Get Lifted

J-Love feat. TAKE-IT, Action Bronson, Killa Sha, Prince Ug, PRINCE-ORIGINAL

By Natalie Silver

Tracking down the sample that hooks and titles this song was the starting point of my research, and in my quest, I discovered that I had underestimated its significance.

Let me break it down for you: J-Love, Killa Sha, TAKE-IT, Action Bronson, PRINCE UG and Prince Original are all artists of the underground Queens rap scene and collaborated to record and release  “Get Lifted” on J-Love’s 2011 album Egotistical Maniac. They are all pretty low-key, and this song is each of their most popular track; however, the song’s popularity relative to each one’s previous work is absolutely nothing compared to the magnitude of the sample that weaves all of their verses together. The sampled song, as it turns out, has been an outstandingly prolific resource for an insane variety of musicians since its conception in 1974. 

“I Get Lifted” is a soothing, feel-good, expressive song that was originally released by George McCrae as a funk, soul and disco track. The song found substantial, but not major, popularity in and of itself; but its true influence lies within the covers and remixes it has spawned. Sampled in at least 38 songs and covered eight times, McCrae, perhaps unknowingly, gave the next generation of musicians absolute gold to work with—gold that has been actualized in everything from house music to gangster rap. 

In my research, I discovered that while my favorite true cover of the song is definitely Orgone’s version, the most creative use of the sample is, in fact, J-Love’s. J-Love geniusly samples the chorus of Latimore’s 1976 cover, but he speeds up the vocals and fucks with the EQ to raise the pitch of Latimore’s vocals and simulate the sound of a woman’s voice—hence why it took me so long to actually trace the sample. 

In other news, Snoop Dogg sampled a different part of McCrae’s original—taking its hook, rather than its chorus—expertly mixing it into the bassline of “Gin and Juice,” which could explain why I was so intensely and subconsciously drawn to J-Love’s hip-hop song. If Snoop can dig it, I can too.

As McCrae’s original has evolved and been repurposed over and over again, it seems to have gotten funkier, heavier, louder and much less cryptic. 

McCrae’s initial messaging was more ambiguous, and perhaps intentionally coded—as music tended to be decades ago. What was it to “get lifted?” Is that a reference to God? Arousal? Peace love and understanding? Overcoming depression? Or, I don’t know, drugs?

Whatever McCrae’s proverbial intention was, J-Love and his crew use his lyrics to advance their own very clear and deliberate agenda—to profess an epic ode to that sweet, sweet leaf that’ll take you up, and up, and up. 

May 30, 2019