Tarika Blue "Tarika Blue" (Diggin in the Crates)

I got my hands on Tarika Blue's self-titled album (1976) and as I'm going through it I come across her song "Dreamflower" which I immediately recognized as the samples riding underneath Erykah Badu's "Didn't Cha Know" record from her 2000 album "Mama's Gun". J Dilla was behind the production on Erykah Badu's version which was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for 2001. A bit of a music production background lesson though; the sample was used without permission which eventually led to a lawsuit and Universal/Motown and Badu agreeing to pay a settlement fee for the sample.

In my opinion this is a perfect example of Hip-Hop making an obscure record from a forgotten artist relevant again. If it wasn't for J Dilla flipping the samples and Erykah Badu's incredible voice...this would have been completely buried in time.



Check out Tarika Blue's original "Dreamflower"



Now Check out Erykah Badu's "Didn't Cha Know"



Outside of the "Dreamflower" song, Tarika Blue's album is useful for some ill horn riffs, but if you want to flip any breaks out of the album you'll most likely find yourself screwing the BPM's way down as the majority of the album is uptempo jazz. Remember, Tarika Blue was released in 1976 so we're right around the disco era with this one. If you need the album you can find the link in the comments below.