I don't know how I could have gone so long without knowing more about her. The first time I saw her name was in a review of The Orb's A Huge Evergrowing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre of the Ultraworld. It mentioned that she was probably rolling in her grave because of the sample from her biggest hit Lovin' You. I actually realized that it was a popular song during that South Park episode where the John Stamos' brother couldn't hit the F6 in it. Before today that was all I thought I knew of her.

I was looking for the lyrics to Les Fleur by 4hero today. For some reason I've really been lovin' that song lately. I found Minnie Riperton being credited with the song, so I did a quick search and found her anthology. It turned out that not only did she do Lovin' You, but she also did Les Fleur and I Am the Black Gold of the Sun. The ironic thing about the last one is I originally heard the 4hero remix, then found the Nuyorican Soul cover and now the Minnie Riperton original. I know people say the original is always better, but I'm going to have to reserve my judgement until I've heard the original a bit more.

I don't know how she could have been just right outside of my sphere of musical knowledge for so long.

update: Fuck me! I just got to Take a Little Trip on the anthology, and instantly recognized it as being sampled in one of my favourite tracks a few years ago: Tri-State Recordings' Descender. Absolutely brilliant!