2005 : 26 "Vervain" by MF Doom

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I know I will lose a whole bunch of hip-hop cred when I write this, but I would rather listen to MF Doom than Jay-Z. I know that this is blasphemy to much of the world. Jay-Z is widely seen as the best of the best. To be honest, I don't care. It is not the raps that make MF Doom special. It is the beats and the samples. I first heard "Vervain" when I was sitting in a coffee house. At first I picked out some of the samples as the music from the old Spider-Man/Marvel Heroes cartoons. The sample was from the heroic theme from when the heroes needed to act to win the day. That moment of selfless action that turned them into heroes. Hearing this in a hip-hop sample made my ears just pop. I know that I can be accused of being nostalgic by getting excited by this. It is not just that he uses music from an old cartoon, but it is how he uses it. It is not just a stunt, but a sincere artistic expression. He loops the sample, adds beats, and effects, and makes it into something more. He creates something hip-hop out of this piece of music. —Rich Thomas Listen: MF Doom >> "Vervain"