You know the saying love at first site? Well, I’m a love at first listen kind of guy and it’s the beat that usually pulls me in on a song. And when I first listened to Gang Starr’s classic Moment of Truth album back in 1998 it was the very last song on that album that really caught me. Before we get any further, there were plenty of bangers on that album. But, the last song on the album, “In Memory Of…” spoke to me in a way that none of the other songs did. DJ Premier was always one of my favorite producers for his early Gang Starr and Jeru work but “In Memory Of…” might be my favorite beat of his and it all starts with the sample he used.
Read moreREFLECTION ETERNAL "FORTIFIED LIVE"
I first heard “Fortified Live” in ‘97 in my bedroom at my parents house on the radio late at night. My ears caught that beat and I fell in love with the track immediately. I literally stopped everything I was doing to give this song my entire focus because it caught me within only a few seconds. Everything about this song is magical to me. The beat from DJ Hi-Tek lays the perfect foundation for a young Talib Kweli, the Mighty Mos Def, and Mr. Man from Da Bush Babees to absolutely rip the beat to shreds. After hearing, I picked up the Reflection Eternal single on cassette and the Rawkus Records’ Soundbombing compilation on CD which both had “Fortified Live” on them. I still love this song just as much now as when I first heard it as a teenager out in Southern Cali.