‘Know You Got Soul’ – Eric B. and Rakim
Rakim was the steaming-hot microphone fiend. Eric B., the DJ, contributed the James Brown samples. They were New York superstars before they ever released a song (“Eric B. was driving a Rolls-Royce before he ever put out a record,” Chris Rock famously told Rolling Stone). “My man was gangsta”), but this single, named after a 1971 song by Brown sideman Bobby Byrd, gained international notoriety.
‘Ohio’ – Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
On May 4, 1970, four protesters were slain by the National Guard at Kent State University in Ohio. Young wrote a vehement condemnation of the massacres, and CSNY cut their version 11 days after the incident, then rushed-released it, knocking their own song “Teach Your Children” off the charts. “We finished this take and David Crosby sobbed,” Young explained.
