The late David McCallum is bettern known as a generation-spanning actor who became a familiar face on TV, first in the 1960s playing Russian spy Illya Kuryakin in the Man from U.N.C.L.E. and then again in the 2000s as the eccentric Dr Donald "Ducky' Mallard on NCIS.
In between his acting pursuits, McCallum also dabbled in music, and chatter on the Internet says he is responsible for one of hip-hop's most iconic samples.
Is this true?
VERDICT:
TRUE
According to Rolling Stone magazine, McCallum, who was also a classically trained musician, performed a track called The Edge, composed by David Axelrod, that was originally released in 1967 as part of McCallum's album Music: A Bit More of Me.
The first few bars of the song are instantly recognisable for hip-hop fans as it was sampled as the opening riff on Dr Dre's seminal 2000 track The Next Episode, which also features OGs Snoop Dogg, Kurupt and Nate Dogg.
According to Rolling Stone, the sample had also been used in 198 by hip-hop trio Missin Linx for their song MIA.
In fact, a check on the WhoSampled database, which lists samples and where they are used, McCallum's The Edge is sampled in 50 songs in total.
McCallum died on Sept 23, 2023, at the age of 90.
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