Love this! This makes me think of the moment a DJ perfectly blends two unsuspected songs and it feels like magic. A similar feeling to hearing a song not knowing it was sample and later stumbling upon its original source. Thanks for sharing!
I live for moments like that, especially the moment before when you’re trying to figure out what the DJ is doing and then BOOM! They got you dancing and singing along to the sample or the old school joint. It just demonstrates how music never dies and a way that artists pass the batons to each other. So many artists use references and pay homage by using samples of their favorite songs or music that made an impact on them.
This piece brought so much joy to my heart. The storytelling and the music took me on a journey through time. There's so much information and definitely one to keep coming back to.
"Music is a time stamp"--the way that you broke down the geneology of particular songs, instrumentation, and the sound of hip-hop at its creation and popularization is inspirational.
Stay with me by Debarge made me reminiscent of Earth, Wind, and Fire which reminded me of cookouts turned block parties and running around with my cousins in the dark playing tag.
Wow, thanks so much! See this is why I love writing about music in particular because most people associate it with personal memories. These songs are attached to specific times in our lives and samples have a way of bringing multiple generations of Black people together. Black music is a lot like a tapestry or mosaic with different patterns and scenes, all connected by the same threads. So appreciative for your kind words!
This was such a rich and layered exploration of sampling as both innovation and preservation. I love how you framed it as a bridge between generations. The stories really brought it home for me, especially the mixtape memories.
In 1988 - before WhoSampled and Google - my oldest brother would rattle off the name of every song sampled on It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and my high school friends thought he invented music. He was actually just 20 years older than us. He wasn’t impressed until DJs started finding deep cuts he didn’t recognize.
Loved this essay! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 Sampling is so important for archiving and for showing and reminding us we’re in a continuum of creativity. I love that Black musical legacies are mapped through new music.
Nailed it!!! It’s some important for archiving!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed this article, @Laurence Morreale did and amazing job flushing out the original idea developed in the chat thread.
Amazing piece man! I feel like sampling in music is a way to share and preserve culture. That's why I love hearing stories about Qtip sampling his father's jazz records and what that meant to him personally. To this day, one of my favorite samples is the one used in "Bonita Applebum" because it just feels so rich in culture and the human experience.
I agree Daze, sampling is a way to preserve the culture because it keeps us looping back to the original classics and through the new music they live on forever.
Laurence did amazing breaking down sampling, and now I’m going to be on the lookout for your article submission Daze’s Music Pavillion! Sounds like you have a story or two to share! Thanks so much for reading!
I appreciate this. I am a Jazz musician and I often toil with sampling and original music. Jazz music in particular thrives off of covers of what the black master musicians of the 50s and 60s did, i.e., John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Lee Morgan, etc.... but... the need for original music is also so prevalent. But viewing samples as preservation vs. lack of original thought is such a better way to approach all of our music. You really changed my perspective that I've had for years in literally 5 minutes lol. Thank you for this.
I was beginning my career as a musician in NYC in the early 1980’s. I find that a huge piece of hip hop history that is overlooked are the musicians that played and sometimes created the tracks. They were pivotal and brought the music to life. They played the studio dates, horns and overdubs. Nobody knows their names - Pumpkin (Errol Bedward) is really important - he was one of the first to sell drum tracks. Double Z aka Lizz Chisholm, bassist for Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Fred McFarlane - known for his production and writing but also mentored Teddy Riley. I used to play in bands with a lot of them and a slew of other musicians. There was no social media, and after the studio dates, no one gave them credit. Gonna try to recall as much as I can and I’ll be sharing for sure.
Wow! Thank you so much for all of this incredible knowledge. Too many people don’t get their due credit in the telling of Hip-Hop’s story. This gives the culture a whole new light by showcasing the musical talent that was prevalent in the industry from the beginning!
I really appreciate your comment. I saw so many amazing musicians that went unrecognized and also realized that most were so happy to play and tell people what they’ve done but their names have largely been erased from the documents. They also didn’t get paid much. I started writing more and intervening some on my SIRIUSXM show, but I’m really looking forward to sharing more here in Substack. Love your writing, btw!
“I could see from an early age that music for a lot of artists was finding new ways to tell a story. This is how I was introduced to sampling.” - Amazing insight, I’ve been sampling for a while now and I’ve never thought about it this way.
This was so cool to know how sampling got started! I was just watching a video a month or so ago about how many songs smaple Japanese hits, and now I read Technic's turntables paved the way for new grounds in sound creativity. Very cool.
😆🕺🏽🪩💃🏽
Love this! This makes me think of the moment a DJ perfectly blends two unsuspected songs and it feels like magic. A similar feeling to hearing a song not knowing it was sample and later stumbling upon its original source. Thanks for sharing!
I live for moments like that, especially the moment before when you’re trying to figure out what the DJ is doing and then BOOM! They got you dancing and singing along to the sample or the old school joint. It just demonstrates how music never dies and a way that artists pass the batons to each other. So many artists use references and pay homage by using samples of their favorite songs or music that made an impact on them.
This piece brought so much joy to my heart. The storytelling and the music took me on a journey through time. There's so much information and definitely one to keep coming back to.
"Music is a time stamp"--the way that you broke down the geneology of particular songs, instrumentation, and the sound of hip-hop at its creation and popularization is inspirational.
Stay with me by Debarge made me reminiscent of Earth, Wind, and Fire which reminded me of cookouts turned block parties and running around with my cousins in the dark playing tag.
Love this topic. Love the curation.
Wow, thanks so much! See this is why I love writing about music in particular because most people associate it with personal memories. These songs are attached to specific times in our lives and samples have a way of bringing multiple generations of Black people together. Black music is a lot like a tapestry or mosaic with different patterns and scenes, all connected by the same threads. So appreciative for your kind words!
This was such a rich and layered exploration of sampling as both innovation and preservation. I love how you framed it as a bridge between generations. The stories really brought it home for me, especially the mixtape memories.
Thank you so much! The mixtape memories were some of my favorite years listening to all that great music for the first time. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Now this is rich and well rounded 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
Thank you 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
In 1988 - before WhoSampled and Google - my oldest brother would rattle off the name of every song sampled on It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and my high school friends thought he invented music. He was actually just 20 years older than us. He wasn’t impressed until DJs started finding deep cuts he didn’t recognize.
Wow 20 years is a big gap! I can relate though because my younger siblings are 18 years younger than me. But your older brother sounds mad cool 😎
Loved this essay! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 Sampling is so important for archiving and for showing and reminding us we’re in a continuum of creativity. I love that Black musical legacies are mapped through new music.
Nailed it!!! It’s some important for archiving!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed this article, @Laurence Morreale did and amazing job flushing out the original idea developed in the chat thread.
🙏🏽🤎
Thank you so much!!! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Amazing piece man! I feel like sampling in music is a way to share and preserve culture. That's why I love hearing stories about Qtip sampling his father's jazz records and what that meant to him personally. To this day, one of my favorite samples is the one used in "Bonita Applebum" because it just feels so rich in culture and the human experience.
Love this piece!
I agree Daze, sampling is a way to preserve the culture because it keeps us looping back to the original classics and through the new music they live on forever.
Laurence did amazing breaking down sampling, and now I’m going to be on the lookout for your article submission Daze’s Music Pavillion! Sounds like you have a story or two to share! Thanks so much for reading!
I appreciate this. I am a Jazz musician and I often toil with sampling and original music. Jazz music in particular thrives off of covers of what the black master musicians of the 50s and 60s did, i.e., John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Lee Morgan, etc.... but... the need for original music is also so prevalent. But viewing samples as preservation vs. lack of original thought is such a better way to approach all of our music. You really changed my perspective that I've had for years in literally 5 minutes lol. Thank you for this.
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
I was beginning my career as a musician in NYC in the early 1980’s. I find that a huge piece of hip hop history that is overlooked are the musicians that played and sometimes created the tracks. They were pivotal and brought the music to life. They played the studio dates, horns and overdubs. Nobody knows their names - Pumpkin (Errol Bedward) is really important - he was one of the first to sell drum tracks. Double Z aka Lizz Chisholm, bassist for Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Fred McFarlane - known for his production and writing but also mentored Teddy Riley. I used to play in bands with a lot of them and a slew of other musicians. There was no social media, and after the studio dates, no one gave them credit. Gonna try to recall as much as I can and I’ll be sharing for sure.
Wow! Thank you so much for all of this incredible knowledge. Too many people don’t get their due credit in the telling of Hip-Hop’s story. This gives the culture a whole new light by showcasing the musical talent that was prevalent in the industry from the beginning!
I really appreciate your comment. I saw so many amazing musicians that went unrecognized and also realized that most were so happy to play and tell people what they’ve done but their names have largely been erased from the documents. They also didn’t get paid much. I started writing more and intervening some on my SIRIUSXM show, but I’m really looking forward to sharing more here in Substack. Love your writing, btw!
“I could see from an early age that music for a lot of artists was finding new ways to tell a story. This is how I was introduced to sampling.” - Amazing insight, I’ve been sampling for a while now and I’ve never thought about it this way.
I’d love for you to submit a piece about how you use sampling! That would be so dope to include in this series!
💯🙏🏽
Interesting article.
Sampling reminds me of a conversation between the past and the present.
It stimulates clever thoughts.
The skill set needed to reframe old ideas into new ones is truly an art — when it’s done with intention.
Exactly! Takes a lot of skill and talent to be able to create something new.
This was so cool to know how sampling got started! I was just watching a video a month or so ago about how many songs smaple Japanese hits, and now I read Technic's turntables paved the way for new grounds in sound creativity. Very cool.
Thank you so much for pointing that out! I love how different parts of this piece are resonating with people!
Discovering new samples is true joy. Right now, my favorite discovery is Jamie Foxx's "Unpredictable" from New Birth's "Wild Flower."