with gonorrhea if anyone who takes decorum seriously happens to be wandering by.