AS Google took time to celebrate Zimbabwe\u2019s Mbira instrument yesterday through changing their Google Doodle and putting a Mbira game to educate people on the instrument, American rapper Nas was reminded of his debut hip hop album, Illmatic where he sampled the Mbira on his One Love song.<\/p>\n
The song produced by Q-Tip, was released with the album on October 25, 1994. Illmatic was met with widespread acclaim from critics, many of whom hailed it as a masterpiece.<\/p>\n
According to online sources, One Love samples the mbira (thumb piano), double bass and piano from the Heath Brothers\u2019 \u201cSmilin\u2019 Billy Suite Part II\u201d (1975) and contains a drum break from Parliament\u2019s \u201cCome in out the Rain\u201d (1970), which add to the song\u2019s mystical and hypnotic soundscape.<\/p>\n
Since Google was celebrating the country\u2019s Culture Week with a Doodle game, teaching people the history and how to play the Mbira, Nas remembered that the song on his debut album sampled Mbira keys, information he shared with his 5.8 million followers on Instagram.<\/p>\n
He said when the mbira played by Stanley Cowell, an American jazz pianist, was fused into the song, he knew it was complete.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s #GoogleDoodle celebrates the mbira, a traditional instrument of Zimbabwe\u2019s Shona people. The mbira was sampled in Illmatic\u2019s One Love, produced by Q-Tip.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember back in \u201893, Q-Tip put down the One Love beat with samples of the smooth mbira licks of Stanley Cowell and a thick bassline from The Heath Brothers. In an instant, I knew that was it. He created a sound that represented the story I wanted to tell,\u201d posted Nas.<\/p>\n
The American rapper went on to encourage fans to learn more on the Mbira on Google.<\/p>\n
\u201cCheck the Google homepage to be a part of this tribute to African music by playing the mbira yourself. During these challenging times, remember that Love is a superior force. Unity. Togetherness. One Love. #WorkingWithGoogle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Known as Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, Nas has released 12 studio albums, with seven of them certified platinum and multi-platinum in the US.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AS Google took time to celebrate Zimbabwe\u2019s Mbira instrument yesterday through changing their Google Doodle and putting a Mbira game to educate people on the instrument, American rapper Nas was reminded of his debut hip hop album, Illmatic where he sampled the Mbira on his One Love song. The song produced by Q-Tip, was released […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":23425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[191],"class_list":{"0":"post-23424","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-culture-and-art","9":"tag-culture-and-art"},"yoast_head":"\n