I Know You Got Soul (Eric B. & Rakim song)

Did You Know?

• The song ranked number 6 among "Tracks of the Year" for 1987 in the annual NME critics' poll.
• The song ranks #396 in Rolling Stone 2004 list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time.

Description and release

The title and central sample come from Bobby Byrd's 1971 track of the same name, and this song is often given credit for making James Brown samples a common element in hip-hop. It also borrows the drum intro from "You'll Like It Too" by Ben Powers Jr., released on LAX Records under the name Funkadelic. This was the third single off the 1987 album Paid in Full. Its production features digitized cymbal crashes, breathing sounds, and a bumping bass line. You can hear it on the fictional radio station Playback FM in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The British group M|A|R|R|S took the title lyric for their hit "Pump Up the Volume" from the a cappella version. Sean Paul and Debi Nova sampled it for "International Affair." Timbaland quotes the opening line in Aaliyah's "Try Again" and later covers the entire first verse with changes in his song "Cop That Shit." Mos Def speaks part of that first verse on his track "Love" from Black on Both Sides. D'Angelo also references its lyrics in "Chicken Grease" from his album Voodoo.