Call The 900 Number

You probably don't recognize the name 45 King. That's cool - consider this your lesson then, because if you consider yourself a hip-hop fan..ESPECIALLY an old school fan, you need to get educated. His name comes from the fact that he cooks up beats using 45's - some obscure, others well known. King got his start as the "record boy" for Bronx-based rap pioneers the Funky 4. This gave him an inside peak, and the savory taste, of what could be spun to pump out the breaks that initially kindled hip-hop as a genre unto itself. He's been spinning vinyl himself since the mid-80's, but the beat he's probably most famous for dropping is one that he took a looping tenor sax solo from Marva Whitney's Unwind Yourself for and used it in his track The 900 Number, which was in turn sampled by DJ Kool in his track Let Me Clear My Throat back in 1996.

Fast forward to 2008, when 45 King's beat has been brought back to life, this time with DJ Pase Rock laying down some brand new lyrics on the 2k8 version which you can hear below. Listen closely, and you just might catch on to the fact that the entire song is pieced together using lyrics and song titles from other songs opening up with Tag Team's Whoomp! (There It Is), and going on to Arthur Conley, Loose Joints, James Brown, Montell Jordan, Stardust, Ludacris, Mylo, Freddie Jackson, Outkast, Timbaland, Nelly, Eminem, M.I.A., Afrika Bambaata, The Beastie Boys, Eric B and Rakim, Fedde le Grand, 50 cent, East 17, Kanye West, LL Cool J, Kylie Minogue, Usher, Kanye West, P Diddy, Will Smith, Maze, Dr. Dre, Mims, Trick Daddy, R Kelly, This is Justice, Fat Joe, Chaka Demus, DJ Khaled, and Snoop Dogg. I know I'm missing some here - but I'm pretty sure every line comes from someplace else.

In addition to the re-worked 900 Number tracks (there's a remix of the new version as well), 45 King's new EP includes a few new tracks as well featuring Pase Rock, Wale, and 4th Pyramid. All of this comes together thanks to Scion, the same folks who put out the Ghostface Killah tracks I wrote about last week. Here's the 900 track, along with some of the songs that are referred to in the lyrics.

45 King Vs. Pase Rock - The 900 Number (2k8) : Scion A/V Remix - 45 King

DJ Kool - Let Me Clear My Throat (live) : Let Me Clear My Throat

Tag Team - Whoomp! (There It Is) : Whoomp! (There It Is)

Montell Jordan - This Is How We Do It : Def Jam's Greatest Hits

Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force - Planet Rock (Old School Classic Mix) : Planet Rock Remixes Vol. 1

LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out : All World - Greatest Hits

Visit 45's website and become his friend on MySpace.

Become Pase Rock's friend on MySpace.