Influences: Spoken Word

I've noticed recently the addition of spoken word into some of my favorite new pop songs,"Hard Feelings/Loveless" by Lorde and "Everybody Lost Somebody" by Bleachers. I started thinking about my favorite spoken-word moments from the rap/hip-hop genres. Though I can't find the originator of the spoken-word sample, hip-hop has played a huge part in it's genesis and dispersion cross-genre.

Check out this playlist of my favorite rap/hip-hop tracks that utilize spoken word, some for social commentary, and some just for fun.

1. "Be Yourself"by Frank Ocean

Ocean sampled "Be Yourself" from one of his childhood friend's mother's voicemail messages. The speaker, Rosie Watson, was apparently notorious for inspirational voicemails, and Watson's son let Ocean use the voicemail for the fourth track of his Blonde album, according to Genius.

2. "Public Service Announcement" by Jay-Z

In "Public Service Announcement," Jay-Z did not sample a speech, though it sounds similar to other speech samples. The speaker is actually producer Just Blaze's voice recoded to sound like a Black Power-era political speech.

3. "Flawless***" by Beyoncé ft. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Queen B sampled feminist icon Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's infamous "We Should All Be Feminists" TED Talk. Adichie, however, spoke out against the singer's use of her words. Check it out here.

4. "Ultralight Beam" by Kanye West

West is known for generously sampling both beats and words. Here he samples a video of a 4-year-old's worship session for "Ultralight Beam."

5. "Facebook Story" by Frank Ocean

Narrator SebastiAn told Fader that Ocean sampled his true story for the Blonde track "Facebook Story."

"I discovered that Frank was recording the conversations sometimes when something seemed interesting to him, but I didn’t know when and why exactly," SebastiAn said.

6. "President Carter" by Lil Wayne

I don't think Wayne was making a huge statement with this sample, just that he thinks he's at the top of his game. Here he samples President Jimmy Carter's inaugural address of 1977.

7. "No Role Modelz" by J. Cole

One of my all-time favorite samples: a George W. Bush speech to Tennessee high schoolers in 2002. President Bush absolutely botches the classic phrase, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” The sample reflects Cole's new light-hearted attitude to not save women, hoping that he won't be fooled again.