TheKoalition.com’s Throwback Thursday feature brings you another classic in the form of “It Takes Two” by Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock.
Released in 1988, “It Takes Two” was the lead single for their album, also titled “It Takes Two” and went on to be a Hip-Hop & dance floor classic. It is one of the many examples of Hip-Hop artists being influenced by James Brown, who was sampled for the instrumental.
Since it’s release, it has crossed over many genres of music and many have sampled “It Takes Two” including artists such as DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Gangstarr, Chris Brown, The Black Eyed Peas and even Eurodance group Technotronic.
The most recent notable use of sampling from “It Takes Two” is from Snoop Dogg’s Scoop Deville-produced “I Wanna Rock” which went on to be remixed with Jay-Z who wrote his verse, in homage, based (no pun intended) on Rob Base‘s verses back in ’88.
This song has been widely used in Break-dancing circles and has attracted a global following after being featured in numerous notable battles, including most recently, the final of the “Bboy Park 2010 Team Battle” in Tokyo, Japan.
Video games have also took a turn in referencing or sampling this song such as “Action 52” for the Nintendo and also “Street Fighter III” on the Dreamcast.
As you will see in the video, some of the dancing is a bit suspect! (3:21) However, that will just be a case of the video/song being nearly 25 years old and styles have certainly changed since then.
The album “It Takes Two” was re-issued 10 years ago and is available online if you are interested in buying a piece of Hip-Hop history.
Drop a comment and keep an eye out for more Throwback Thursday next week.
