88 MPH: Hip Hop DNA & "Get Me Back On Time, Engine No.9"
posted in: Features • Urban
If you were to turn on a hip hop radio station in the early ’90s, you were almost guaranteed to hear Wilson Pickett. It might seem ludicrous that a ’60s soul crooner would sit comfortably next to the apolitical ranting of N.W.A and the wacky kung-fu banter of Wu-Tang Clan, but thanks to the magic of sampling technology, he did. From 1987 to 1993, a single sample from Wilson Pickett’s 1970 hit “Get Me Back in Time, Engine No.9” appeared in twelve different hip hop songs, including the infamous “Straight Outta Compton.” It isn’t clear exactly what made “¦Engine No.9” so alluring for hip hop producers, but the answer might have something to do with the production team partially responsible for the single’s success.
From the ’60s through the ’80s, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, working together under the moniker Gamble & Huff, were collectively involved in the production of over 100 gold and platinum records. In addition to producing over seventy Top 10 hits, the duo were responsible for forty number one singles. As one of the most prolific songwriting and production teams in history, they were inducted into the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.
Forty years before their induction, however, they were hard at work crafting songs for Wilson Pickett’s new album Wilson Pickett In Philadelphia. To accompany the funky bass line that opens “¦Engine No.9”, Gamble & Huff decided to include a jarring, syncopated cowbell riff. Though the cowbell might have seemed too disruptive for other soul tunes, it fit perfectly with Pickett’s more aggressive style of singing and the duo decided to keep it. More than twenty years later, the first ten seconds of the song would become a go-to sample for producers of early ’90s hip hop. The tempo was ideal for comfortable rhyme-spitting, and the cowbell provided a high-pitched counterbalance to the typical snare and bass beats that most producers used at the time.
Flash forward another ten years to 2003, when Jay-Z was promoting”99 Problems,” the explosive single from his supposed “final record” The Black Album. In a retrospective look to both his own career and the history of hip hop, Jay-Z based “99 Problems” around the exact same cowbell sample from “¦Engine No.9” that countless other emcees had used in the past. When considering the legacy of Gamble & Huff, the power and significance of Jay-Z’s decision is totally clear. Not only did “99 Problems” throw back to the golden era of early ’90s hip hop, but it also made reference to the legacy of the most prolific black hitmakers ever to top the Billboard charts.
In interviews, Gamble & Huff note that their songs have always promoted a forward-looking, optimistic attitude. Writing during a time of great struggle for blacks in America, they wanted to put forward positive messages that spoke of a bright future instead of a bleak past. Tellingly, this mindset also proved true for Jay-Z’s career. The Black Album didn’t turn out to be his final statement after all. In fact, Jay-Z’s status as a hip hop icon and mogul grew even larger after his return to recording in 2006. With the recent release of his Kanye West collaboration Watch The Throne, it’s become clear that The Black Album was merely a preview of where he would take his music in the future. Just like Gamble & Huff writing their uplifting soul tunes, Jay-Z has kept his eye on the future as well as on the past.