10 Best Rock Samples In Hip Hop
8. For What It's Worth - He Got Game (Public Enemy)
Chuck D always delivers his lines with a confidence that has the effect of injecting a resolute authority to his lyrics. So, juxtaposing his deep vocals against the high pitched but enduring guitar shrills of Buffalo Springfields unmistakable, anti-establishment song For What It's Worth was a more than savvy move.
The combination works musically and metaphorically. The original track was so affiliated with the anti-war, anti-government sentiment of the 1960s that it carried a certain weight with it, lending it's self perfectly to Chuck D's ever potent social commentaries.
The original writer Stephan Stills, even contributed to the track by re-recording several lines of vocals, which again added weight to this surprisingly tender rap track.
You don't often get hip-hop or rap artists covering other musicians music, what you get instead is reinterpretations, and this was one hell of a reinterpretation. It's one of the many examples of hip-hop artists putting their own spin on an original track, giving them a contemporary update, whilst skilfully referencing the past.
It was a considerable departure from their call to arms track Fight The Power from 1989, but the message was no less potent.