So gangsta but so smooth like Ric Flair

Props to Dan for hooking me up and being the only dj to play this song in the first place back in 2006. The affection i have for this tune is the same sort of unbridled love i have for dried blueberries or Japanese Stussy Harringtons and that beat is what i wish Just Blaze had been doing in '06 instead of lazy Public Enemy inspired beatjacks.

Curtains - That's What It Is



That beat comes from another one of my fav' tunes : Harlem Clavinette by Bobby Womack & J.J Johnson off the Across 110th Street Soundtrack, yet despite the fact it seems so ripe for sampling it's barely been touched over the years.

There was an old Bo$$ tune called Deeper which used the break to sporadically weave in and out of its main 90% Of Me Is You sample with all the elegance of a Paul Scholes tackle but The Martorialist doesn't give a flying fuck at a rolling donut about Bo$$ or femme rappers other than MC Lyte, Lady Of Rage, Roxanne Shante, Mia X and Lil' Kim circa 1995 - 1999.

Ghostface & Raekwon - Maxine



So that leaves the only real notable use of it being when RZA hooked it up for Ghost & Rae to get their Elmore Leonard on with Maxine in 2001 but even he missed a trick by not using the the bursts of dramatic blaxploitation horn and electric piano. That's the highlight of Bulletproof Wallets (well, the retail version anyway) but the Curtains track wins the Martorialist award for best use of Harlem Clavinette to date.

Edit : managed to track down a copy of the Curtains 12" not long after making this post. Result!