Rapmastermind
Superstar
do you know where the original sample is from
Nope and Puffy and the Hitmen made sure nobody knows that. Here's what they had to say in XXL's the making of "Life After Death":
12 “I Got A Story To Tell”
Produced by Buckwild, co-produced by Chucky Thompson and Puffy
Buckwild: Big picked beats on vibe, and he was looking for beats to fit into the album. Big was the type of dude where there could be 50 people in the room and you think he wouldn’t be listening. You’d play him 50 beats and you’d think he wasn’t paying attention, ’cause he’s sitting there smoking and zoning out. And then at the end, he’d be like, I want number 12, and put number 30 on a tape.
The song was done, and everyone was telling me the song was incredible. That was all I kept hearing. But we had big problems with the sample. It almost didn’t make the album. Working with Puff, it was a blessing that he had people who could come in and get him around the sample issues. Chucky [Thompson], being an excellent musician, he replayed it and found the exact same sound. Chuck just had to change one or two notes. If I played the original and I played the sample, there’s nothing really different.
Chucky Thompson: Puff played me songs, trying to get me amped. He played me “I Got A Story To Tell,” and I just loved it. But him and Harve said they can’t use it because of a problem with a sample. I knew what was needed. It was the night of the Grammys. So I went straight from the Grammys to Daddy’s House, and I’m in there with a tuxedo just trying to finish up, ’cause they was wrapping the album up. Puff really didn’t understand what I was doing. I think the pressure was on him. He was like, “We’re just going to scrap the song.” I told him to just relax. Just leave the room, go pressure your ass somewhere else. Let me deal with this.
I liked the original way Buckwild done it. All we had to do was take a piece out, which in the original sample was really just the harp part. I knew if I could get it to the point where it’s unrecognizable, we were good. So I went in, grabbed the guitar and started filling in the pieces. I took the same melodies. I just changed a few of the instruments. I moved it from harp to the guitar, put a little bit of harp in there, but anybody that knows that original record is probably scratching their head, like, “How the hell did he…?”
D-Dot: I could be wrong, but I’ve never heard a rapper rap through a story—rap you a story and then tell you the whole story again without rapping it. In “I Got A Story To Tell” Big tells you the story about how he met this chick. She was wild, he went to the crib not knowing that she’s fukking with this basketball guy. The basketball player guy comes home, and in order to get out of there, Big had to pretend he was robbing her. So it looks like she’s getting robbed as opposed to having sex with Big. Then after he finishes the story, the beat plays on and then he goes back and tells you exactly what he rapped about, in case you didn’t catch it, like he’s telling it to his boys. That’s the creative part that I’d never seen anyone do.
tho, cause i seen another of this dudes videos saying pac regretted making hit em up....
