To celebrate the release of Bandana, the highly anticipated sophomore album from Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, I will be dedicating the whole of July unpacking the samples he used for the album. I will be unpacking these in the order of the tracklist, so first off it’s “Freestyle Shit, the soulful, smooth second track on the album, following the opening skit “Obrigado.”
Sampled on that track is a record titled “Elastic Cover” by the legendary soul and funk band Revelation Funk. They are known for launching the career of James Ingram, as well as releasing killer tracks, of course. For the band’s first couple years they played in the Akron area and released two 45s. One on the Gold Plate label, the label partially operated by Akron’s Harmonics, and one for the Bear Kat label, a short lived operation by Cy Merriman, who had been involved with Akron Recording. Around 1972 the band moved to Los Angeles to try and crack the music scene but never acheived their goal of getting a record deal. After a year or two all the members except Ingram moved back to Ohio.
The trumpet leads on the track and the smooth and soulful vocals was sampled effortlessly on the second track off Bandana. Madlib was able to chop the vocal sample up and speed up the instrumental of the original to provide a smooth and soulful soundscape for Freddie Gibbs to flow and rap effortlessly throughout. It’s a great way to start off the album.
Listen to the original Revelation Funk record “Elastic Cover” below, released as a single on Gold Plate Records in 1970. You can find purchase information over at discogs.com.
Listen to Madlib and Freddie Gibbs’ track “Freestyle Shit” off their new studio album Bandana. Released via Keep Cool/RCA Records. Find purchase information for the album here.
In Search of Media 
0 comments on “Madlib Samples #24 (Bandana Edition): Revelation Funk – Elastic Cover (1970, Gold Plate)”