Change the Beat
Encyclopedia
"Change the Beat" is a song written and recorded by Fab Five Freddy
. It was recorded at OAO Studio in Brooklyn, NY and released as a 12" single on the Celluloid label in 1982. This release and all subsequent pressings of the single feature two versions of the song, one on Side A and one on Side B. The official length of the tracks varies depending on the specific pressing of the single, with some releases mislabeling the running times entirely. The Side A version is 7:40 minutes in length and features Fab Five Freddy rapping in both English and French. He also performs the chorus of the song, utilizing a vocoder
with a white noise carrier to achieve a gritty, robotic effect. The version of the song that appears on Side B is considerably shorter than the A-Side track, clocking in at 3:42. Lead vocals are performed by female French rapper Beside and rapped entirely in her native language, making this single one of the first multilingual hip-hop releases. Beside was credited as "Fab 5 Betty" on the earliest pressings of the vinyl.
On the B-Side track, Freddy not only performs the same vocoder chorus, but he also continues to speak once the beat stops, uttering one of the most widely-used samples in hip-hop history when he says "Ahhhhh, this stuff is really fresh". This particular sample has been scratched in countless hip-hop records, the earliest of which was the 1983 Herbie Hancock
single Rockit
, which featured scratching of the sample by pioneering DJ and turntablist GrandMixer D.ST.
Fab Five Freddy
Fred Brathwaite , more popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy, is an American Hip hop historian, Hip hop pioneer and former graffiti artist...
. It was recorded at OAO Studio in Brooklyn, NY and released as a 12" single on the Celluloid label in 1982. This release and all subsequent pressings of the single feature two versions of the song, one on Side A and one on Side B. The official length of the tracks varies depending on the specific pressing of the single, with some releases mislabeling the running times entirely. The Side A version is 7:40 minutes in length and features Fab Five Freddy rapping in both English and French. He also performs the chorus of the song, utilizing a vocoder
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
with a white noise carrier to achieve a gritty, robotic effect. The version of the song that appears on Side B is considerably shorter than the A-Side track, clocking in at 3:42. Lead vocals are performed by female French rapper Beside and rapped entirely in her native language, making this single one of the first multilingual hip-hop releases. Beside was credited as "Fab 5 Betty" on the earliest pressings of the vinyl.
On the B-Side track, Freddy not only performs the same vocoder chorus, but he also continues to speak once the beat stops, uttering one of the most widely-used samples in hip-hop history when he says "Ahhhhh, this stuff is really fresh". This particular sample has been scratched in countless hip-hop records, the earliest of which was the 1983 Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
single Rockit
Rockit
"Rockit" is a song recorded by Herbie Hancock. It was released as a single from his 1983 album Future Shock. The song was written by Hancock, bass guitarist Bill Laswell, and synthesizer/drum machine programmer Michael Beinhorn.-History:...
, which featured scratching of the sample by pioneering DJ and turntablist GrandMixer D.ST.