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Meka’s Soul Mix Show: Birthday Divas

blame it on Meka March 27, 2015

diana-ross-lil-kim
FOREVER A CLASSIC MOMENT

It’s been an interesting week in the music world. No, I’m not talking about the countless festival announcements, Billboard-topping rap albums, or Kanye being Kanye (with Dame Dash). This week, music celebrated the birthdays of four of its greatest treasures: Chaka Khan (March 23rd), Aretha Franklin (March 25th), Diana Ross (March 26th), and Mariah Carey (March 27th).

As such, I’ve been (trying to) bring back an old favorite segment of mine: Meka’s Soul Mix Show. What better way to kick off its return (I’m trying, I swear!) than to spotlight some of their classics, which were either used as samples for rap songs or contains samples that were used in familiar rap tunes. I actually steered away from some of the more obvious choices, like Chaka’s “Through The Fire” and Diana’s “I’m Coming Out,” to show more of the singers’ range and influence on music. See what I mean below.

Aretha Franklin’s “One Step Ahead,” sampled in Mos Def’s “Ms. Fat Booty”

Chaka Khan’s “Fate,” sampled in Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better With You”

Diana Ross’ “All the Befores,” sampled in J Dilla, Blu and Miguel’s “Sun in My Face”

Mariah Carey’s “Dreamlover,” which uses the same The Emotions sample (“Blind Alley”) used in Big Daddy Kane’s “Ain’t No Half-Steppin'”