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This part of “Smilin’ Billy Suite Pt. II” was sampled by Q-Tip to create the production behind Nas’ “One Love.”

Q-Tip is a universally acclaimed rapper and producer, and is 1/3 of A Tribe Called Quest. He is credited as 1 of about 5 whose production makes Nas’ Illmatic.

Q-Tip is particularly well-known for his jazz-influenced production that has helped shape hip-hop's sound.

Q-Tip stated that DJ Premier’s first version of “Memory Lane” is what inspired him to produce the sound and style heard on "One Love." 

Q-Tip originally wanted to call the song “My Summer Vacation,” but Nas changed it to “One Love” after he settled on the letter reading concept for the verses.

Nas said Q-Tip’s original idea was for the song to be written from a student's perspective, returning to school from his summer vacation to tell the class what he had done during break.

Q-Tip calls “One Love” a song of “positivity, and an homage.”

Q-Tip is the main producer for A Tribe Called Quest and has also produced for Mobb Deep, JAY Z, and Kanye West among many others.

In an interview, he noted that Akai's MPC controller has always been at the epicenter of his music production.

Since Q-Tip’s sampling of “Smilin’ Billy Suite Pt. II,” the Heath Brothers’ song has been recognized by the hip-hop community and was also sampled in songs by Redman and Cypress Hill.

“Smilin’ Billy Suite Pt. II” is a song on the Heath Brothers’ 1975 release “Marchin’ On.”

The track was composed by Jimmy Heath (1 of 3 Heath brothers), and features Stanley Cowell on the mbira: the plucked instrument heard in this record and on “One Love.”

“Marchin’ On” was distributed by Strata-East Records, a record label actually co-founded by Stanley Cowell.

NPR reviews that the album has an “unusual, experimental vibe to it,” where there is subtle swing as opposed to hard-bop swing, and includes lots of mbira.

The Heath Brothers group is a jazz band comprised of 3 biological brothers plus one: Jimmy Heath on saxophone, Albert "Tootie" Heath on drums, Percy Heath on bass, and pianist Stanley Cowell. Later, Tony Purrone joined on guitar and James Mtume (Jimmy’s son) on percussion.

The group originally formed in 1975 in Philadelphia, PA.

During the Great Depression, the Heath Brothers’ parents were music performers and encouraged them to study music growing up.

The three grew up in Philadelphia, and later spent time in New York. All three separately pursued live jazz performance until ultimately grouping for their first studio album in 1975.

Percy was the bass chair in the Modern Jazz Quartet, while Jimmy held compositional talents, sometimes playing in Miles Davis’ quintet. Tootie was an established percussionist, often recording for John Coltrane.

“Marchin’ On” was the first of 10 records released by the Heath Brothers.  Some of their later work featured James Mtume on percussion, and others under major labels.

1975