A Survey of Sampling: How Sound Collage Shifted the Style of Hip-hop and More
Writing & Graphic by Mikayla Buneta
As I have gotten older, my music taste has fractalized into a variety of genres. This past year, I have been diving into the culture of sampling. Popular artists in the game like Tyler, the Creator, JAY-Z, and Kendrick Lamar implement older songs into their present productions. A “sample,” a preexisting rhythm, beat, or melody, can be chopped or manipulated to an artist's liking. By record scratching its way through the 1970s to now, sampling has further been elevated through recent techniques and technology.
Like a battle of the niches, it seems that artists look for oldie chord progressions and licks that have never been used before. “Bound” by The Ponderosa Twins Plus One has been used by Kanye West (“Bound 2”) and Tyler the Creator (“A BOY IS A GUN*”) using different cuts of voices and segments from the same song. Each provides a different tone to their song, either as a supporting sound or a full remix.
Although sampling was popularized through hip-hop, experimentation began with musicians and composers working with electronic manipulation. “Musique Concrete,” established by 1940s composer Pierre Schafer, delved into the features of acousmatic sounds and digital signal processing. Classic techniques like speed changes, reversals, and filtering transferred to the electronic hip-hop scene soon after the composers finalized the technical bits of it.
The repurposing of an older tune reminds us that music is made to connect people. A sample in a hip-hop song also encourages people of different backgrounds to try different modes of listening. A reference to The Isley Brothers could compel my father to listen to a song by Ice Cube. I try to listen to an array of artists, looking for a connection between samples from past and newer hip-hop songs. It is exciting to listen to a tune that has been sampled in a new rap song. Samples even show up in commercials, films, and video games. The blues classic “Ain’t No Love In The Heart of the City'' in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” put me on!
Expressions of sound and rhythm across cultures encourage the heart of having a diverse music palate. Through technology and dexterity of personal interest, I believe one can learn a great deal from a little bit of hip-hop.
Here are some of my favorite samples and the modern songs they are associated with:
“My Flame” by Bobby Caldwell (1978) – “Sky’s the Limit” by The Notorious B.I.G. (1997)
“Hollywood Swinging” by Kool & the Gang (1973) – “Feel so Good” by Mase (1997)
“Try a Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding (1966) – “Otis” by JAY-Z (2011)
“Last Summer Whisper” by Anri (1982) – “Baby Powder” by Jenevieve (2021)
“Move On Up” by Curtis Mayfield (1970) – “Touch the Sky” by Kanye West (2005)
“A Day In The Park” by Michal Urbaniak (1978) – “WHAT A DAY” by Tyler the Creator (2021)
“Off the Wall” by Michael Jackson (1979) – “Just a Waste” by PinkPantheress (2020)
“Ex-Factor” by Ms. Lauryn Hill (1998) – “Nice for What” by Drake (2018)
“Huit octobre 1971” by Cortex (1975) – “One Beer” by MF DOOM (2004); “Odd Toddlers” by Tyler the Creator (2009)