Are you Rob Base?

[From ilovecharts, and here's the song, released on cassette ca. 1990: "It Takes Two." Video below.]

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

MORE: charts • flowchart • infographic • lol • Old school • rob base

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Sam Ley

Rockin’ classic. Still sampled endlessly – the highest compliment for a banging track.
- GeorgeHolland
  
  Haha. You can’t say “still sampled endlessly” when the entire track is pretty much built off of Lyn Collins – Think. Lyn Collins gets sampled endlessly. But yes.. a classic nonetheless.
http://twitter.com/Listener43 Listener43

All your Rob Base are belong to us!
Grahamers2002

Epic
Layne

Shouldn’t there be two of these?
peregrinus

The stickiest lyrics I’ve heard in my life – I mean outrageous / stay away from me .. if you’re contagious / yes I’m a winner no I’m not a loser / to be an M.C. is what I choose ah / ladies love me girls adore me / I mean even the ones who never saw me / like the way that I rhyme out of soul / the reason why man, I don’t know / DOM, DOMDOMDOM it takes two to make a thing go right
oasisob1

Do you have a real funky concept?—(yes)—>Are you gonna keep me in step?—(yes)—>Do you have an idea that you want to share?—(yes)—>Do you care if I don’t like it?—(no)—>Are you number one?—(yes)—>You are Rob Base
matthewljackson

Those should really be decision diamonds, not process boxes. Just sayin.
haineux

I am not going to argue about this, but the fact is, THIS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woo!_Yeah!
“Woo! Yeah!” was probably first used as a loop by Roxanne Shante (in Go on Girl) but got major airplay and attention used as the backing loop for the 1988 platinum-selling hit “It Takes Two” by MC Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock, which is almost entirely composed of sampled parts from “Think (About It)”.

Screeching “Woo! Yeah!” is James Brown. Singing “It Takes Two” is Lyn Collins. Both are from the same song, “Think (About It),” which is released on the album “James Brown’s Funky People”. http://www.allmusic.com/album/james-browns-funky-people-r2753/review
- noah django
  
  Yeah, okay, but if you’re gonna open that door, i’m gonna have to point out that “James Brown’s Funky People” was a 1986 series of re-issues. The original release was a 45rpm single on Brown’s People label in 1972. Since we’re nerding-out over here and all.
gwailo_joe

This track just makes sense: if you are contagious….stay away from me. I got an ego: yo! I like the Whopper (bleep) the Big Mac…

Pure, Simple Truths from a Wise Man.
L_Mariachi

The positive conclusion does not necessarily logically follow. There may be any number of other people who want to rock right now, came to get down, are internationally obscure, and known to rock a microphone, and yet are not Rob Base.
http://twitter.com/johnLongview John Wentworth

Something that’s always bothered me about this song: near the end, Mr. Base says that they

Rock the mic with the help of E-Z /
Rock, on the set the music plays /
Only cuts the records that I say

I feel like E-Z Rock’s contributions are grossly magnified in the first line, if he’s really only playing what Rob is telling him to.
http://www.ecoevolution.org/ Ian G

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