Jamie xx, the reigning king of samples, released his debut studio album In Colour in May 2015. Jamie xx, formerly of the brooding indie band The xx, can sniff a sample out from a mile away.

Now, the Brazilian Donutsample have collected all the samples used in In Colour for your listening pleasure.

Jamie xx’s unique mix of jazz, soul, r&b, and even documentary samples, fit flawlessly into his album. Jamie is a recycler of sound. Who would have known the tracks had been chopped, isolated, and repurposed!

So let’s break it down. Donutsample identified Jamie’s inspirations as coming from:

• Lyn Collins‘ 1972 soul track “Think About It” (on “Gosh”)
•  Alicia Keys’ 2003 r&b track “Karma” (on “Sleep Sound)
• Mary Buffet’s 1984 anthem “See Saw” (on “See Saw”)
• Idris Muhammad’s 1977 funk/soul jam “Could Heaven Ever Be Like This” (on “Loud Places”)
• The Persuasion’s 1972 acapella”Good Times” ( on “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)” feat Young Thug and Popcaan)

…to name a few. “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)” was the most popular, or radio-friendly, song from In Colour. Jamie xx, Popcaan, and Young Thug are the dream team — “Pop quiz, it’s a pop quiz.”

The relatively new phenomenon of the full electronic album is becoming wildly successful. For example, Kaytranada’s recent electronic album 99.9% that follows suite, with its unique Haitian-Canadian influences.

What can we learn from this breakdown? Each song appears to be made up of multiple samples, with layered elements from different tracks and eras. Somehow, magically, this created the sound of 2015 (to Jamie and his listeners, anyway).

Check the video out below to hear the songs’ development! All hail the power of the sample:

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The post New Music: Jamie xx featuring Young Thug – “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

BBC’s Radio 1 ended the summer with a bang, débuting the Essential Mixes of both Jamie xx and James Blake — two of the biggest names in the U.K.’s burgeoning electronic scene that has arisen in the ashes of dubstep’s high frequency flight to the U.S.  The one thing that both epic sets had in common?  Drake.

That’s right.  Drizzy phones in a drop for Jamie at around 7:49: “Yo, what’s going on man, this is Drizzy Drake and you are now listening to the Essential Mix with my brother Jamie xx.  That’s OVO family right there, man.  Big up, London.  Big up the whole U.K.  And till I’m back, take care.”  Fitting, considering Aubrey logged studio time with Jamie while in London this winter.  He told the BBC: “The praises I’ll sing most is definitely The xx and Jamie, and we’re working on Take Care [Drake’s second album] together. Jamie is probably one of the most exciting producers I’ve ever heard.”  In an interview with New York, Jamie elaborated on how the collab came about: “He played me some of his stuff, and I played him some of my stuff I made for him. And he was loving it. So he took some of those away to do stuff over. I might be working with him by the end of this week, or might be coming back to work with him in a few days in Toronto. He’s ridiculously busy.”

At Noah “40” Shebib’s home studio in Toronto, where Drake primarily records, Rolling Stone described the scene: “exposed brick, low lighting, plenty of high-grade weed and virtually no decoration aside from a vinyl copy of U.K. dubstep crooner James Blake’s debut on a windowsill.”  Then there’s the aptly titled “James Drake,” a full-length unofficial mash-up of the two gloomy crooners.  On James Blake’s Essential Mix, at around 13 minutes in, he drops a version of “Up All Night” drowned in moody ambient music, uncredited in the track list.

Not to mention Drake’s studio and stage time with Florence from Florence and the Machine, or his sampling of Jai Paul’s brilliant “BTSU” for “Dreams Money Can Buy,” or his infectious remix of SBTRKT’s “Wildfire.”

I reckon Drake fancies himself the hip-hop version of these Englishmen, with his infinite sadness and such.  Looks like “Take Care” will be taking a trip across the Atlantic, and I’m excited to hear the results.

The post Post Post-Dubstep: Drake’s Infatuation with the U.K. – Jamie xx, James Blake, et al. appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.