Sad state of musical affairs...

I just had someone email me the new 50 Cent single "I Get Money" with the subject line, "The hottest song out." If this is truly the case, then Hip Hop as we know it is not only DEAD, as Nas so eloquently proclaimed, it is buried, disintegrated, and forgotten in an unmarked grave.

The only reason 50 Cent’s song is even remotely palatable is because it samples Audio Two’s 1988 classic hit single “Top Billin.” That same timeless beat helped Mary J. Blige launch her career with her 1992 hit “Real Love” off her debut album “What’s the 411.” And now here we are again. 50 has fallen back on the same tactic leaning on nostalgia, betting on our emotional attachment to the original instead of offering something truly new.

The truth is, most people are vibing to the sample not the song. It is the memory it evokes that keeps the track afloat, not the verses slapped on top like filler between the echoes of something better. This is not innovation. This is not growth. This is fear and unoriginality disguised as confidence. It is a calculated move from an artist who feels his relevance slipping away (THANK GOD!) after two flopped singles, “Amusement Park” and “Straight to the Bank.”

Below are both sample uses and the original. You can be the judge.

PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS HERE IF YOU HAVE THEM, WOULD LOVE TO READ WHAT YOU THINK.

GVG
~we're the warriors they write epics about~

50 Cent “ I GET MONEY”


Mary J. Blige “Real Love”


Audio Two “TOP BILLIN”

OMG IMPORTANT UPDATE:

WHILE I WAS WRITING THE ABOVE POST I FELT LIKE I WAS SHORT CHANGING AUDIO TWO ON HOW MANY PEOPLE USED THE SAMPLE TO GET THAT NOSTALGIC HIT. SO I JUST LOOKED IT UP ON WIKIPEDIA (ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE SITES) AND I WAS BLOWN AWAY WITH WHAT I FOUND. HERE IS THE LIST OF ARTISTS AND THE WAYS THEY'VE USED THE SAMPLE OVER THE YEARS AND I'M CERTAINLY SURE THERE ARE EVEN MORE OUT THERE.

• "Wreck Shop (Remix)" by Wreckx-N-Effect used the drum break from Top Billin'.
  
• The beat for Mary J. Blige's 1992 hit single, "Real Love," comes from the beat for this song.

• The intro to The Notorious B.I.G.'s debut album Ready to Die samples Top Billin' behind a skit of a train robbery.
• "I Got 5 on It" by The Luniz samples the line "Got it? Good" from Top Billin'.
  
• "Bitch Niggaz" from Dr. Dre's album 2001 samples a line from Top Billin' ("stop scheming, and looking hard").
  
• The lines "Kwa is chillin', Tone is chillin', what more can I say, we stay building" on Talib Kweli's song Too Late is inspired by Audio Two's Top Billin'.
  
• "We Trying to Stay Alive" by Wyclef Jean samples Top Billin', and more prominently samples "Stayin' Alive" by the BeeGees.
  
• Madlib also used a short break from the track on Quasimoto's "Basic Instinct."
  
• "What More Can I Say" by Jay-Z from The Black Album takes its name from a line from Top Billin'.
  
• Danger Mouse samples the line "What more can I say" in his remix of the Jay-Z song "What More can I Say" on The Grey Album.
  
• The same line is used in "Is He Ill" by MF Doom.
  
• Earatik Statik samples the line "on and on and on" from Top Billin' on their song "Evil is Timeless."
  
• The song "Chillin'" by Erick Sermon, Talib Kweli and Whip Montez has a chorus completely based upon that of "Top Billin'"
  
• "SexyLove (Remix)" by Ne-Yo and Candace Jones features the "Top Billin'" drum break punctuating the end of each musical phrase.
  
• "Pop the Glock" by Uffie is in large-part based both lyrically and musically upon "Top Billin'".
  
• "Get To Poppin'" by Rich Boy
  
• The track "Why Wout I" by Beanie Sigel that appears on the State Property mixtape "Out On Bail" uses a similar line to the chorus. Sigel rhymes "Sige is chillin', stackin' shit to the ceilin', what would I ever say about a killin'?"
  
• "Top Billin'" appears on Tony Hawk's Underground 2.
  
• "Top Billin'" is sampled in the chorus of 50 Cent's new single "I Get Money"
  
• "Top Billin'" is sampled in the chorus of Lil' Flip's song "I Get Money" (Feautring Jim Jones)
  
• "Top Billin'" is sampled in Apathy's song "The Buck Stops Here."

LIKE THE LINE SAYS

"WHAT MORE CAN I SAY!!!"