Album: Forever (Bad Boy)
Songwriters: Sean Combs, Denzil Foster, R. Kelly, Jay King, Thomas McElroy, Kelly Price and J. Walker
Hit #1: October 30th, 1999 (2 Weeks)
Comprised of future R&B hitmakers Denzil Foster & Thomas McElroy (the creative force behind En Vogue) and Samuelle (who scored a #1 R&B hit in 1990 with "So You Like What You See"), Sacramento band Club Nouveau came out swinging with their 1986 debut, Life, Love & Pain, spawning four Top Ten R&B singles over the next year. Of that four was the their classic reggae/rap-tinged remake of Bill Withers' "Lean On Me", and "Why You Treat Me So Bad", a #2 charter that would live on as a popular sample source for a handful of successful singles in the '90's and '00's.
Laughably bad when you hear it today (especially considering how "futuristic" it might have sounded back then), "Why You Treat Me So Bad" took overly dramatized male/ female relationship complaints and slapped it over this discordant art-funk template that for the first minute feels like a few different songs all happening at once. It's incontestable gift to future generations is unearthed when an eerie series of keyboard notes come into play, sounding like some tense background lick lifted from an old radio soap opera.
DL: "Why You Treat Me So Bad" (YFH)
In 1995, Oakland rap duo Luniz offered the most famous use of the Club Nouveau sample, employing it as the major musical hook (alongside swiped horns from Kool & The Gang's "Jungle Boogie") for their Platinum-selling weed anthem, "I Got 5 On It".
It's title slang for a $5 contribution to a dime bag, "I Got 5 On It" laced humorous commentary around their blunts and beer diet, with 40-ounce-supporting members Yukmouth and Krumskull quick to dismiss anyone trying to get a puff without payment ("Cause fools be havin' them vacuum lungs/ And if you let 'em hit it for free/ You hella 'dum-dum-dum-dum'"). Even if you weren't a marijuana fan, you could appreciate the Luniz track's lightheartedness. The rappers' laidback delivery and sharp ghetto wit ("I got more growing pains than Maggie") coupled with a memorable R&B hook cast the song as nothing more than a fun tribute to a cherished vice; the song was so likable that it's appeal spread worldwide (no minor feat for a West Coast regional rap act not closely associated with the Death Row empire) and led to several popular remixes down the line.
DL: "I Got 5 On It" (YFH)
Four years later, Puff Daddy embedded the now even-more-familiar bassline in the second single to his official solo project, Forever (his previous release, No Way Out, was billed as a joint effort with the Bad Boy Family). Noticeably struggling on the charts after it's atrocious Public Enemy re-working lead single "PE 2000" failed to match his previous mainstream success, Forever enjoyed a tardy sales bump with the release of "Satisfy You", which stuck close to the businessman/ entertainer's proven formula of re-heated tracks with A-list guests.
Attaching a lame Southern accent to his stiff flow, Puffy tries his best to woo some woman into his arms. Bypassing the easy bone of material things ("Cause any woman with will and drive can get it herself"), he instead aims to get inside her mind and break her down with psycho-intellectual mack game. "I can straight lace you, not just appearance/ Stimulate your mind/ Strengthen your spirits/ Be the voice of reason when you ain't tryna hear it/ You want it but you fear it, but you love it when you near it", he raps with an unshakable blankness.
Aware of his musical handicaps, Combs smartly protects himself by getting R. Kelly in a great co-starring role, while his reliable production team, the Hitmen, crispily recreate the Luniz version of the old Nouveau beat.
DL: "Satisfy You" (YFH)
Surprisingly, this wouldn't be the last time "WYTMSB" was referenced on a big single. Jennifer Lopez and Ashanti would both score Top 10 hits based on the '80's record with their respective releases "I'm Gonna Be Alright (Remix)" and "Only U" (though Ashanti deserves some kudos for only biting off of the original's intro instrumental), while Jermaine Dupri would give virginal pop tart Jessica Simpson some urban flavor when he remixed her "Irresistible" with the sample.
2 comments:
The typical D.C. native that I am...I like the go-go version of "I Got 5 On It" better.
Jay King produced one of the most underrated albums of all time when he dropped Club Nouveau.
Classic tracks all through the album.
The Luniz remix was hot, as well.
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