No Sell Out
| "No Sell Out" | ||||
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| Single by Malcolm X | ||||
| B-side | "No Sell Out" (instrumental ver.) | |||
| Released | November 1983 | |||
| Format | 7", 12", CD | |||
| Recorded | Sweet Mountain Studio, Englewood, NJ | |||
| Genre | Hip hop, electro | |||
| Length | 5:44 | |||
| Label | Tommy Boy | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Keith LeBlanc and Malcolm X | |||
| Producer(s) | Keith LeBlanc | |||
| Keith LeBlanc singles chronology | ||||
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| Allmusic |   |
"No Sell Out" is a hip hop piece composed by American drummer Keith LeBlanc under the moniker Malcolm X, released in November 1983 on Tommy Boy Records. It marked the one of the first usages of sample-based composition in popular music as well and was the first hip hop song to use Malcolm X's voice for artistic and political reasons.
The idea for the piece was originally conceived when LeBlanc heard Grandmaster Flash playing a record in conjunction with the sample "Do you feel lucky, punk?" taken from the 1971 action film Dirty Harry. In an interview with The Quietus, Leblanc recalled: "I just thought the combination of a beat and music and spoken word over the top of it was pretty magical to me." Leblanc began listening to Malcolm X's spoken word recordings while experimenting with different drum beats.
The recording marked LeBlanc's first time working extensively with drum machines and as a producer, with the project being financed by Marshall Chess. LeBlanc opted to use the newest gear affordable, using a Oberheim DMX and E-mu Drumulator to create and program the music. The spoken word passages were used with the permission of Betty Shabazz, with a percentage of the proceeds going to the family of Malcolm X. Previous to contacting Tommy Boy Records, LeBlanc wanted Sugar Hill Records to issue the recording, but was discouraged by their unwillingness to provide royalties to Malcolm's family.
The composition makes use of several samplings of Malcolm X's voice which are placed over a syncopated beat-box driven electro beat. The audio clips are primarily taken from the speech he gave after the firebombing of his house. The song is punctuated by the spoken chorus "Malcolm X - no sell out", which is repeated several times in the duration of the track.
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