Songs that sample Nautilus

About Nautilus

Nautilus closes Bob James’ 1974 CTI debut, One. James on Rhodes, Gary King on bass, Idris Muhammad and Steve Gadd on drums. It was not a hit and it was not meant to be a foundation for anything — it was the last track on a jazz record.

What made it inexhaustible is that it contains several usable records at once. There is a two-note keyboard figure. There is a bassline in the middle. There is an isolated drum break near the end. Producers took different pieces and arrived at completely different music, which is why the sample credits span from 1986 to the present day without ever settling into one sound.

Play the source, then cut to any of the flips below. Each one is pinned to the exact slice it took, so you are hearing the same seconds twice rather than two songs that happen to be related.

Every track that samples Nautilus

• Ghostface Killah — Daytona 500 (1996), produced by RZA. A snippet of the bass riff from the middle of the record, around 3:17 in the original.
• Run-D.M.C. — Beats to the Rhyme (1988), produced by Run-D.M.C. and Davy DMX. Both the Idris Muhammad drum break and the two-note keyboard figure that sits on top of it.
• Eric B. & Rakim — Follow the Leader (1988), produced by Eric B. & Rakim. Wikipedia names Nautilus among the samples but does not break out which element.
• A Tribe Called Quest — Clap Your Hands (1993), produced by A Tribe Called Quest. Named in the Wikipedia body as a notable use; Midnight Marauders credits Bob James in its sample credits.
• Maxo Kream — Go (2018), produced by Mitch Mula & Drumline. The opening synthesiser figure — the pendulum-swing riff at the very top of the record.
• Ultramagnetic MC's — Bait (1986), produced by Ced-Gee. Believed to be the first ever use of Nautilus — heavily filtered, and nearly buried under the drums.