7. Nas' "Thief's Theme" Samples "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" By Iron Butterfly
For some, asking someone to pick one song from the stellar catalogue of the Queens Bridge legend is like putting a gun to someone's head and politely asking them to choose the child they love the most. But if there's one song that stands out in his entire catalogue it's Thief's Theme from 2004's Street Disciple. Technically, Nas has better songs with better lyrics but there's something about the way the Saleem Remi slowed down the bass, guitars, drums and keyboards that gives the song a menacing feeling, like something really bad is about to happen and you can't stop it. Funnily enough, the sample comes from one of the best psychedelic rock songs ever in In A Gadda Da Vida by Iron Butterfly which is less menacing and more trippy than the reworked version. It's awesome that the band have found a new appreciation among hip hop vinyl collectors who consider it to be an essential song to have in their collection just because of how awesome the sample is. In fact, it's so good Nas used the sample a few years later for the song Hip Hop is Dead, which usually is a no-no in Hip Hop but when you've got a sample that good you'd be damned not to use it again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tce7HWtnsno https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIVe-rZBcm4
