By Jamie Walden

While stopped at a red light, I witnessed what may very well be one of the world’s wonders. A guy running to beat the flashing orange hand on the crosswalk had his pants hanging loosely around his thighs, no belt with three-fourths of his Joe Boxers smiling at me as he passed. The miracle was that while in a full sprint, these drooping drawers stayed in place.

This ever-popular sagging pants trend has been a staple of urban fashion since it burst onto the scene with mainstream rap and hip hop in the early 90s. While many schools have put a ban on baggy pants (citing the ease with which a person can conceal weapons and the indecent nature of exposed underwear as causes), low riding remains a major presence as a clothing trend.

But where did the idea to drop trough come from? It is rumored that the birth of baggy pants occurred in prison. Inmates, upon arrival, are issued uniforms without regard to size. As a means of preventing suicide by hanging and stifling the urge to create a whip-like weapon, belts are not permitted. And so the bottoms slip down.

The origination of this way to wear pants coupled with our nation’s sadly pervasive racism keeps low riding at the center of controversy. Parents and conservatives alike live in fear that this once prominently African American style will corrupt their good little boys and girls. Many will claim that it is the sight of underwear that is particularly offensive. However, with low-rise pants on the forefront of women’s wear, there has been a crack attack in mainstream fashion for the last five years. But this more vanilla version of sagging (that shows much more skin) is hardly ever discussed, save the occasional light-hearted joke.

Sagging has been deemed such a threat that in 2007, Delcambre, La., outlawed the style by claiming that it falls into the realm of indecent exposure. The penalty for low pants? Up to $500 or six months in prison. This begs the question of freedom to self-express and what else can be considered so coarse that it requires constitutional forbiddance or restriction. Can lawmakers really step in and tell us we have to wear a belt? And where does it end? Perhaps the next step will be to have a limited number of highlights or a particular shade of eye shadow allowed. After all, too much color could be (gasp) offensive!

The only way the low-riding style can be construed as offensive is if the boxers being revealed are stained. Otherwise, we are simply dealing with a classic case of American racism and a culture that lives in fear of its youth being distorted by something it is unfamiliar with. Talk about distasteful.

You know what, usually this blog focuses on discoveries within music or, as the title says, moments that make you say “whoa.”  This time around, I want to switch it up just a little bit, rather than a true WHOA moment that has already happened, I wish to talk about WHOA moments that I wish would happen, so to speak.

What do I mean? Well, dream collaborations!  Yes, dream collaborations, the types that would make me cry and allow me to die a happy 19-year old death.

Since I noticed while writing this that half of my entries include OutKast, I decided I’d split this into two editions: OutKast Collabos, and General Collabos.  Be forewarned: 90% of these entries will probably have to do with the Dungeon Family in general, so prepare to see a lot of Cee-Lo or Bubba Sparxxx thrown around.

PART I: The OutKast Collaborations

10. OutKast featuring Semi-Sane Michael Jackson

Never going to happen, I know, but a young man can dream right?  Michael has recently announced his farewell tour and one can more than likely assume that the album that was supposedly going to be released last year along with Thriller 25 is no longer in works, regardless, the chemical imbalance of generations inside me would be extremely satisfied with this kind of collaboration.  The King of Pop with one of the greatest Rap Groups/Duos of all time. 

9. The Isley Brothers featuring OutKast (more specifically Big Boi)

While it’d be extremely possible for Dre to appear on this track as well, this is the kind of collaboration that I see Big Boi taking part in moreso than Andre.  If The Isleys were to create a “Contagious” type track, then Big Boi is the guy for the job, but if it were to be a “Move Your Body” style of song, Andre and Big Boi are perfect fits.  No OutKast song sticking Ronald Isley on the chorus, I want all 291 Isleys in the studio, recording the song, with Dre and Big added to the mix.

8. OutKast featuring T.I.

Entirely possible.  In fact, predictable, make it happen.

7. OutKast featuring Tupac/Biggie

If Mrs. Wallace and Ms. Shakur have both allowed their children’s hidden works to be remastered and republished by everyone else, why not let one of the most influential groups take a crack at it.  I’m drooling at the mouth thinking of Andre 3000 and Tupac on the same track.  Seriously.

6. Andre 3000 featuring Eminem

I would love to see two lyrical masterminds come together and cause the Universe in and of itself to explode.  They have such similar styles that are so vastly different, Eminem is no longer the insane, violent and tempermental guy that first jumped onto the rap scene in 1997, but he can still hold his own with anyone.  How many rappers do you know can make a whole song about nothing, yet provide more lyrics in that song about nothing than Gucci Mane or 95% of these so called rappers today could even dream of doing?  Combine that with a guy that can go hard on a children’s show (Class of 3000 - All We Want Is Your Soul, look it up), and you have one track that would never leave my Zune, car, or mind.

5. OutKast featuring B.o.B.

Anyone that knows of B.o.B. knows that OutKast is one of his biggest influences, so I’m sure he’d jump at the opportunity to work with them.  I hope he gets that chance soon.

4. Lupe Fiasco f/ OutKast

No comment, when LupEND is in production, make it happen.

3. OutKast featuring Kanye West and Common

This would be huge, and it would have me lose my bladder immediately.   I can hear Dre and Big on a Kanye produced beat, with Common making a guest appearance.  As great of artists as Common and Kanye are, they’d take a backseat to OutKast, but would still come pretty hard, I would be sure of it.  I just want to know why this hasn’t happened yet, Common does a collaboration with Cee-Lo every album (more on that later) so why can’t he make it happen with another member of D.F.?

2. Natasha Bedingfield featuring OutKast

As much as Dre likes to work with pop/blues acts, I wouldn’t completely rule this possibility out.  Natasha is quickly emerging as one of my favorite R&B artists as of right now (Pocketful of Sunshine is a great album, pick it up), pair her with Dre on a funky beat and you’ve got me sold.  It probably won’t gain much attention, not as much as “Green Light” gained, but those hardcore OutKast fans, like myself, would be pretty pleased with this one.

1. Jamiroquai featuring OutKast/OutKast featuring Jason Kay

Seriously. You may be disappointed, but you know what, this is the collaboration that would allow me to die a very happy death, regardless of how I died.  Jamiroquai is one of my favorite acts of all time, and OutKast IS probably my favorite act of all time, and their styles are so similar, that it makes SO much sense for them to collaborate.  Jamiroquai’s funky live jazz beats would work well with an OutKast appearance, and an OutKast song wouldn’t miss the slightest beat with Jason Kay’s voice all over it.  I want this, I want it now, even if I have to pay both groups to make it happen.

Honorable Mentions:

T-Pain featuring Andre 3000

OutKast featuring Ludacris

Gorillaz featuring Andre 3000

Introduction

Before I begin, let me just give an introduction to this series…..

I know many of you have had a moment where you’re sitting, listening to music, perhaps your favorite song, and you had a WHAO moment….

You basically said to yourself:

“Wait, hold on a second”

These entries can and will be based on anything ranging from lyrics to beats themselves, so with that said, let’s get started.

It’s always been a norm in the music industry to pay homage to a band from the past that usually inspired the current artist. Said artist usually paid homage in form of a cover of the original song, usually word for word, but occasionally with their own twist. It’s very common to see this happen in R&B, Soul, Alternative and Rock related genres, it’s pretty hard for a rapper to pay homage to another rapper, or a past artist since hearing a rapper rap the same song word for word could get boring or repetitive.

Hello sampling.

Sampling has been a huge part of hip-hop, especially recently, so much so that the art form has caused many record companies and artists to sue the pants off of the creator of the new beat. Putting into effect laws that only allow a certain amount of a song to be sampled.

Now it’s usually very easy to tell where a sample is from, but there are times when you may not immediately grasp what the sample is from. That’s what I’ll be dealing with today, so take your coat, hang it on the rack, and just leave your hat on, because we’ve got no place to put that.

DJ RYAN’S TOP 5 “WHOA(s)! He sampled what?” Moments

Quick note: This is not discussing songs that a rapper has remade into a hit song, for example, Twista’s “Lovely Day” does not count, because he does not sample Bill Withers, but rather uses Anthony Hamilton to borrow the lyrics. Pastor Troy’s “Can You Stand The Game” does not count either. Without further ado:

5. Busdriver – Avantcore

I had never heard of Busdriver until a few days ago, and I was only recommended his music because someone told me I would recognize the beat for one of his songs.

I did.

Almost immediately.

What makes the song so amazing is the fact that he sampled a sample, making you think Can’s “Turtle’s Have Short Legs”, is obsolete from the equation. Not so, the song can clearly be heard, clear as day, even though the first thing that comes to mind when listening to this song is Parappa the Rapper.

That’s correct, a rapper sampled Parappa the Rapper.

Want to know what makes this song even more amazing? HE ABSOLUTELY RIPPED IT.

I’d quote it, but you know what, just read it here:

http://www.sweetslyrics.com/630845.Busdriver%20-%20Avantcore.html

I fell in love with this song so hard that I wish someone would sample other Parappa songs, especially “Big”

Album: Fear of a Black Tangent

Samples: Parappa the Rapper – “Instructor Mooseesha/Stage 2” (which samples Can- “Turtles Have Short Legs”

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4. Gorillaz – Clint Eastwood

Oh you thought they just like to be different by naming songs after actors (see Bill Murray)? Nope, they have good reason for naming their songs the way they do. When the fictional band released one of their first singles back in 2001, many were intrigued by the interesting video, and the band’s style. Not only were they animated, but they seemed to be a rock band, infused with rap, a Linkin Park of sorts. It took me a good 5 years to realize why the song was named the way it was….it sampled a movie Clint Eastwood was in.

Album: Gorillaz

Samples: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

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3. Killer Mike – That’s Life

Anyone that knows me knows this was coming. The fact that a modern day rapper bothered to sample a swing-era crooner, and probably one of the most famous musical talents of all-time, Frank Sinatra, probably baffles the mind….then again, Killer Mike is no modern day rapper.

The song is politically charged and serves its purpose completely: state your point, state your reasons for making this point, make sure people understand why you’re correct. Killer Mike did that to the fullest effect, I’m sure swaying a person or two to his views along the way. For the song to start off so smooth;

“That’s life, that’s what all the people say

You’re riding high in April, shot down in May

But I know I’m going to change that view

When I’m, back on top, back on top of you

I said that’s life”

Then the drama begins, as Killer Mike begins to rip into the inconsistencies of the likes of George Bush, Oprah, Bill Cosby, Bill O’Rielly, and Martha Stewart.

I believe he was angry.

Album: I Pledge Allegiance To the Grind Vol. I

Samples: Frank Sinatra – That’s Life

2. Twista – Slow Jams featuring Jamie Foxx and Kanye West

Not gonna lie, when I first heard this song, I was completely stumped as to who was sampled. Couldn’t think of it, even though I had heard the song all the time growing up, it never came to mind until months later.

I had one of those moments when you’re listening to some good old school music with your aunts and uncles at some family event, when suddenly the song comes on, and you catch it. You wish to jump and say “WHOA, I KNEW IT!”, but you refuse to look like the youngun you are, so that wow look comes on your face, and after your uncle looks at you as if you just dropped [for lack of a better term] a brick, you play it off and pretend like nothing happened.

Yeah, I had that kind of moment.

Sorry, I don’t know how I never figured out for the longest that Kanye sampled Luther Vandross’ “A House Is Not A Home”

Album: Kamikaze

Samples: Luther Vandross – “A House Is Not A Home”

1. Kanye West- Good Life

Okay, there was one thing you DID know when you started reading this list: Kanye was bound to be on it.

If you were able to notice the sample in Kanye’s Good Life within the first week of hearing it, get out of my face because you’re a dirty, filthy, liar (I love you).

Truth is, Kanye’s samples have become harder and harder to detect as the years go on. So when “Good Life” was released back in 2007, I figured he didn’t sample anything.

Then I was able to hear the beat clearer and clearer, and one time, I heard an “OH!”

Now you could probably contribute this to the recent Ol’ School R&B themed shows I had just done, but I swore I was hearing Michael Jackson, I swore up and down.

Then I decided to take a clearer listen, and I heard a certain pattern in the song that I hadn’t quite paid attention to, although the words aren’t said, you can clearly hear:

“I want to love, you my P, Y-T. OH!”

I had figured it out, good ol’ “P.Y.T.” by Michael Jackson found it’s way into Kanye’s brain and helped him produce a masterpiece.

Tricky Tricky Kanye, I see what you did there!

Honorable Mentions:

UGK – International Players Anthem; didn’t make it because Three-Six Mafia sampled this same song like 24878965 times and was redone by T.I. on I’m Serious back in 2001. Sampled Willie Hutch’s “I Chose You”

Bow Wow’s Let Me Hold You samples Luther Vandross’s If Only for One Night

I’ll admit it, as much as I can’t stand the wackness that it is Bow Wow’s career, this song was the jam, period.

LL Cool J’s Control Myself samples Afrika Bambaataa’s Looking for the Perfect Beat

It was too obvious what he sampled, similar to Avantcore, but not on the same level. People expect an Afrika Bambaataa sample, people don’t expect Parappa The Rapper.