Hottest Flips: The Best & Biggest Samples of 2024 (So Far)

Sample: Sambasunda Quintet - Bulan Sapasi (2010)

Producers Ramii & Otis used a flip of the Indonesian fusion group Sambasunda Quintet. The flute loop is a find from the catalog of World Music Network, as producer Ramii explains below:

Ramii: "I was browsing through some world vibes on Tracklib when I came across this sample. The texture of the instruments was unique, and the flute was incredible. I started by looping the main flute segment. Otis and I then created the drums and bassline to complement it. I added chords that followed the sample's progression, enhancing its emotional depth. Once we had the main loop, Otis took the track home and chopped up part of the sample to create an intro. That’s when I knew we were onto something special. I sped up the sample because I prefer faster chord changes. It makes the track sound more dynamic and interesting. The faster tempo brought out new qualities in the sample that really stood out."

Sample: The Prodigy - Breathe (1996)

On 'Got to Be,' Donald Glover a.k.a. Childish Gambino describes his self-destructive cycle of drinking and smoking. When the chorus kicks in, a sample of electronic music and big beat legends The Prodigy turns the song into a restless and trippy breakdown. To sample like The Prodigy, check out these records Liam Howlett (of The Prodigy) exclusively selected for Tracklib.

Sample: The Feminine Complex - Are You Lonesome Like Me? (1969)

A full collaborative album by hip-hop legends Common and Pete Rock twenty years after their run of classics?! Who would have thought? Let alone in the year that we're also waiting on a collaborative effort by Nas and DJ Premier, exactly twenty years after Illmatic… The 90s are officially back in style. The song title "Lonesome" is a nod to the sample that Pete Rock used: "Are You Lonesome Like Me?" by late-60s all-female garage rock band The Feminine Complex. The cherry on top: their 1969 album Livin' Life is available on Tracklib to sample.

Sample: Ennio Morricone & Michael Fraser - Dance On (1978)

To kick off this summer's festival season, brothers Guy Lawrence and Howard Lawrence flipped three different parts from the funky, synth-heavy "Dance On" by Ennio Morricone and Michael Fraser. The song is taken off the soundtrack of the erotic drama film Cosi Come Sei (Stay As You Are). The samples make Disclosure's "She's Gone, Dance On" sound like a 2024 rendition of the 1978 cult song.

Sample: R.D. Burman - Music of Bond 303

"Drip Sweat" is not the first time KAYTRANADA flips a sample that's available on Tracklib. His production for IDK’s "Drugstore" was even fully made and cleared via Tracklib with a sample of LaWanda Page's "The Pilot."  "I’m still trying to keep sampling alive in a way, especially in electronic music, because I really miss samples," KAYTRANADA said in an interview last year. His new breakbeat-centered single "Drip Sweat" featuring Channel Tres is another top-notch example of that, underscored by the Think break as the perfect fit.

Sample: Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra (1982)

Eminem's interpolation of "Abracadabra" by Steve Miller Band fits the magician's theme of "Houdini." When the lead single of The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) dropped, Steve Miller published an open letter saying, "You are one of those timeless originators building something new on a long musical legacy of original artists. (...) To be included in your process feels good while I'm still singing and playing the music I love. I'm honored." Steve Miller's response shows mutual respect and a deep understanding of the value of sampling.

Sample: Revelacion - The House of the Rising Sun + Revelacion Suite (1977)

Producer Jamie XX knows his classics. The 12-inch record of Revelacion's The House of the Rising Sun involved production work by the legendary French producers Cerrone and Don Ray. The dancefloor anthem was a cover of the 1964 original by The Animals, which was sampled many times (Kid Cudi, Rick Rubin, Wyclef Jean, Harry Fraud...)—and covered even more times.

Sample: Da Banggaz315 - Run Up Get Done Up (2007)

Da Banggaz 314 was a St. Louis group consisting of Iklips, Looney, and Nonna, with productions by Steve-T. After a modest hit with "Ain't No B*tch Like Me" in the mid-2000s, the group disbanded shortly after. On GloRilla's "Yeah Glo!," producers B100, Go Grizzly, Squat Beats, and Lil Ronnie bring back their crunk flavors again.

Sample: Cordel 'Scatta' Burrell - Coolie Dance Rhythm (2003)

The sample in "After Hours" is bound to move ya body. Pun intended, because "Coolie Dance Rhythm" instantly teleports you back to 2003 when Nina Sky's "Move Ya Body" dominated the charts. A smart move by producers Lionel Bermingham, Elijah Wells, Khristopher Riddick-Tynes, and Alex Goldblatt, who play into 2000s nostalgia with "After Hours." Cordel 'Scatta' Burrell is on a great run lately: last year, his music was also used during Beyoncé's RENAISSANCE tour.

Sample: Anthony Valadez - Freedom (ft. Miles Bonny) (2014)

Brazilian producer L7NNON is a long-time Tracklib fanatic, who we featured in Hottest Flips before. This time, he flips "Freedom" by Anthony Valadez featuring singer Miles Bonny for "Desacreditado" with UK heavyweight Central Cee. In addition to the 2014 original on Los Angeles label Plug Research, there's also a four-to-the-floor "Freedom" remix by Spinnerty available on Tracklib.

Sample: Citation - Inspiration of My Life (1977)

Just like the J. Cole-assisted track "The Secret Recipe" on Lil Yachty's Something Ether EP, "A Lost Sunday" also digs into the magical year of 1977 for its sample: producers Aris Tatalovich and Josh Broadway looped two parts of "Inspiration of My Life" by Citation, a short-lived Detroit soul group. "A Cold Sunday" was originally part of Lil Yachty’s Verses I'm Proud Of series on TikTok and sees Yachty rapping about "living the life of a rolling stone."

Sample : Jimmy Q - Maze (2023)

Conductor Williams: "I knew that I wanted something that had soul and a sticky, nasty bassline with hips. This was a fantastic vision by my brother Jimmy Q. The funny thing is, I had a goofball on YouTube comment, 'So you basically did nothing'—my style of art is centered around the death of ego. All that matters is the music. When the sample is great and the music is there, it boils down to producing and arranging them to make a great record. Finding the right sound for the drums was the most challenging part. My first pass at making 'Stories About My Brother' had way too much going on: I filled up all the space with hi-hat work, shakers, claves… It was a projectile vomit of percussion all over the top of two sample chops. The key was being reductive."

Samples: Elza Laranjeira - Serenata Do Adeus (1962) | Jack Nicholson in The Shining (1980)

For "Redrum," London On Da Track flips Brazilian vocals by Elza Laranjeira. With the line "Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in" halfway through the track, London nods to the classic horror movie The Shining, where the title "Redrum" originates. The term "redrum" is also associated with the birth of UK Drill, first used by Brixton rap collective 67. With 21 Savage's music video visiting "the real London," the use of the term is likely a nod to 21 Savage's city of birth and the gritty rap that erupted from neighborhoods like Brixton.

Sample: Aura - Let Go It's Over (1979)

Mark Byrd: "When I first heard the sample, the initial horn hit caught my attention. I was like, I know it's gold on this. And VOILA: I heard the loop, where and what to chop, and it was a magic moment! I tried fully producing the record but all the other elements I added took away from the feel of the sample. So I stripped it all the way down. When I knew the sample would be the drive, I did have to EQ to make the percussive elements pop out more and also to give it some body so it wasn't just bare."

Samples: Chicago Gangsters - Don't Be Gone (1975) | Casino - Blueberry Muffin (1995)

"Don't Be Gone" shows another case of crate-digging comradery between Hit-Boy and The Alchemist. We can only imagine the hype in the studio after Uncle Al needle-dropped the end of the A-side of 1975's Blind Over You by Chicago Gangsters... No wonder "Don’t Be Gone" was the namesake for their collaborative track. Speaking of: did you know you can sample Chicago Gangsters yourself on Tracklib? Check out the track "Gangster Boogie," which Wax Poetics calls "legendary (...) a breakdancer’s staple and sample fodder by many artists, like Eric B. & Rakim and Too Short."

Sample: Regular Show - The God of Basketball Arrives at the Park (2011)

Some Cartoon Network action right here: Yeat's "Breathe" samples a clip from the cartoon series Regular Show. After the main character Mordecai declares that "basketball sucks," the God of Basketball arrives from space in his flying white Cadillac Escalade, soundtracked by an 808 beat with heavily distorted bass. A flip of that sound was exactly what producers Bart How and StarBoy needed to assist a slam dunk for Yeat. In 2012, vocal snippets from Regular Show were also sampled by Jneiro Jarel for Key To The Kuffs, his collaborative album with MF DOOM, who was known to be a huge cartoon fanatic.

Samples: Rodney O & Joe Cooley - Everlasting Bass (1988) | Eazy-E - Eazy-Duz-It (1988)

Insert nuclear emoji here... "Like That" by Metro Boomin and Future dropped a bomb on the hip-hop world—more specifically: the merciless feature by Kendrick Lamar did. While the rap rumble of who is The Best is ongoing, let's shine a light on the samples. Metro Boomin sticks to a Compton theme by sampling "Everlasting Bass" by pioneering Compton duo Rodney O & Joe Cooley, tied in with iconic vocals off "Eazy-Duz-It" by N.W.A's Eazy-E. 1988's "Everlasting Bass" was originally based on Daisy Lady's "7th Wonder" and the intro of Barry White's "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby," giving their interpolations a heavy 808 bass and synth treatment.