Artist	Song
Ice Cube	It Was A Good Day
from The Predator (2003)
The Isley Brothers	Footsteps In the Dark, Pts. 1 & 2
from The Essential Isley Brothers (2004)
Cypress Hill	Hand On the Pump
from Cypress Hill (1991)
Gene Chandler	Duke of Earl
from Original Solid Gold Hits, Volume 2 (2005)
El Chicano	Viva Tirado
from 20th Century Masters - The Christmas Collection: The Best of El Chicano (2004)
King Tee	Act a Fool
from Act a Fool (2008)
Masta Ace	The I.N.C. Ride
from Sittin' On Chrome (1995)
Leon Haywood	I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You
from The Best of Leon Haywood (1996)
Dennis Edwards	Don't Look Any Further
from 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Motown '80s, Vol. 1 (2002)
The Notorious B.I.G.	Warning
from Ready to Die - The Remaster (2006)
Isaac Hayes	Walk On By
from Isaac Hayes: Greatest Hits Singles (2006)
Snoop Dogg & Dat Nigga Daz	Gin and Juice
from Doggystyle (2001)
Slave	Watching You
from Stellar Funk: The Best of Slave (1994)
Above the Law	Another Execution
from Livin' Like Hustlers (1990)
Lyn Collins	Do Your Thing
from James Brown's Funky People, Pt. 2 (1988)
Curtis Mayfield	Superfly
from Superfly (2004)
Schoolly D	Parkside 5-2
from Best of Schoolly D (1990)
B.T. Express	Once You Get It
from Do It ('Til You're Satisfied) (2006)
Ice-T	Heartbeat
from Power (2007)
Bootsy Collins	Ahh ... the Name Is Bootsy, Baby
from Ahh ... the Name Is Bootsy, Baby! (1977)
South Central Cartel	Bring It On
from 'N Gatz We Truss (1995)
Average White Band	School Boy Crush
from Rhino Hi-Five: Average White Band - EP (2005)
Parliament	Mothership Connection (Star Child)
from Mothership Connection (1990)

Comment:

Long before gangsta rap reared its Jheri-curled head, the music of choice was soul . . . and disco . . . and doo-wop . . . and funk — sounds that would one day be sampled and reimagined by the gangsta nation. With this playlist, we’ve paired each of gangsta’s biggest tracks with the O.G. groove that gave it life. The swoon-y falsetto and silk-sheets basslines of the Isley Brothers' "Footsteps In the Dark" were looped and put to work as the soundtrack to a gangsta's day off in Ice Cube's "It Was a Good Day." Fellow N.W.A. member Dr. Dre also drank deeply from the well of ’70s dusties, introducing the hip-hop generation to Parliament's platform-stompin’, galaxy-rockin’ "Mothership Connection" — “Swing down, sweet chariot stop/And let me ride" formed the hook for "Let Me Ride.” Meanwhile, Masta Ace swiped a guitar's high-pitched hiccup from Leon Haywood's "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You," quoted Isley Brothers' ad-libs, and crafted "The I.N.C. Ride," a West Coast homage/parody that’d sound right at home rollin’ down Crenshaw Boulevard. From Isaac Hayes to Curtis Mayfield, we’ve got crates o’ classics; from 2Pac to Cypress Hill, we’ve also got the grooves that dropped, chopped, and flat-out reinvented ’em.

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