Several Dizzy Gillespie samples in an instructive hip-hop tune.
Italian rappers professing their adoration for American jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie? Did someone package this up as a gift to music teachers? This is so much fun and so cool.
“Let's Get Dizzy” - Radical Stuff ft. Lo Greco Bros
Intro: An Italian rap group, Radical Stuff combined their love for two American music forms – hip-hop and jazz – on this track.
Analysis: Expressing their appreciation for one of America's greatest jazz trumpeters, Radical Stuff honors Dizzy Gillespie in two ways. First, the main trumpet riff of the song (played during the chorus), as well as other melodic and rhythmic elements are sampled from Dizzy Gillespie's 1977 collaboration with Lalo Schafrin, “Unicorn”. Secondly, the group knowledgeably refers to Gillespie in the chorus, which is signified by the repetition of the lyrics, “You know it's time to get Dizzy!”
Considerations for Teaching: While this song contains good use of sampling and honors Dizzy Gillespie, there is a smattering of profanity in some of the verses, as well as the second verse referring to smoking something. It may be possible to express the idea of Dizzy Gillespie sampled in a hip-hop song without exposing students to this profanity, so playing a short sample of the intro or chorus of the song would be the best idea.