//Introducing “Funky DL samples Amy Winehouse” Vol 1: //Back To Frank //Click here to download FREE NOW!!

Great question, and the answer is… Because the idea was exciting enough to do so, knowing that it was never done prior!

Respected hip hop maestro, Funky DL innovatively came correct for 2010 with 'Back To Frank', a piece of Amy Winehouse-inspired audio alchemy.

The project came about after a conversation with MCD (Silent Eclipse), in which MCD suggested ideas for DL to expand his appeal to audiences that would appreciate his trademark jazz sound. MCD suggested he use an Amy hook. A cautious DL took his advice and came up with 'Kicked To The Curb', sampling Amy Winehouse's 'You Sent Me Flying' and after this initial foray, DL never looked back.

"The result of remaking a song using Amy’s “Kicked To The Curb” to me was fantastic and it was a real challenge to rebuild the melody of the chorus using only tiny snatches of the original whenever Amy didn't sing to get a 4 chord structure," DL explains. "Nonetheless I was so impressed with what I had done; I then considered turning the whole thing into an album project based around Amy Winehouse’s debut album “Frank" …

and here it is, broken down for you track by track. Download, enjoy and spread the word!

//TRACK 1: 'INTRO’
Funky DL gets the listener ready, set and good to go over Amy Winehouse’s ‘October Song’ blended with drum breaks and provides a relaxed intro to ‘Back To Frank’, before the first full length track is unveiled

//TRACK 2: 'WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?’
‘What Do You Expect?’ Was the second song written, produced and recorded for ‘Back To Frank’ sampling Amy’s ‘I Heard Love is Blind’. Funky DL sums up his evident feeling of being on the outside of particular circles in hip hop within the UK and how that dejection actually freed him from getting involved in the hip-politics and left him free to get on with his career. The unorthodox 3 bar loop arrangement is apparent in this one with chops and breaks flying in during the arrangement.

//TRACK 3: 'KICKED TO THE CURB’
This is the song that kicked the whole project off,  and as Amy’s 'You Sent Me Flying' is DL’s favourite track by her, he made 'Kicked To The Curb' his starting block for the album. In this song DL remarks of his regret as to the reasons why a relationship had to come to an end without actually saying what the girl did that led him to kick her to the curb and does this smoothly over a beat reminiscent of some old Dilla / Slum Village vibe…

//TRACK 4: 'HANDED TO YOU FREE’
Never a more suitable selection to showcase Funky DL’s production skills in his ability to take all of the sounds used in this jam (bar the bass, 80’s snare drum and old drum loop for the outro) from the original Amy joint ‘Know You Now’ and re-arrange the guitar chord structure and flip the drum pattern, whilst interplaying with remnants of Amy’s vocal. DL muses over the value of hard work and utilises the glossy groove to let the listeners know that they should never expect things to be handed to them for free.

//TRACK 5: 'REALIZE RESPONSIBILITY’
This is one of DL’s personal favourites. The subject matter for the verbal’s is realising responsibility, growing up, and allowing yourself to be answerable to yourself and no other. The re-arrangement of Amy’s ‘Brother’, with a pile up of four 90’s style drum beats and airy reverberant harmonies, gives this song its old school but true school, chilled flava!

//TRACK 6: 'STRONGER’
Probably of all songs closest to its original form of Amy’s ‘Stronger Than Me’, Funky DL took the horns from an outro skit of a version of the said song, and some guitar passes along with programming an old jazz style walking baseline whilst reprogramming the drums from the open snatch in the originals intro. Cleverly editing Amy’s chorus down to just ‘You Should Be Stronger’ with echo trails, meant that DL could lyrically summarise on the need for a sense of inner strength within us all and our remembrance of just how powerful of an individual we can all be.

//TRACK 7: 'THE SWEETEST THING’
This song is as true of a representation of Funky DL and his love for jazz as it could get. An ode to the fairer sex and with true jazz chops all taken from Amy’s ‘(There Is) No Greater Love’. DL states “the drums were actually borrowed “for want of a better word” from Questlove of The Roots and his YouTube channel “qoolquest” and sampled directly from YouTube, but with some snare drum tuning and toning to make it at least somewhat different”. The interaction from verses into chorus is a tight fit and works to make this joint a jazz-filled and energetic piece.

//TRACK 8: 'BUT THAT'S NOT ME’
DL came with some niceties on this one with a story of his fears and insecurities of a suspected cheating wife to whom he is unsure whether to confront or quietly slip away from, only leaving a note or letter. DL explains “This was a difficult one because Amy hardly said anything from the original ‘Take The Box’ song that I could really write around” The story unfolds and is vividly descriptive only to come back round full circle to display that the 1st verse could have easily been 2nd and the 2nd, 1st...

//TRACK 9: 'MADE FOR YOU’
DL stays true to his production roots with this ode to “studio equipment”. With a hook from Amy stating “everyday I see you my hands were made for you” it becomes clearer to understand where DL’s heart lies. As an avid Akai MPC user, Funky DL has taught himself the machine inside and out, even having to open the sampler to replace a burnt out memory chip whilst recording the project. A music lover’s favourite appears in the form of Grover Washington JR’s ‘Mister Magic’, which Amy covered on her debut album as an unlisted bonus track.

//TRACK 10: 'I CAN'T HELP YOU’
Funky DL’s early influences were producers like Pete Rock, which is highly apparent on this one in which he sends a message out to all those who are always prepared to lean on others for help, never having ever done anything themselves… to help themselves. The shortest and last track on ‘Back To Frank’ offers the opportunity for self-reflection if adhered to carefully.

//TRACK 11: 'OUTRO’
DL takes this opportunity to send a shout out to Amy Winehouse and MCD as he says “for the idea” over a re-sampled “Amy, Amy, Amy”. A short outro to a short but well constructed album.

Click here to read Why did Amy Winehouse get sampled by Funky DL… again?...