"Cantaloop" is a song by jazz-rap group Us3

US3

Us3 is a jazz-rap group founded in London in 1991. Their name was inspired by a Horace Parlan recording produced by Alfred Lion, the founder of Blue Note Records. On their debut album, Hand on the Torch, Us3 used samples from the Blue Note Records catalogue, all originally produced by...

 from their 1993 album Hand on the Torch

Hand on the Torch

Hand on the Torch was the debut album for the jazz-rap group Us3. It received much attention because of its mix of jazz and rap, using live jazz musicians...

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It features a sample of Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock

Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...

's song "Cantaloupe Island

Cantaloupe Island

Cantaloupe Island is a jazz standard composed by Herbie Hancock and recorded on his 1964 album Empyrean Isles. during his early years as one of the members of Miles Davis '60s quintet. It is one of the very first examples of a modal jazz composition set to a funky beat...

", and reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, becoming the group's only top 40 single.

"Cantaloop" was certified gold

RIAA certification

In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...

 by the RIAA on March 25, 1994 for sales of over 500,000 copies.

Song information

The original song ("Cantaloupe Island") is a 16 bar repeated chart consisting of F minor for 4 measures, D7 for 4 measures, D minor for 4 measures, then F minor again. "Cantaloop" excludes the D minor section, uses the F minor section during the verses, and goes between the F minor and D7 during the horn riffs and trumpet solo. The featured soloist is Gerard Presencer

Gerard Presencer

Gerard Presencer is an English jazz trumpeter who has also made a name as a session player in pop-music contexts, and as a jazz educator. He currently lives in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Biography :...

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The song makes notable mention of the Birdland

Birdland (jazz club)

Birdland is a jazz club started in New York City on December 15, 1949. The original Birdland, which was located at 1678 Broadway, just north of West 52nd Street in Manhattan, was closed in 1965 due to increased rents, but it re-opened for one night in 1979...

 jazz club in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 in its opening line - "Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, we have something special down here at Birdland this evening: a recording for Blue Note Records

Blue Note Records

Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...

." The line, spoken by Pee Wee Marquette

Pee Wee Marquette

William Crayton "Pee Wee" Marquette is the former master of ceremonies at the Birdland jazz club in New York City. Marquette is under four feet tall, most likely three foot nine, and his high enthusiastic voice can be heard making the introductions on Art Blakey's 1954 record A Night at Birdland...

, is taken from Art Blakey

Art Blakey

Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....

's first Birdland album A Night at Birdland Vol. 1

A Night at Birdland Vol. 1

A Night at Birdland Vol. 1 is a 1954 release by jazz artist Art Blakey. It was first released by Blue Note Records as a 10" LP and then as a 12" LP containing material from the third 10" album...

.

There are recurring samples, particularly in the beginning, of two men saying "yeah!" and "what's that?". Both of these were taken from the intro to Lou Donaldson

Lou Donaldson

Lou Donaldson is a jazz alto saxophonist. He was born in Badin, North Carolina. He is best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to playing the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was, as many were of the bebop era, heavily influenced by Charlie Parker.His first recordings were...

's "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky (From Now On)"

The song is played in the opening of the 1994 film Renaissance Man (film).

Charts

End of year chart (1994)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	41