Sample this! 10 house tracks inspired by R&B

Next up in the series we’re going to pay homage to the part that R&B has played in house music. This week we include house hits from Weiss, Eats Everything, Huxley and Chris Malinchak and R&B classics courtesy of Ginuwine, Aaliyah, Boyz II Men and Destiny’s Child.

The strong and powerful vocals that R&B brought to the world of music fit perfectly over house music. Traditionally we saw the vocals pitched up, like that classic garage sound, but often at the minute, with the vocals pitched down for that deeper sound.

The 1st track is a genuine R&B classic with Finnebassen’s take on Ginuwine’s ‘When Dove’s Cry’. The original original was of course Prince but the samples used here features Timbaland’s unmistakable voice and production sounds.

 

 

Track 2 features the bad half of Whitney and Bobby. The vocal in his 1988 original version ‘Don’t Be Cruel’, written and produced by Babyface and L.A. Reid, was lifted by Modern Amusement and remixed by Mexican Louie Fresco for his deep house corker, ‘Cold As Ice’.

 

 

3rd on the list is a hugely underrated Matt Fear remix of Lee M Kelsall’s ‘On the Road’. On the Road includes a hook sampled ‘I Can Make It Better’ by ‘80s R&B band The Whispers.

 

 

Dusky’s ‘Flo Jam’ samples the Aaliyah track ‘Rock the Boat‘ and is up at 4. Dusky is a name synonymous with the current deep house scene and Aaliyah is often regarded as the queen of R&B so between them is some definite pedigree.

 

 

Another heavyweight pairing for number 5 as we reveal the influence for Huxley’s ‘Let it Go’. The original is one of the lesser known tracks from ‘90s group Boyz II Men called ‘Can’t Let Her Go’. As we’ve seen with the other tracks, the vocal is pitched down way out of the original range.

 

 

Track 6 is a deep house offering from enigmatic trailblazer Weiss. ‘Baby Talk to Me’ features a cut from the song ‘Yesterday’ by R&B diva Toni Braxton and Trey Songs. The sample uses the voice of the latter for its euphoric yet sorrowful hook. It comes straight after the first chorus.

 

 

It’s no industry secret that Eats Everything is fond of sampling. In fact he’ll sample anything you out on his plate. Shout out to whoever served up Floetry’s ‘Say Yes’, the inspiration to track 7, ‘Entrance Song’. The sample is weaved through the deep house banger.

 

 

For track 8, we admit that it’s a bit cheap and not really in keeping with the rest of the songs featured so far in the series, but nevertheless, believe it or not, Chris Malinchak’s 2013 crossover hit samples the ‘ooohs’ at the start of the acapella of Soul II Soul’s ‘Back 2 Life’.

 

 

Arguably the most iconic garage track ever made and probably one of the biggest crowd-turners of electronic music when it drops. Despite somehow being released a year before the original, track 9 is the Exemen remix of Sia’s ‘Little Man’. You can’t miss this one, instantly recognisable but a completely different feel in each.

 

 

Last and by no means least is something a little more downtempo to finish things off with. Track 10 is the Cyril Hahn remix of Destiny’s Child’s ‘Say My Name’. It turns the R&B tune on its head with a delivery of uplifting melancholia.