I Who Have Nothing by Jedi Mind Tricks (prod. Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind)

Jedi Mind Tricks is a Philadelphia group composed of the MC, Vinnie Paz (once known as Ikon the Verbal Hologram) and the DJ, Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind and then at times, fellow MC Jus Allah. Jedi Minds to me is the perfect balance of anger and intelligence. It all started in 1996 when Stoupe and Vinny, who had been friends since high school, recorded the Amber Probe EP. A year later they would follow it up with The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological, And Electro-Magnetic Manipulation Of Human Consciousness (or The Psycho-Social for short) on Baby Grande records. Through this release, Jedi Mind Tricks gained a cult following among Hip Hop fans. In terms of content, Jedi Mind Tricks has always been known to speak on topics of government conspiracies, politics, war, mythology, science, religion and the paranormal, while usually being aided by Stoupe's classical and latin samples over booming drums.

As stated before, previous to Jedi Mind Tricks international success, Vinnie was named Ikon the Verbal Hologram. Interestingly enough, his later adoption of the name Vinnie Paz is in tribute to the Rhode Island boxer of the same name. It is clear on this album that who we are hearing is Ikon and not Vinnie. Despite this, it is interesting to look at where he and Stoupe began. What you have here is a low fidelity foreshadowing of what was coming with their next release Violent by Design, which is said to be their best release. All of that aside, the subject matter is just as dark and foreboding as any other JMT release, and the talk of conspiracy theories is littered through out.

This particular song, while not necessarily a complex beat, is none the less captivating. Stoupe's choice of samples is what always has made his beats easy to identify. The main sample used here is Tom Jones' "I Who Have Nothing". Jones is a Welsh singer who has had a number of Pop charting hits, such as "What's New Pussy Cat?" and "It's Not Unusual".




 Sample starts at 0:16

Judging from the speed of the original song, it is obvious that Stoupe had sped up the sample. Also he must have split it into, separating the words "I who have nothing." and "I who have no one" and playing them over the melody. Stoupe then uses these vocal samples to construct the chorus of the song. Towards the ending of the song the words "There comes a time in every man's life when he's gotta handle shit up on his own" are heard being repeated over the fading drum beat. This sample is of Slimkid3 from The Pharcyde's 1995 hit single "Runnin'".


Sample starts at 1:55

Though this is maybe not one of Jedi Mind Tricks' greatest songs by any means, I think the beat itself is strong. And while it isn't necessarily one of Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind's best, it still manages to be as dark and unsettling as any other Jedi Mind Tricks production.