"I Got It Goin' On" - Dennis Rollins MBE

“I Got It Goin’ On” (PDF) from the Us3 album Hand on the Torch

The British hip hop group Us3 produced a landmark album with 1993's Hand on the Torch, largely due to its crossover hit "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" which sampled Herbie Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island" and was featured in seemingly every advertisement throughout the 90's. The entire album is comprised of jazz samples from the Blue Note Records catalog, many of which had been lost in the shuffle for decades until beatmakers re-discovered the grooves. While other hip hop albums of the era got tied up in litigation, Hand on the Torch was perhaps the first fully-authorized hip hop remix album and became the first platinum release for the Blue Note record label.

"I Got It Goin' On," samples New York City organist Reuben Wilson's song "Ronnie's Bonnie" from his 1968 album On Broadway. The instrumental also happened to be the only original composition on the album and likely allowed for easier publishing clearance of Us3’s derivative work. “I Got It Goin’ On” features London trombonist Dennis Rollins MBE who invokes his Jamaican roots for this acid jazz groove. Rollins' performances and educational achievements have been recognized by multiple British award societies, as well as the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Here is a YouTube video of Dennis Rollins MBE performing with Maceo Parker:

Recommended reading: Blue Note: Uncompromising Expression by Richard Havers. Published by Thames & Hudson.