One Step Ahead (Aretha Franklin song)
Encyclopedia
"One Step Ahead" is a song by American soul singer Aretha Franklin
. The single containing the song was released by Columbia Records
in 1965. "One Step Ahead" was an A-side of the record, with song named "I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face" being B-side.
The single was released long before Aretha achieved her future stardom after joining Atlantic Records
. It remains one of the rarest of her records. The song was never included to any of her studio albums. The only album it appears on is one of her Greatest Hits compilation.
In 1999, hip-hop beatmaker Ayatollah
sampled the chorus of the song for "Ms. Fat Booty
" single he produced for Mos Def
.
The same vocal part was further sampled by Clutchy Hopkins
for his "Sleepers Never Dig, Diggers Never Sleep Bootleg".
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
. The single containing the song was released by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in 1965. "One Step Ahead" was an A-side of the record, with song named "I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face" being B-side.
The single was released long before Aretha achieved her future stardom after joining Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
. It remains one of the rarest of her records. The song was never included to any of her studio albums. The only album it appears on is one of her Greatest Hits compilation.
In 1999, hip-hop beatmaker Ayatollah
Ayatollah (producer)
Lamont Dorrell, better known as Ayatollah is a Hip-Hop producer from Queens, New York who has produced for predominantly New York-based rappers including Mos Def, R.A. The Rugged Man, Tragedy Khadafi, Wordsworth, Vast Aire, Afu-Ra, Guru, M.O.P., Inspectah Deck, Cormega, Ghostface Killah as well as...
sampled the chorus of the song for "Ms. Fat Booty
Ms. Fat Booty
"Ms. Fat Booty" is the first single from Mos Def's 1999 album, Black On Both Sides. It is produced by Ayotollah. The song and its chorus are both driven by multiple samples of Aretha Franklin's "One Step Ahead," a rare Columbia single released in 1965....
" single he produced for Mos Def
Mos Def
Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...
.
The same vocal part was further sampled by Clutchy Hopkins
Clutchy Hopkins
Clutchy Hopkins is purportedly a multi-instrumentalist musician based out of California. His existence has not yet been fully verified, though he is widely believed to be a pseudonym for one of several popular DJs...
for his "Sleepers Never Dig, Diggers Never Sleep Bootleg".