"Block Rockin' Beats" is a song by British big beat duo The Chemical Brothers. It was released as the second single from their second album, Dig Your Own Hole, in March 1997. The single topped the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number 40 on the US BillboardModern Rock Tracks chart. It received a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. There are two different edits of "Block Rockin' Beats" available; one is the version found on Dig Your Own Hole, which has an intro, and the other version begins with the bassline. The B-side "Morning Lemon" is also available on the second disc of the limited editionSingles 93–03. Blender listed the song on number 346 on its ranking of "Greatest Songs Since You Were Born" in 2005.
Samples
The drums are sampled from "Changes" by Bernard Purdie. The vocals, "Back with another one of those block rockin' beats" is a sample from American rapper Schoolly D's 1989 song "Gucci Again". Another reviewer opines that the track uses the bassline from the track "Coup" by 23 Skidoo. The opening bass riff resembles the intro from the Pink Floyd song "Let There Be More Light", while the bass sound has been sampled from The Crusaders' song "The Well's Gone Dry". "Morning Lemon" opens with a vocal sample of a man singing "Morning lemon", and ends with a sample of Ice Cube saying "Take that, motherfuckers!".
Critical reception
noted, "Not only was the song an undeniable earworm, but it took the art of sampling to a new level - borrowing its drums from Bernard Purdie and its vocals from US rapper Schoolly D. There have even been suggestions that the track covertly samples Pink Floyd too." Larry Flick from Billboard described the track as "a genre-spanning revelation" and commented further that "After one spin, you'll be chanting the hook for hours, and the blend of scratchy funk beats and acidic keyboards are sure to get the body moving." Complex said that "there was something about the combined fury of that Schoolly D vocal sample, that hypnotic bassline and those big drums that turned this one into an anthem for the breakbeat set."
