Praise You – Fatboy Slim

Happy Friday! Fatboy Slim, aside from having one of the best stage names of all time, is one of the most prolific and influential electronic artists in the history of the genre. His catalog is pretty incredible in terms of making hits, and I believe he has the record for the most top 40 hits under different names. There’s no telling how much behind-the-scenes work he has actually done.

His most well-known song, and my favorite of his, “Praise You” is a masterclass in sampling, and I’m linking a really cool breakdown of this if you have the time to kill; it’s about 20 minutes long. If you don’t, the main vocals come from “Take Yo’ Praise” by Camille Yarbrough, which is a great song in itself. I might have to feature it in a future post. The piano riff is pulled from a Hoyt Axton recording session for a sort of semi-promotional record for JBL to show off the quality of their speakers. In terms of sampling and mixing, as Meek Mill once said, “There’s levels to this shit,” and Fatboy Slim has got to be at the top. The obscurity of this one is just a testament to Slim’s creativity and genius when it comes to building tracks. The percussion in the beginning is sampled from Rare Earth‘s song “What’d I Say.” The awesome bass line is provided by Slim himself, played on a keyboard, actually. (Before he was Fatboy Slim, he was Norman Cook, bass player of The Housemartins.) Drums come from Ruby‘s “Running Back to Me.” Here’s another incredible one; the guitar on this song is from Walt Disney Records‘ Mickey Mouse Disco, specifically, the disco version of “It’s a Small World.” I mean c’mon. Mind blown. There’s a Steve Miller Band keyboard sample for the bridge, from their song “Lucky Man“. The background vocals for the bridge come from…drumroll please… the theme song for Fat Albert. No words. Just in awe and shock.

I’m also including a really nice cover by a group called “The Big Push.” I don’t know if they’re still active, but I really enjoy watching their covers on YouTube.

Audio – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruAi4VBoBSM

Live – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWI7mD7SwQQ

Sample Breakdown – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqYorojjoDg

The Big Push cover – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vbA514eVDc