Talib Kweli and DJ Jazzy Jeff have joined Bob James for a remix of “Nautilus” during James’ Tiny Desk Concert.
Premiered on Monday (May 20), the jazz pianist’s 21-minute medley concluded with an unheard rendition of his classic 1974 song alongside the rap legends.
James previously collaborated with Jazzy Jeff on his 2023 song “That Bop,” while he also performed live with Kweli at the New York Blue Note Jazz Club last year.
Accompanied by a live band, the trio gave one of Hip Hop’s most famous samples a fresh makeover, complete with scratches from Jazzy Jeff and typically esoteric rhymes from the Reflection Eternal MC.
“Here’s where this setlist starts to get weird for me. In fact, this is a first, I’m happy to say, of trying to combine my music with me being in control, rather than having my music be used the way it’s been used so often with samples in the Hip Hop world,” the 84-year-old James told the NPR audience before diving into the performance.
“I started off, many years ago, maybe even being angry. Like, ‘Why are they taking my music? Whey are they chopping it up? Why are they doing weird stuff?’ But coincidentally, ironically, the very first recording that I heard in which my song ‘Westchester Lady’ was being sampled happened to be on an album called He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper.
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“I didn’t have any idea what rap was and I didn’t have any idea why they would’ve used my song. I listened to it, and I had to admit, it was kind of good […] Eventually, I got to know some of the [rap artists who sampled my music], but very rarely have I ever had to, in real time, play music together.”
Stones Throw Records founder Peanut Butter Wolf also shared a cool story of his own on NPR‘s Instagram page, commenting: “I saw him live at the Baked Potato around 20 years ago, told him it was a great show, and asked him why he didn’t play ‘Nautilus.’
“He told me ‘I’ve never in my career played that song live. It wasn’t even supposed to go on the album, but we needed another song. That’s why it’s the last song on the album.’”
Taken from Bob James’ 1974 album One, “Nautilus” has been sampled by everyone from Slick Rick (“Children’s Story”) and Ghostface Killah (“Daytona 500”) to Eric B. & Rakim (“Follow the Leader”) and A Tribe Called Quest (“Clap Your Hands”).