The Sampling Secrets in Mobb Deep’s Shook Ones Part II 

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I remember when there was a fifteen year wild goose chase trying to figure out what the sample was. The answer was eventuality revealed in 2011.

Shook Ones Part II is THE greatest hip-hop track of all time, on every level. When those drums kick in it stops you dead in your tracks, and then the piano lets you know that this is serious, serious business. And THEN Havoc and Prodigy drop those lyrics. Just untouchable. Thank you so much for sharing this analysis-I didn't even know it was a Mobb Deep production! Mind blown.

I just love how important Q-tip was to the new york hip hop scene. Mobb Deep decided to make beats for themselves yet still went an ask Tip for a couple of beats. My favourite Artist/producer next to J Dilla, Ye and Pete Rock

Q-Tip was a huge part of the making of the Infamous album. He fully produced Give Up The Goods, Temperatures Rising, Drink away The Pain. And he did the drums on Trife Life and Up North Trip. And he added the horns and mixed the drums on Survival Of The Fittest.

Q.U. Hectic is one of my favorite beats of all time. Havoc captured the grittiness and darkness of NY in the 80s and early 90s

I was actually blown away when I first learned that the sample in shookones was a slowed down piano. Another cool thing about the sample was that the notes heard stayed in key and in sync with the song even when pitched down again. usually if you try play a sample on a different note the pitch completely changes, along with the timing too so it would typically fall out of sync/key in a beat, but with the shook ones sample it just all works out so perfectly, its actually pretty insane. I could talk about this song all day lol, its so good.

Q Tip is a national treasure and needs to be protected at all costs

I’m not going to lie, but The Infamous might be my favorite record of all time. It’s just minimal and so good.

i'm loving this sampling series you've been putting out! it's one thing to show where the samples come from but you elevate it to another level with backstory and insane detail

Man, Havoc just on the strength of that track alone, is one of the best producers to do it

That beat is absolutely CHILLING... makes it even better when you know the story behind it and hear how all the different sounds come together. This channel is great at explaining hip hop production.

One of the top hip hop songs (of all time) not necessarily skill-wise but seminal in terms of ambience and tone for the genre. Never knew how much craftsmanship havoc put into this, and for gramps to be musically connected to the legendary quincy. Great stuff.

I really like how they use horns and samples to create the sound of nyc subway trains and traffic. I’m just a sucker for that move lol. For example; the sound at 7:00 sounds just like a musical electric subway train both starting its electric engine, the wheels on the tracks, the sound of a PA alerting you the train has arrived and train breaks. All in one sample. The effect is like this: the train starting is in the front of a sample, and the breaking sound is toward the end of a sample; giving the effect of a never ending starting and stopping of train cars, which in and of itself, is a statement about the city that never sleeps The infamous is a classic album. The extended version is great. Shook part 2 is a great place to start cause it’s the most popular but there’s so much great samples, analogies, stories and sounds on this album, there’s a wealth of content on this album for ya. Lastly, the nyc subway trains tend to use not flats or sharps as tones, so the Ebm sounds pitched down making the herby train sounding tones give the effect of time being in slow motion, dreaming in a city that never sleeps, being tired from hustling,or being slightly intoxicated to someone used to the normal sound of nyc subway tones. Even for someone without perfect pitch, it’s gonna have a subliminal effect

I've already seen a couple of videos about the sample used in shook ones, but still can't get enough of it! The art of using so little and creating such an involving atmosphere out of it makes this song just a pure classic.

The crazy thing is… He can explain the beat better than the person that made the beat. He knows some details that didn’t matter to the beat maker. They was throwing stuff and samples on a beat. He is doing the footwork to know about samples, the sounds, the background and the what, when, where and how….TRUE GENIUS

The in-depth breakdowns and your showing the exact sample rotation is the best way to present this material. You do an excellent job and I have thus far completely grooved with all of your sample videos, even for songs I didn't particularly care for by themselves. Keep up the good work.

Havoc isn’t even one of my personal favourite producers, and i still feel like he goes REALLY underappreciated.

Can we just agree that the mic audio on these videos is topnotch...just a tasty bonus.

One of the most classic records ever. There are certain songs that blew my mind when i first heard them. This was one, The World is Yours by Nas and Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik by Outkast.... Man, the good old days....

The break down and informations behind the beat was amazing! Again another music history and education video on its highest level 💯💯💯

Just saw them live (Havoc and Noyd) in Dublin, legendary group, the energy was unreal

Request for some Outkast videos! Maybe do something from the album Aquemini? Love your stuff dude✌️

Love the high quality content. Doesn't matter if your a musician or just a casual fan of the art, everyone can take something from this. Keep it up.

I pass by QB all the time. Shook Ones II still goes through my head to this day when I'm there.

HAVOC is a Genius! So terribly Underrated. Top 10 All-Time. ✌🏾

You got yourself a new follower this was dope how you broke it down and gave interesting facts about the samples 👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿 I enjoyed it a lot

Love this!! May I request a storytime on the widely sampled Summer Madness by Kool & the Gang? This song puzzles me because while its not unusual for 70s funk bands to play these deep jazz cuts (im thinking of Sun Goddess by EW&F), sonically, I feel like Summer Madness isnt even the same band! Lol! Am I right?! Like how do you go from summer madness to freaking Celebration?! Hahah!

What I LOVE about this era is the variety of styles (emcees and producer traits) 🙌

You're one of my favorite channels fam frfr keep it up

you're my favourite channel at the moment! theses videos are so exciting to watch. keep it going

I was literally talking to someone about this track yesterday and wondering where the samples came from! Love this type of content thank you 🙏🏽

Man! I greatly appreciate all your hard work developing and creating these wonderful videos about music. Your knowledge and love for music are great to watch. Continue to keep up the great work, and be blessed brother!

Man, this is one of the greatest videos I've ever watched. You earned my subscription and notification bell. Appreciate all of the work you put into this.

These videos are so entertaining and educational. Please keep them coming!

Incredibly in-depth break down of one of the greatest hip hop tracks of all time. Thank you!

Oh that beat is just the nuts, just sampled it for myself! Thank you and fantastic insightful video as always.

The one word that comes to mind when I hear this song is claustrophobic. The video just adds to the tension. Amazing, intimidating record.

The opposite eighth note swing joke got me bruh!! Another great piece, mate!!

No clue how your channel popped up on my feed but I love how you break it down especially daft punk and the soulquarians, think I spelled that right lol Love the channel all the way from texas!

I was waiting for this one. You never disappoint

wow, what a journey! thank you for exploring and outlining this!

You are so educational, I'm hooked! I'm just going to start calling you Professor Shaw from now on.

This is amazing! Please consider going into this level of detail on 93 til infinity!

Very well done. There ain't many hip hop specific channels that grab me but this is on the list

Visited NYC two times as a Clevelander. Walking over the Queensborough Bridge, bumping Shook Ones in my headphones was like a Buddhist visiting Thailand. Was just as awestruck as I was seeing the skyscrapers in Manhattan. Was like 😮🤓😛

Absolutely awesome video. This channel is amazing especially as a music producer. It like “wow! That’s how it works! That’s how how this did it! How did he think of that?” Just a great experience. And this track is literally one of the best hip hop songs EVER. EVER.

Top notch video for a top notch track, brilliant! 🔥

So amazing man, I fucking love this Channel ❤️❤️❤️

Absolutely legendary. Fantastic video

I love these breakdowns….YT’s algorithm recommended your channel as I fanboyed hard for Tracklib’s breakdowns and they recommended yours…🎉

I'm in awe of these sample breakdowns... I remember being a twenty-something listening to this,wondering how they made that sound. Indeed,it was more complex than most people would realize. 🙀

It blows me away they were able to produce this at such a young age. One of the greatest beats/raps of all time. simple, menacing,

Yes!! I just love your taste in music and song selection for your videos. Modern day 'Hip-hop' just doesn't come close to these classics. Thanks

Could have mentioned that piano sample(Jessica) was a long way to find out.. mostly done by German hiphop Journalist Falk Schacht Like your videos a lot! Keep on!

What the 90s was in hoods like NYC, this guy's really delivered the message.

Yeeeeeessssss one of the greatest hip hop beats ever

Another banger bro. I always learn something when i watching DTG.

this is incredible and deserves more views. thanks for the education!

Man. The spotify playlists are mad appreciated.

I always felt like Havoc's production on The Infamous was like the darker version of Q-Tip's style. Similar bounce on the drums, similar snares that crack and have a lot of reverb/ring, more so on some of the (highly underrated) songs like "just step" "temperature's rising" "trife life" "up north trip" etc. And actually those songs are pretty jazzy, if you look past the grimy lyrics.

This is like the greatest video ever. Keep up the great work!

This Chanel deserves way more subscribers even though it’s grow a lot in the past year

been needing a channel like this

The soundtrack to my childhood. RIP P.

I've always thought this is the best Hip Hop beat of all time.

I really enjoyed the details you presented for the backstory to this track 👍

Rest in Peace P. Great video. You don't miss. Salute.

Thanks for this video and thank god we had Shook Ones Pt. II

One of greatest sample flips in history!!!

awesome video. First time coming across your page and you certainly got a subscriber outta me! This is fantastic.

Yooo, the detail is mind blowing!

The drums alone in this beat are a master piece they sound so good I think every boombap producer uses it as a gold standard.

another day, another banger of a video 🔥🔥🔥

Subscribed man, great video

My favorite song of all time

It’s crazy to me that some people don’t listen to songs over and over trying to pick out samples and sounds I’ll play a song 15 times back yo back trying to catch it I just love it helped me through life

I'm glad you point out the vernacular of music, because ultimately that's all the "theory" is about is communicating the music to others without being able to hear it. There are almost no hard and fast rules of music.

Man that was amazing!

In reference to the recent Daft Punk video, I would love to see a video from you (or multiple) about disco, its progression into house and the different ways that relationship has been explored. It's something I've heard and read a lot about, but it's all from disparate sources, and I love hearing your perspective on dance music.

Amazing channel, realy happy to found it

Worth noting that the click track that runs through the entire song is a loop of the pilot light of a gas stove - even grittier than the slowed-down fusion drums. It's the sound of the utilities being turned off in your underfunded apartment, adding a desperation under the entire song.

Thank you for the quincy Jones mention and the info on who produced the fat Albert music. I'm huge on old production and samples.

Keep it going man 👍👍

I remember pulling Daly Wilson Big Band records out of dollar crates in Australia 20 years ago and thinking I had uncovered sampling gold (they got heavy use). I had no idea about the Shook ones connection, remarkable!

Still probably my favorite rap song all time. Such an dark gritty beat and instrumental. Get a real sense of doom and gloom. Lyrics are mastery and weave in and out to take you on the ride. Video for the song was also very dark and gritty. Got a real sense of the world hav and prod came from.

Excellent series..subscribed

The word play production and them being so young puts the Infamous being my top ten hip hop albums of all time 🎤🎧🥁🎹💽📀💿

Great breakdown. P is criminally underrated as a rapper and Havoc as a producer.

This is so VERY COOL to watch...👊

You know it’s funny. This is what I thought and hoped Dj Premiers “What’s up” was going to be like. What made him choose this chop or what drew him to that piece. But I digress. I truly appreciate your beat breakdown and much success to you and the channel.

Appreciate the breakdown. Did not know all this. Thanks

This some heavy content! Bless ❤

I don't know if u ever heard this but... u a got dam legend my boy keep it coming 💯

Impressive channel. Thanks for the breakdown.

My mind is completely blown! I'd never hit the subscribe button so hard in my life

Great video 🙌🏽🎼🎤

MIND BLOWN

I remember unwrapping the cellophane off of this 12" vinyl and slamming it on my 1200 MKIIs with the Technics DMC SH-DJ1200 mixer, life was good and loud!

This channel is pure lava💯