Marley Marl remakes "Eric B Is President," the classic beat for Eric B. & Rakim that more or less launched their careers. Besides the secrets of breaking complex samples (specifically Fonda Rae's "Over Like A Fat Rat" and James Brown's "Impeach The President" and the Honeydrippers' ubiquitous break "Impeach The President") into patterns that can be played on 4 pads of an Akai MPC sampler, Marley shares some tidbits about the sessions that produced this track as well as "My Melody." For one thing, those tracks were apparently supposed to pair Eric B with the rapper now known to the world as Freddie Foxxx, who was replaced by the R because he never showed up for the first session! For another Marley relays tips about the importance of 'ghost notes' to any funky drum pattern, picked up straight from the original funky drummer himself, Clyde Stubblefield. Watch below the video--part of dubspot's ongoing series of "classic recipes" original demo vids--to learn more about the science of dope beats and make sure you keep watching until Marley shares the "special spice"--that little extra something to give it "that resonation that the speakers love to smile to." Dude shoulda been an MC!
props to ds
