“Born This Way” by The Cookie Crew

Towards the end of the 1980’s, hip hop had taken on a much more upbeat and danceable persona, with various rappers featured on many pop singles and several crossover hits. Prince Paul and Daddy-O from Stetsasonic were two producers who were behind many of these. They especially had a knack for finding funky, obscure samples that brought the music from the stage and onto the dance floor.  
 
One group that found their way to Daddy-O’s mixing desk was London’s Cookie Crew. They had won a rapping contest and found some regional success with their “Rok da House” single. Enter Daddy-O and their first full length album Born This Way!
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“Born This Way” was the title track from the record. It was released in 1989 and contains two brilliant samples from jazz bassist Jonny Pate and the funk band Pleasure. It was a truly fun number and charted in the UK, but as the hip hop trends in the states were already changing yet again, it was poorly received on this side of the Atlantic.