Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness” has been sampled a number of times in its 50-plus years of existence, but Kanye West took the 1966 track to a whole new level with Watch the Throne‘s lead single “Otis.” Now, in a recent interview XXL, fellow Chi-Town beatsmith No. I.D. revealed that the Grammy-nominated track actually came about after he challenged Yeezy to flip a sample on the spot.
According to the veteran producer, the challenge came out of his initial dissatisfaction with his protege’s collaborative LP with Jay-Z due the numerous co-production credits. So No I.D. decided to put ‘Ye on the spot and tell him to produce one song by himself, thus resulting in the creation of “Otis.”
“I kinda didn’t agree with the direction that Watch the Throne was going because I felt like, ‘Y’all were two of the best that did it as far advancing, pushing the bar, the envelope of what Hip Hop can do and is,’” No I.D. explained. “And I felt like some of the songs were copping out a little to me. I get the co-productions, but how you gon’ do an album and you don’t go to the machine and do one beat by yourself? We have always sparked this challenge in each other and it bled into the world, so I just wanted to hit him in the stomach real quick. This is what you got? He was like, ‘No, that’s cool. I’m ’bout to do something.’”
He added, “I remember even at the time at the label they was like, ‘What the hell? No I.D. just came in and messed up our release schedule.’ We all amongst ourselves really are battling each other each and every minute of life, but it’s all in the spirit of advancement and the pursuit of dopeness is what I call it.”
No I.D. is a genius himself. Same goes for Yeezy.
True!!!Kanye has been co-producing alot lately though.
track completely sucked. played otis redding sample, wack flip, wack drums, with 2 bitch made divas going back n forth. wack video too. no ID called kanye out and he came with a stinker, its no surprise these fruity boys loved it. watch the throne was wack, freddy mercury shit. no ID laced commons last album and makes kanye look like a hack, whcih he is. kanye is a genius if you wear make up and started listening to hip hop when you found limewire.
MEANWHILE THE ALBUM IS SUCCESSFUL, THE POPULOUS ENJOYS THE MUSIC, AND THE TOUR IS VERY PROFITABLE WHILE U TYPE THE SALTY TALK. U MAD? THE DENZEL MOVIE WILL SPAWN THE NEXT SINGLE. WILL U OFF YO’SELF IF THEY REACH 2 MILLY? I’VE BEEN 2 FIVE AMERICAN DATES OF WTT AND THEY KILLIN’ IT. AIN’T GOTTA LIKE IT, BUT STOP ACTIN’ LIKE THE WORLD DON’T LIKE IT BECAUSE U DON’T.
^^^^ uve seen em 5 times this tour?
get a life, get a job, you groupie faggot loser
following gay z and kangay state to state like a fucking homo
they’re washed up, album was proof of that. wack flows, wack raps, wack beats. fruity boy shit
im not gonna lie. Otis was fire, but the rest of the album was a disappointment to me. It was not the best from either of them.
that first anonymous response was fucking brutal. damn. make a nigga feel like straight dog shit.
this nigga bitter as fuck yo. sounds hurt. i kinda feel bad for him. and what does attending multiple concerts have to do with having a life and having a job. people have different interest and different pass times. live music is a great experience to have… especially to unwind and relieve stress. maybe you should think about attending one. you’re a on blog angry at 2 successful men that are highly regarded..
this is not what your parents hoped for out of your future. stay up fam.
Freddy Mercury would shit on you dude.
See what happen when you back a beast into a corner? fuck what anybody say Otis was indeed the shit please believe it
KANYE DONT PRODUCE OR WRITE HIS OWN SHIT. BUT HE DO PICK OUT HIS OWN CLOTHS LIKE THAT SKIRT NIGGAS IS COSIGNING
LOL @ “KANYE DOESN’T WRITE OR PRODUCE HIS OWN SHIT”
prove it.
I must be the only nigga on earth that thought that beat was beyond wack. He made it on the spot in a couple minutes? Nigga it shows!!! Hold your artist accountable they are making fools out you dudes.
Agreed. That shit actually hurts my ears!
Agree, beat was basudo. Sample was too overused. Needed strings in the center.
This is what hip-hop is all about. I love this artical. I wish more artist and producers were like them.
“i dont knock what a nigga do to get by” -DMX …words that some dudes really need to listen to. its getting old, hating on everything that is successful. im not a big fan of Kanye.. Jay-z has a few hot joints.. but even if im not a fan im not gonna call everything they ever make trash. thats stupid. music is about opinion, which is why some people like country, some people like gangsta rap. telling someone off for liking something different from what you like is retarded. take a second to think ffs..
Thank you…
You have to respect Kanye’s ability to take Hip-hop to unexplored places. While you might not like WTT or MBDTF as a lyrical achievement, in the entire year of hip-hop albums, there’s nothing that sounds close to a Kanye album amd manages to sound fantastic at the same time.
MBDTF is a classic in my eyes! Maybe not to others, but definitely to me.
I really doubt if MBDTF is classic. My reason is because of too many guests.
Only Built for Cuban Linx had alot of guests and both of those albums are certified classics.
number of guests do not make or break an album.
mbdtf is a classic to me as well.
Me as well, bess album
Otis Redding’s version of “Tru A Little Tenderness” isn’t 50 years old yet
It is more than 50yrs old… first recorded in the early 1930’s with the Otis version you know coming out in 1966. I don’t think Hiphopdx would be that careless with their research.
^ umm yes they would. they may be right here but they are the most careless hip hop blog on the net
A genius will always come up with something new when you put him on the spot. I am a die-hard Kanye West fan, and my respect for him and his craft just went up. Yes, he has his problems, but none of them involve HIS MUSIC!!!
Kanye samples a lot. It easier to sample than to make your own…..He’s a genius producer, but most of his beats are sampled!
“It easier to sample than to make your own”
ummmm no its not. sampling is an artform in itself. to make a dope sampled beat is equally as challenging as making one without a sample.
“to make a dope sampled beat is equally as challenging as making one without a sample.”
No.
“It easier to sample than to make your own”
*SMH* Seriously…keep your ill-informed statements to yourself next time.
Big Deal ? Some artists record 5 tracks in a day.
thats not the point. they were just talking about how it came about. and so what? dude, statik selectah has a rep for recording whole albums in 24 hours, and not shitty beats neither. take that to the can with you…
I made that same otis beat in less than an hour!
somebody give this kid a cookie
if you kno what youre doin you make this beat in 15 mins
lmao…….. Kayne & NO ID are botch wack producas…… deit beatz are borin. lol swag
da best producas of all time:
1. Noah “40” Shebib
2. Boi-1da
3. Lex Luger
4. T-Minus
5. Bangladesh
6. Willy Will
7. Polow da Don
8. Jahlil Beats
9. Supa Dups
10. Chase N. Cashe
11. will.i.am
12. Young Fyre
13. Mike Will
14. MegaMan
15. REO
* source: Tha Carter IV (YMCMB), Take Care (YMCMB), Self Made Vol 1 (MMG), Pink Friday (YMCMB)
swag
who the FUCK are those people? dont just give a list of 50 just because no one knows them and you sound all intelligent..
I agree with DEEJAY. seems like you out of a fukin rubbish bin.
Just blaze been murdering all these cunts at this very moment..
fukin dre sucks, his beats sounds the same all the time…
There are also other producers but atm blaze is murdering these niggas, they been hiding in the corner coz this nigga has been spittin on them
Im not sure how 40 can be number 1 when he barely makes beats. I can use some soft ass drums and some weak ass synths and just tell people to focus on the “atmosphere” lol
How in the hell are you gonna mention these producers and not mention Timberland, Dre, or Swizz Beats on top of many others. I also find it funny (and suspect) that your top two are Drake’s producers. SMFH
you dumbfucks on this site get trolled so easily
god damn grow a fucking brain kids
it’s not even funny cuz i’m sure this happens in your real lives too.. fucking pitiful
deejay, God, Big C and CEOJace – YOU ARE RETARDS!!!
So Icy Boi trolls on every single article on this site.
Congratz on 4 more victims Icy Fag….
That doesn’t annoy me. What annoys me is complete retards like yourselves who respond to him. How you can’t see that he’s playing around to get a reaction is beyond me.
Drumma Boy pretty sick wit it!
Pete Rock… Premier… All fan boys go listen to pre-2005 music for a change
eat shit and die
best of all time? chase n cashe? lol he’s tight but hes brand new to the industry. its hard to tell if these people that claim YMCMB are serious or joking.
……Lex Luger is a pathetic excuse of a producer. If you’ve heard one of his songs, you’ve heard them all. Same 4 beat pattern with heavy bass….haven’t heard that before..oh wait. Idiot.
No I.D is a real OG, but his word choice is terrible.
I have to say that this definitely brought out the raw in Ye. Thank goodness for No ID doing what he did. It’s one of my fav tracks on the album…
That beat sounded like it really was made on the spot because it’s a lot worse than what Kanye has already made. Weak unfiltered drums, ridiculously wack loop on repeat throughout the whole song, the video looks like Kanye and Jay are on their honeymoon. All you niggas hype it up because you want to follow a crowd but the simple fact is Kanye does not make beats like he did when it first dropped “The College Dropout”. If he were to return back to that sound, I’d respect him again…
You hit the nail on the head there bro!
Although i do agree that kanye all stuff is very well done, the production on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is just on another level. He can still chop up the samples like he used, but he can do sooooo much more now. I also agree that Otis was very sub-par, it doesnt even sound done.
“Niggas want my old shit, buy my old album” ~ Jay Z, ‘On To The Next One’
If you like the sound of The College Dropout, go and get a copy of it and fuck off.
Big Fish went in, lol
I’m gonna have to agree with Fish on this one. This is the problem with too many old school hip hop heads. There’s nothing new with a new sound. I like that Kanye can still take it back and chop up some samples but I ain’t hatin’ on the new shit either. This is why niggas like AZ disappeared…too stuck on what hip hop USED TO sound like instead of applying what you do to the new school. Jada don’t have a problem getting on a modern beat and killin’ that shit but he can still do his NY shit too. IJS.
Finally, some people who know what they’re talking about. Artists, if they’re worth a shit, learn to evolve. Would you want your favorite rapper to make the saaaame shit over and over and over. If you want that go listen to Drake or Gucci. Guy like Kanye, Cudi, and Lupe are among the best BECAUSE they want to further themselves and continue to grow. If you don’t like it, go listen to their older albums.
and otis was a wack beat in my humble
Dope story but average song… I made a OTIS REMIX though, check it out !! http://soundcloud.com/the_raskolnikovs/the-real-otis
That beat & song was always not that good to me. I actually think the beat is garbage to be honest. Definitely one of Kanye’s worst imho. I think the video is very dope, though. Ultimately, “WTT” itself was a lackluster album too.
I’ll take the beats he did around 03-05 over this trash anyday.
these two old grandad face guys are a massive embarrassed, look at them jumping around dressed like they are still 14. wankers!
haha a 14 year old could not afford the shirts or jeans they are wearing
GET OFF KANYE DICK TALKIN ABOUT HE DONT MAKE BEATS YOU SOME DAMN FOOLS
He made Otis on the spot and made Lift Off while on some cock.
Ah ah so funny it’s probably true
thats true hiphop in it’s purist form..real
lol that explains everything!! horrible beat!
No I.D killed that summertime sample too with common(izthesuninyureye…)I luved the OTIS shit and so did my grandfather it was gritty james sounded shitty and thats wat u love about hip hop!!!!
Idk…best beat on the whole album was the ending (keyword ending) beat of Lift Off.
true that, the way the beat flipped at the end of ‘Lift Off’ was so dope!
Ayo! For real, your hate makes me laugh!!! How are you guys gonna say the beat was okay or whatever when after the album dropped a lot of people was trying to freestyle on it! A lot of people freestyled on it! Get the fuck outta here with that shit! That album was one of the best of the year! If you don’t like it well fine but don’t pretend that it didn’t make other artist want to freestyle on there hits.
Personally I wasn’t feeling that beat, at all really.
But that’s just my opinion. I know plenty of people who liked it.
otis beat isn’t my fav. but NOID is right, the album needed a lot more work, they relied on guest producers way too much.
Say what yall want but that was the best thing No I.D. could have done and it resulted in a banger.
otis redding would slap kangay and camel face in their fucking grills
fucking homo niggas jumping around like lil girls rapping about the high life, why is it broke niggas love hearing rich niggas shit on em?
gay-z is so past his prime its ridiculous, its like seeing tyson post prison, embarrassing shit. and kangay always sucked, wack loops, wack rapper, gay fashion, dude did his best to kill hip hop thats for sure.
Look at you all arguing. No wonder these guys are millionaires. You idiots dont spend enough time bettering yourselves. You put your energy towards this hip hop bullshit. Grow up.
Jackson, Tyson, Jordan Game 6??
Well Jackson is dead, Tyson is retired and washed up, and Jordan is fat and retired.
Nice choices jay.
You are an ignorant fool. He doesn’t mean them right now. He’s talking about them in their prime you fucking idiot. MJ because he was the “King” of pop, Tyson, because he fucking dominated in his prime, and well Michael Jordan doesn’t even need to be explained. It’s people like you that make me sad to say I’m a rap fan. Think before you open your supid mouth.
But Jay stole that line from biggie. Its a line from 1996. its 2012. How do you not know thats a biggie line?
Its people like you that make me sad to be a rap fan
^^^Most folks should know by now that jayz has been spitting Biggies lyrics for years. That aint nothing new, or at least to me it aint, but then again a lot of people just enjoy being oblivious to the obvious when it come to their favourite rappers.
Well anyway, I don’t get how this other person cannot understand that Biggie meant any of those Mike’s in their prime, cuz they obviously dominated..smfh….
80% of the shit coming out of jay-z’s mouth is inferior versions of shit he stole from other rappers.
biggest biter in the history of rap. most overrated, egotisical, to ever do it.
I’m not a biter, I’m a writer for myself and others
I say a B.I.G. verse, I’m only Bigging up my brother
Bigging up my borough –I’m big enough to do it
I’m that thorough, plus I know my own flow is foolish,
PUSSSY’S HE KEEPIN BIG ALIVE IN HIS LYRICS
PUSSSY. They wasn’t that close. Stop dickeating the boy.
Jay like a Lil KIm ass nigga.
“Stealing” lines from Biggie. Not this shit again….
Dude hiphop is born on sampleling – beats and songs and rhymes…
If you can’t recognize that Watch the Throne has some of the production as far a pure music value goes, you are an ignorant, uneducated fool.
Music about being rich and hoes isnt for the educated. Its for the uneducated.
And if you want music production, listen to some classical music if you are trying to make that point.
Music is for the simple minded. They need it to make them happy and stimulate their small brains with loud noises.
Spoken like a true hater. And I haaate that word.
If you listen to rap for the pure music artform, than rap isnt the music for you.
Leave you biased opinions in your small brain.
this album as far as beats goes, is fuckin nuts!
“murder to excellance”, “who gon stop me”,
“why I love you”, “thats my bitch”, “h.a.m”..shit, even “lift off” is dope to a degree..
your trip’n bro..
there’s 0 boom bap/hip hop beats on WTT.
its all faggot pop electronic synth shit.
gay-z and kanye talking about basquiat and fashion, like rich girls.
gay ass album. wack as fuck. boy george makes harder music. go listen to some real music kids, gay z and kangay make audio maybach, dick suck commerical trash. gay-z is 46 and washed up, running on fumes. kanye is washed up in his 30s cuz he always been a flamboyant hack.
there’s 0 boom bap/hip hop beats on WTT.
its all faggot pop electronic synth shit.
gay-z and kanye talking about basquiat and fashion, like rich girls.
gay ass album. wack as fuck. boy george makes harder music. go listen to some real music kids, gay z and kangay make audio maybach, dick suck commerical trash. gay-z is 46 and washed up, running on fumes. kanye is washed up in his 30s cuz he always been a flamboyant hack.
—–
Thank you. I have nothing to add.
it was a 5star album.
Hiphop is music. everything evoles kids.
To hear the topics on this album then to hear you describe it…
Do you fools even listen to music or do you just skim through it?
this is how haters speak
GAY GAY GAY FUCK PUSSY SHIT GAY GAY GAY CAMEL FACE FUCK FUCK GAY GAY WAAAAH… GAY.
anyway WTT was alright, solid production but not all that lyrical. but luckily I’m not always lookin for lyrical or I’d have a stick up my ass like some posters here
Well, no wonder Otis sucked then.
That has to be one of the most annoying samples ever. Doesnt do Otis Redding justice.
Its just him screaming on a simple drum pattern. Takes away from the already lacking lyrics. People just like the song and think its “genius” because it was made by kanye and jay-z. Fucking hipsters.
when you said hipsters under jay and kanye we all realized your a complete idiot
Otis sucks.
I gotta give it to Kanye and Jay though.
With Otis and Idiots in Paris. They made the two most annoying songs of last year.
Dude is right. If anyone else made those songs no one would be on it.
These are your idols, why, have they fed you? Hip Hop has become one big distraction. Keep thinking you know it all, you are light years behind the real world. Thank Jay and Kanye for teaching you how to keep them rich, talking about when they were poor, while youre still poor.
Check out an OTIS REMIX http://soundcloud.com/the_raskolnikovs/the-real-otis
TMINUS MAKE BETTER BEATS THAN KANYE THESE DAYS
you must get like no attention in your real life. you got nothing going for you. born to lose ass nigga
Effortless sample.
Everyone saying they could of made that GTFOH…
He put me to sleep on Common’s new album…
Not dynamic enough at all…
I dont understand niggas, Why the fuck do you listen to rap if you just go continue to hate on it, listen to some rock, or classical, or R&B. This Is RAP!, If you dont like what you hearing, then get the fuck on and listen to another genre of music.