- (Alex) When a song fully original, and when is it not?
Music has a layered history, so you might not know
that a song you love is sampling from a song in the past.
Some are obvious. Some aren't.
But we've got you covered by breaking it down every episode.
This is Sample School.
This episode, we'll be spotlighting "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars.
Hawaii born Peter Gene Hernandez's musical evolution started at a young age,
performing songs by artists like Michael Jackson,
along with impersonating Elvis Presley.
All these influences transformed him into the artist you may
know better today as Bruno Mars.
Though accomplished at first as a song writer,
in 2010, Mars broke through as a singer as well,
with two Top Ten Billboard hits: "Nothing On You"
and "Billionaire."
Mars began focusing on his solo career,
releasing two studio albums that, combined, have sold over 12 million units,
while continuing to be featured on other artists' songs,
such as Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk," which garnered Mars
a Grammy for record of the year.
Bruno Mar's solo debut is a tale of ones.
"Just the Way You Are" was his first single
off his first album, Doo Wops and Hooligans,
and took the first spot on The Billboard Hot 100.
Not only that, but the song also holds the record
of the longest-reigning debut single on the adult contemporary chart,
spending 20 weeks at number one.
Interestingly though, according to the song's producer Needlz,
the song was originally intended for rapper Lupe Fiasco,
with Bruno Mars only on the hook.
The song's instrumental combines the swell
of a pop piano ballad sound with a hip hop breakbeat.
However... let's find out if Mars and his team
came up with it on their own, or if any of it was sampled.
All right, it's time to dive into Sample Surgery.
Let's play just a bit of "Just the Way You Are."
- ♪ Oh, her eyes, her eyes ♪
♪ Make the stars look like they're not shining ♪
♪ Her hair, her hair, falls perfectly without her trying ♪
- (Alex) No wonder it has 800 million views
and 2 million likes on YouTube.
So let's try taking out the piano, background elements
and Bruno Mars, and also slow down and isolate the drums.
- ♪ She's so beautiful ♪
(voice fading) ♪ And I tell her every day... ♪
♪ (rhythmic drum beat) ♪
- (Alex) You know what?
Just the drum beat itself is sounding familiar.
It kind of sounds like the beat from a song by Chase and Status.
♪ (Chase and Status, "Gangsta Boogie") ♪
- (Alex) And another one from composer Paul Leonard-Morgan.
♪ (Paul Leonard-Morgan, "Hiring Bodyguards") ♪
- (Alex) And one from Hilary Duff!
♪ (Hilary Duff, "Workin' It Out") ♪
- (Alex) What's going on here?
I need to look into this.
♪ (intermission music) ♪
- (Alex) Okay, I had to research for hours,
but I tracked down the source.
Let's pair the beat with this drum loop from 1994.
♪ (rhythmic drum beat) ♪
- (Alex) Well, well, well.
Looks like "Just the Way You Are's" drums are from Ralph Vargas
and Carlos Bess's instrumental track, "Ode to Mr. Bess,"
but this is a bit different than the other samples
we've covered before on the show.
During the early '90s, some producers would create
breakbeat compilations full of beats and drum loops,
some that were original, but many that would sample
breaks and songs from the '60s and '70s
for DJs to scratch with and rappers to use.
New York born producers Ralph Vargas and Carlos Bess
collaborated on two breakbeat compilations,
Funky Drummer Vol. I and II, in 1993 and 1994,
which includes some of the most sampled breakbeat instrumentals.
The two got their big break when rapper Q-Tip
used one of their funky drummer beats for a Sprite commercial,
fueling them to create the second Funky Drummer Compilation.
After the second compilation, the two went their separate ways.
However, their beats from the Funky Drummer Series and on
continue to have considerable usage
through several generations of hip hop,
being sampled by artists such as the Wu-Tang Clan,
Outkast, and J. Cole.
Unlike our previous episodes that have featured samples
that pull from other songs, "Just the Way You Are"
sampled an instrumental called "Ode to Mr. Bess" from a beat compilation.
The track is one of 17 hip hop loop instrumentals
on the Funky Drummer Vol. II compilation.
"Ode to Mr. Bess's" usage has also been very unique,
as it's been re-purposed in not just hip hop,
but several other genres as well.
Bess and Vargas have not come forward about Bruno Mars' usage,
but who can blame them?
Their stuff is used in pretty much everything,
so I think we can let them slide.
Vargas now goes under the name Da Phunky Drumma
and has continued producing in New York,
while Carlos Bess has engineered several Wu-Tang Clan albums
and occasionally performs.
So what did we uncover today?
"Just the Way You Are" catapulted Bruno Mars into solo stardom
and almost wasn't even a song.
The track samples a 1994 hip hop breakbeat,
"Ode to Mr. Bess," and Bess and Vargas' beats
have been utilized by so many songs!
You may have heard one before this episode and didn't even know it.
(school bell rings)
- (Alex) And that's all we have for today.
It took a little longer, but it was worth it.
Consider yourself Sample Schooled.
Hey everyone.
Thanks so much for watching another episode of Sample School.
Your support is what makes this show possible,
and all your comments and suggestions from the past few episodes
have been amazing, so keep them coming.
I'm Alex Wechsler, and from all of us here at FBE,
thanks again for watching.