Merriam-Webster
defines sampling as “The act of using a small part of a recording as part of
another recording.” Although some artists create their own beats and sounds,
may artists from the beginning of hip-hop through today have used sampling
throughout their music in the form of loops, beats, breaks and scratching. It is not necessary to sample a song in order
to make a hip-hop hit but many of the hits throughout the genres history have
used sampling in some shape or form.
Sampling allows hip-hop songs to appeal to a wider audience by using
familiar sounds and tones liked already by many or that may appeal to many and then
simply just adding to it. Some producers and artists will find a song or songs
that they like then sample it directly. Producers may also put it through a
synthesizer and alter the song. Some may speed up the tempo of the song or slow
it down or simply eliminate the beat entirely and just use the lyrics of it. I am going to use two examples the first being
an old and the second being more recent. The first song is “Planet Rock” by Afrika
Bambaataa and The Soulsonic Funk[1].
This song came out in 1982 and heavily sampled the song “Trans-Europe Express”
by Kraftwork[2] .
This song is important because it was very influential to the both hip-hop and
dance music. Afrika Bambaataa used the
beat drop of “Trans-Europe Express” rapped over it. It worked out that the beat
used was also a good dance tune there by making it a success not only in the
hip-hop market but also in the emerging dance market. “Planet Rock” made it near the top of the top
100 and top ten in hip hop and dance and is remembered as one of the first mega
popular songs of the hip-hop genre that used a sample. The second song is “Who
Gon Stop Me”[3] by
Jay-Z and Kanye West. This song is more recent having been released in 2011 on
the Watch The Throne album. “Who Gon Stop Me” sampled the dubstep song “I Can’t
Stop” by Flux Pavilion[4],
which was one of the first dubstep songs become really main stream. Jay and
Kanye mainly use a loop of the part of the song that says “I can’t stop” and
then supply their own beat. Although both of my examples sampled dance music
songs sampling is not limited to dance music and can include every genre from
rock to jazz. Some producers now a day make their living off sampling. For
example Kanye West started as a producer at Roc-A-Fella records making the beats
to many of Jay-Z‘s and other artists at the label's songs Looking towards the
future of hip-hop I feel that many artists and producers will be using more and
more samples. Not only will these producer and artists be sampling new songs
but also sampling hits from the old days. Sampling is a very important part of hip-hop
and will continue to be.
I like your points about using a sampling beat to appeal to a wider audience, and use the music in more ways, like dance. I would have liked to see more examples of songs with sampled beats from different genres of music, such as a classic rock or pop. It's interesting to see a regular hip hop song, gain a sample beat and therefore be heard from a new dynamic. Overall, I liked the post, and thought your examples related to the topic perfectly.
ReplyDeleteI liked the way you defined sampling and how it is used in hip hop today. I also liked how you gave two examples of sampling, one of an older song and one of a more recent song and how you showed sampling is a great tool for artists and producers. Overall, i enjoyed the post and thought it gave the reader a good idea of what sampling is.
ReplyDeleteGood points when explaining in different ways how sampling is seen in hip-hop. You introduced some great examples of some artists sampling from other artists and I liked how you followed up your statements with facts.
ReplyDeleteThe definition in the very begging about what really is sampling is a well thought out idea, because it lets the reader what the blog is about. Also I like the examples of the songs, really shows the connection of the samples, even with slight changes.
ReplyDeleteI felt like you really captured the essence of what sampling is. The way you wrote this blog post sounded so well thought out and planned. I liked your reference to Who Gon Stop Me, for one I love the song, but it was also a good example of how sampling of a song can be altered.
ReplyDeleteSampling is my favorite aspect of hip-hop. It turns it into another feeling, it keeps you in the mood you intend to be in. It almost makes hip hop into a pop song.
ReplyDeleteSampling is very prevalent in today's hip-hop. There are producers who don't even make songs unless there is sampling involved. I would have like to see more on current producers and what types of music they sample to make a beat. I did like how you indicated bridging gaps between multiple genres through sampling.
ReplyDeleteI like how you mentioned the song "I can't stop" by flux pavilion. Normally when people think of hip hop samples, they don't mention EDM or the EDM community. I feel like present day hip hop draws a lot of samples from different genres and that's what makes it very enjoyable (the fact that it appeals to lots of peoples)
ReplyDeleteGood definition of sampling was used and you were able to fully explain the different types of samples artists use and even how much they can change it to make it their own sound (pitch, speed etc.) I wish there were some audio examples instead of just you talking about the examples but I thought you did a great job at highlighting how EDM music has been sampled in hip hop because many EDM artists have infused rap into their music to generate a "Trap" sound. It was a good idea to show how EDM has been infused in rap as well.
ReplyDeleteWho gon stop me is a great song to pick when talking about sampling.. I also like how you included EDM music like flux pavilion. I looked at the song and I can see what you are talking about. Rap really has been infused into other music like that.
ReplyDeleteOne could argue that sampling is what started hip hop, most of the first beats made were just loops of sampled drum tracks. Today I don't think it's as common as it once was, but it's still an extremely important part of the genre. Thank you for using Kanye West as your example, I think he's one of the best producers, who always knows the best songs to sample
ReplyDelete"Who Gon Stop Me" is one of the first songs that comes to my mind when I think of modern day songs that contain sampling. Sampling benefits both the hip hop artist and the artist of the song the hip-hop artist used in their song. It encourages people to look up and listen to the song, for example "I Can't Stop."
ReplyDeleteI liked that you used “Who Gon Stop Me” by Jay-Z and Kanye West. I love that song and you showed interesting observations of the growing crossover of dubstep and hip- hop.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you talked about "Who Gon Stop Me" by Jay-Z and Kanye West as an example of sampling. It is a perfect example of this technique in a song that became pretty mainstream and popular.
ReplyDeleteI think you portrayed sampling in hip-hop pretty accurately. I definitely like how you gave examples that spanned different eras in hip-hop. I think sampling has a positive effect on hip-hop, as it can introduce people that are fans of different genres to hip-hop.
ReplyDeleteI think sampling is a very important part of the hip-hop industry and you explained it really well especially through your example songs. I feel that sampling allows artists to associate with other types of music and makes the listening much more different and enjoyable!
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