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• Hip hop sampling: a brief history
• Who are the pioneers in sampling?
• How to find hip hop samples
• How to sample for hip hop
• Collections of hip hop samples
• Iconic samples in hip hop
• Final thoughts

Hip hop sampling: a brief history

This year exactly fifty years ago, a DJ by the name of like Kool Herc started to prolong drum breaks from funk and soul records to let the crowd dance longer. Kool Herc's so-called Merry-Go-Round with two of the same records mixed to extend the drum breaks played an integral part in the birth of hip-hop. Years later, to bring the newborn sound of block parties to actual recordings released on vinyl, producers would sample breakbeats—and other elements—from records like The Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache," The Winston Brothers' "Amen, Brother," and several James Brown records.

With the public release of digital samplers in the 80s, people could create music straight from their homes without the need for theoretical music education, paying for studio time, playing traditional instruments, or hiring musicians. That’s when sampling technology was officially born. The limitations of those early samplers and drum machines (including a short sample time), forced creativity and ingenuity. Such as producer Marley Marl, who reinvented the use of drum breaks and started chopping them to create new drum patterns with his iconic sample usage.

For a more detailed history, check out our beginner’s guide to sampling. The chapter The Origins of Sampling takes you from tape loops and musique concrète as early as the 1940s all the way to the present day.

Who are the pioneers in sampling?

The act of repurposing records was first pioneered by DJ Kool Herc: he is credited for first looping isolated drum breaks from records at parties in the Bronx to keep the crowd moving. In a sense, this laid the groundwork for sampling: both sampling and DJ'ing use records to create something entirely new.

Grandmaster Flash later perfected this technique by inventing needle-dropping, allowing breaks to be looped more seamlessly. Grand Wizzard Theodore later pioneered the concept of rhythmically scratching these records—a signature sound that would come to be associated with hip hop.

But one of the true pioneers of hip hop sampling, as we know it today, is Marley Marl. The producer who worked with the likes of Eric B. & Rakim and LL Cool J was the first to figure out how to use individual drum sounds and trigger them with a drum machine to craft a new drum pattern, as opposed to the practice of looping existing drum breaks.

To this day, sampling has been a vibrant and ever-growing art form. With that said, the last fifty years of hip-hop history have spawned various pioneers: from DJ Shadow to J Dilla, and from Madlib to Wu-Tang Clan's RZA. Each in their own way, they have all contributed to the art of sampling.

How to find hip hop samples

Traditionally, the pioneers of hip hop production found samples on vinyl records through a practice commonly known as crate-digging. But in our modern age, you can find samples anywhere! You can search across the internet for the perfect sounds to create your beat. If you want to stay as close as possible to the crate-digging ethos and feel, though, sample packs usually don't offer what you're looking for. By sampling real and original records, you can achieve the same sound as your favorite hip-hop classic.

How to sample for hip hop

There are endless ways to use a sample. Once you find a sample or sample library that speaks to you, import the music into a DAW like Ableton Live, Logic Pro, FL Studio, or Serato Sample. Not sure where to start or which digital audio workstation (DAW) to work with? Our guide Best Music Making Software: Choosing the Right DAW is there to help.

The easiest way to use a sample is to find your favorite part of the sample and loop the audio every 4 or 8 bars. Chopping up a sample is another tried and true technique. This way, you can achieve a new chord progression or sound by chopping and rearranging different parts of your sample.

Another way to give a new personality to your sample is to change its pitch and tempo. This can help to recontextualize your sample to fit a hip hop groove. You can also experiment with EQ settings or filtering out frequencies from either the low end, mids, or high end. The more you manipulate a sample, the more you can achieve a unique, distinct sound.

Or experiment with layering samples from different sources or even layer different parts of the same sample altogether. You can try sampling long passages like full chord progressions, layering short one-shot sounds or vocal samples, single drum hits, or short instrument stabs or sound effects. If you have access to the individual stems of a sample, you can use specific instruments of a sample or effectively adjust the isolated sound to better fit a beat.

James Brown - Get Up Offa That Thing

Producers frequently pay tribute to the early days of hip hop by sampling James Brown on countless songs. Such as the horn stab in "Get Up Offa That Thing," which has made its way into many 2010's songs in hip hop, contributing an old school flair. It can be heard in Kendrick Lamar's "XXX", City Girls and Cardi B's "Twerk", and Teyana Taylor's Kanye West-produced "WTP."

Nina Simone - Strange Fruit

Originally a poem written about the lynching of Black Americans, "Strange Fruit" was first adapted to music by Billie Holiday. Nina Simone's version of the song was most famously used in Kanye West's "Blood on the Leaves" on his infamous Yeezus album. The track juxtaposes Simone's pitched-up vocals with blaring horns sampled from Hudson Mohawke & Lunice's electronic trap collaboration TNGHT.

Lyn Collins - Think (About It)

Lyn Collins' "Think (About It)"—produced by James Brown!—is one of the most popular samples of all time; its drum break (commonly known as the "think break") can be heard on countless records and is easily recognized from its signature chants. It can be heard most notably in the 80's classic "It Takes Two" by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock. Other songs that feature the sample are J Dilla's "Ash Rockin", Kanye West's "So Appalled", and Run The Jewels' "Call Ticketron."

Chic - Good Times

The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" is frequently cited as the first commercial hip hop song. A replayed sample of Chic's "Good Times" is the foundation of the song. Before the song was recorded, it came together when members of the Sugarhill Gang jumped on stage during a Chic performance and began freestyling over "Good Times." The group later recorded the song over an interpolation of Nile Rodgers' bassline without Chic's permission. The legal issues were eventually settled, and the song has since become one of the most influential hip hop songs of all time.

Billy Cobham - Heather

"Heather" is a soothing, crosswinds-inspired 70s fusion track by drummer Billy Cobham. While it's been sampled over sixty times, it was used most iconically on West Coast classic "93 'til Infinity" by Souls of Mischief. It was also notably used by Rick Ross, Big K.R.I.T., and MF DOOM.

Final thoughts on the evolving art of hip hop sampling

Sampling and hip hop go hand in hand. From the genre's genesis at block parties in the Bronx all the way to today's trends and Billboard hits. The art of sampling continues to flourish and grow as producers keep pushing the envelope in music production. Now it’s up to you to start sampling and to do you!