‘Ride The Samples’ is a project that pays tribute to some of the original songs that - thanks to sampling - later became the building blocks of world-famous hip-hop classics.
Hearing these 8 famously sampled soul classics re-arranged in reggae style also reveals how soul and reggae are deeply interconnected. When the first sound systems were born in jamaica, they used to play a lot of R&B and soul tunes from the states, the melodies and sounds of which, went on to influence the new wave of Jamaican music from ska, to rocksteady and then reggae.
In a similar way we find parallel influences in the States, where - in late 70’s Bronx - newly born hip-hop was deeply influenced by Jamaican immigrants with their street art of ‘deejaying’ (or ‘toasting’) over instrumental riddims.
‘Ride The Samples’ is our way of keeping this powerful mix of genres together, celebrating the original soul samples on which world-famous hip-hop classics are based.
Ambassa (album producer and bass player) first fell in love with hip-hop music as a young teenager, exploring both the music and the art of painting graffiti. He then moved on to explore reggae’s sounds and vibes, playing in bands and producing reggae music for different labels. It was when he met Nichola Richards that it was clear to him that the best way to express his love for hip-hop, soul (samples) and reggae was to combine the common elements of these genres together. The ‘skanking’ of the reggae beat perfectly blends in with Nichola’s sweet soul voice and the soul harmonies, to reveal the classic samples all crate diggers know under a different light.
Following up the sold-out success of the two previous singles released on 7’’ vinyl, ‘Ride The Samples’ is Wakeditown’s first-ever LP. Produced entirely by Italian-born bass player and producer Matia ‘Ambassa’ Gobbo, it features London-born soul singer Nichola Richards on vocals throughout. The combination of an early-80ies reggae style on the production and a sweet, soul-infused style of singing on the vocals, makes ‘Ride The Samples’ sound truly unique. Italian dubmaster Paolo ‘Dubfiles’ Baldini, perfectly completes the sound with his dub-flavoured distinctive mixing style.
Recorded between London, Los Angeles, Denmark and Italy, ‘Ride The Samples’ features an incredible set of musicians and stories. Watch a mini video-doc about their story, shot by italian director Marco Mucig: http://bit.ly/WDT0003