woah, you're bringing back memories.
I found out about this dude Nujabes back in 2003, or so. I was in this record pool. They'd mail you like a secret catalog and you'd check off the records you wanted. They were "free", but you paid the shipping and handling for them. And most of them were coming from Europe and Japan.
Well, I seen this one 12", called "Bullshit As Usual", and I thought it was some kind of Japanese underground remix of Biggie's "Party & Bullshit", so I copped it.
Anyway, when I got it I was blown away. The track is
Bullshit As Usual spit by Pase Rock, with production by Nujabes. The vinyl was pressed out by Nujabes self-started record label Hyde Out, coming out of his home country - Japan (I think a part of Tokyo, to pinpoint with further detail).
The flute-y intro was dope, and the hi hats coming in just had a raw sound that heightened the beat dropping; forget about it!
Nujabes produced a melodic, jazzy mood feel that was both mellow, and, at the same time, hard.
After that record I started to dig into his catalog more to see what was on his beat resume.
On alot of his stuff, I was feelin' on first listen that the samples he used were kind of mediocre; like they could be found on any dollar bin jazz records. But when I listened to his instrumentals on again on their own, he would have alot going on in them. Like the beats were telling a story. Which, as a producer, I connect with. I like music that has meaning, a message.