Ok, let’s see…where did it start at? Well it started in a high rise Manhattan apartment building overlooking the Hudson River…wait, who I am kidding it started years and years before that. My brother Hector has one of the most extensive musical minds of anyone I’ve ever met, and this comes from a lifetime of constant exposure and involvement in all things music. I can’t count the number of conversations me and him and have had about sacrifice… sacrifice of many common place things to ensure we live for our music. The songs that are chosen to be posted on Et Musique Pour Tous and the words that accompany them are a reflection of that type of lifestyle. After one of many common discussions with Hector that continued deep into the morning hours, I would often crash wherever my body shut down, and wake up to a new post on EMPT based on the same principles and theory of music we discussed, and any partly formed conclusions our exhausted minds came to. This is music and life intertwined at it’s best, this is EMPT.
When things are brought about in such a natural way, it gives them a special quality that cannot and will not be duplicated. As of late there have been some posers building sites directly off what their eyes see of Et Musique Pour Tous through their computer screen. It’s too bad for them that this thing was built not just from a group of kids with a passion for music, but also an original idea. And at the helm of that group of friends is somebody who’s life experience in music, in it’s entirety, built this website. Now THAT’s where it started at.
In true Sample Saturday form we shall still break down the Hi-Tek produced record “Where It Started At” featuring the all New York rapper lineup of Jadakiss, Papoose, Talib Kweli, and Raekwon The Chef. The first chop of Andy Williams’ “Love Story” that we hear is from the 0:44 mark with him saying “where do I start?”. The loop that follows that chop is used as the main section for the verses, with each one being split up by the sample “with her first hello” from 0:51. Now breaking down a Hi-Tek beat is not as easy as many other producers’ work, because there are a lot of small horn and string chops taken from various parts of the sample, and slid into the sequence with grace and real expertise. I always enjoyed how in many of his tracks including this one, Tek mixed his drums more contained in the beat, not popping out over the sample but more sitting comfortably with the sample. Something he does best. New York is where it started at.
Andy Williams – Love Story (Where Do I Begin)
Hi-Tek ft. Jadakiss, Papoose, Talib Kweli, and Raekwon – Where It Started At
-KC