To understand one thread running through 2Pac’s meteoric career, start with George Clinton, Roger Troutman and the musical family tree of P-Funk.
Roger Troutman and Zapp entered the P-Funk orbit through Bootsy Collins and Clinton. Years later, that same musical lineage reached a band out of the Bay called Digital Underground, whose “Humpty Dance” sampled “Let’s Play House” by George Clinton’s Parliament. A year later, the Underground was invited to appear in and contribute a song to the Dan Aykroyd written film Nothing But Trouble. Clearly Dan Aykroyd, or more immediately, Digital Underground producer Shock G, knew something about music and film. The collaboration spawned a record that sampled “Theme from the Black Hole” by George Clinton’s Parliament. It also introduced a then unknown artist and actor named Tupac to the world on the record “Same Song.”
A solo album, a breakout performance in the movie Juice, and notoriety came quickly for Tupac, and then came the second single, “I Get Around” from his second album. Built on the smoothest of R&B chords, with a slight deejay rub lifted from Zapp’s “Computer Love,” the 1993 hit reconnected this rising star with Shock G and Money B of Digital Underground, but it also connected him to Roger Troutman’s music while helping broaden Tupac’s audience.
Two years later, the connection came full circle.
After Tupac, now stylized as 2Pac, was released from prison in 1995, Dr. Dre created “California Love,” drawing from Joe Cocker’s “Woman to Woman” and a West Coast musical lineage that included Ronnie Hudson’s “West Coast Poplock” that sampled Zapp’s “So Ruff, So Tuff.” This time, Roger wasn't simply part of the sampled material—he joined the record, delivering its unmistakable talk-box vocal.
From “Computer Love” to “I Get Around” to “California Love,” sampling helped connect two generations of artists and gave earlier music new life and cultural relevance. It also created new copyright relationships; that like great music, continue to live on.
Ample Samples™ publishes stories like this to explain how those relationships work and how music moves across mediums, generations and genres.
Need help clearing music for sync or samples? Learn more about Ample Samples™ https://www.theamplesamples.com/ and be sure to check out our playlist dedicated to the connection between 2Pac and George Clinton, as well as his P-Funk Allstars.
