DJ Zinc - Super Sharp Shooter (Ganja Records, 1995)
Today marks twenty five years to the day since the release of Benjamin Pettit AKA DJ Zinc's 'Super Sharp Shooter', the track that really made his name. He has just put out one of his brilliant videos to mark the occasion so I thought DnB 365 should also celebrate this milestone with a breakdown of this anthem, released on Ganja Records Volume 7 in 1995.
This isn't actually the most well known version of the tune. That was the remix which initially came out on Ganja Records Remix Volume 4 before getting a wider release on The Ganja Kru's major label debut, the Super Sharp Shooter EP, which didn't actually state it was the remix. But it made that version an even bigger smash.
The original was his debut for DJ Hype's label and the first track he produced solo without Swift (not Mampi, the other one), although he was still using Swift's studio The Green Room (AKA the spare room). It set the template for many of his future releases - a half-speed intro, a tonne of hip-hop samples and a big, big bassline (which was sampled from the same Future Music CD that most of the sounds from 'Valley of the Shadows' originated). As Zinc says in the video and has said before, the bass is the element that Hype had the most input. Following the release of one of the later Swift & Zinc 12"s Hype apparently told him "the bassline on that tune could have been much better" and subsequently Zinc took pointers from him and 'Super Sharp Shooter' was the result.
Zinc has admitted to being a samplaholic and told DJ Magazine back in '97:
"If people think drum and bass has got too much sampling in it then go and listen to some music with guitars in it or whatever... The thing about drum and bass is that you can sample anything from anywhere and if it works anything goes! There is complete freedom with this style" (Issue 195, 2-15 August 97)
I couldn't agree more with this statement and I hope this blog is a testament to the breadth of samples that appear in drum and bass and how much they enhance the style. This tune is a case in point.
It opens with the much sampled synth from the beginning of Fred Wesley and The JB's 'Blow Your Head', with Zinc playing the melody out on a keyboard. To this he adds the bassline from LL Cool J's 'Eat Em Up L Chill' and half-speed drums before Method Man's exclamation of "Check it" immediately ups the tempo with the Cold Sweat break and later some very nice usage of the Sweet Pea break. That "super sharp shooter shooting shots" sample before the drop remained elusive until a few years ago when it was identified as coming from 'Reverse The Hearse' by British Hip-Hop duo Definition of Sound, which is also the source for the "If you step up to me then you better expect a slap back" line.
That drop of course brings in that huge reverse bassline that is almost cartoon-ish in its energetic exuberance. Further lines from Method Man, off 'Release Yo' Delf', are also introduced ("Blazin, the stuff that ignites stimulation... I'm the fuckin' man who they mention") as the Amen break arrives to increase the energy levels even further.
Blazing stuff indeed. Watch DJ Zinc's video about 'Super Sharp Shooter' below and make sure you give his page a Like on Facebook to keep up to date with future posts, they are well worth your time. There are also plenty of downloads and merch to be had over on Bandcamp, including those Super Sharp Shooter t-shirts!