Nipsey Hustle’s “Hustle in the House,” a Reusable Good

Recycled Sample Drives New Beat

I remember when I first heard of Nipsey Hustle. His song, “Hustle in the House” immediately made me think that he sounded like a cross between 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube… And I mean that in a good way, because I think he pulled it off.

The beat for “Hustle in the House” is built around a sample that was first made famous by Detroit rapper MC Breed’s 1991 hit, “Ain’t No Future in Yo’ Frontin’,” and then later the rap teen duo, Kris Kross, for their 1992 runaway hit, “Jump.” Aside from the overall quality of the song, I’ve always liked the drumwork for this beat the most. The kick and snare play off each other and the escending riff of the sample, like a doomsday death march of rhythm and force. The snare doesn’t such much as land on the “2 and the 4” as much as it crashes. And the kick drum stomps, but without any distraction or unnecessary movement.

The music and videos below are presented here for the purpose of scholarship.

Nipsey Hustle – “Hustle in the House”

MC Breed – “Ain’t No Future in Yo’ Frontin'”

Kris Kross – “Jump” (official music video)

Notice the difference in the way the same sample source material was used and flipped? Specifically, notice the tempo and what type of drum framework each beatmaker went with?

Side Note. Wow, can you believe that two teens from Atlanta ever sounded like this? Jump-dance aside, notice that they do not use any extra exaggerated “country” slang. Of course, this was a time when New York lyricism still had heavy influence over rappers nationwide.

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The BeatTips Manual by Sa’id.
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