The most sampled material in hip hop

[alan nagsworth]

I got to thinking yesterday about what might be the most frequently sampled artist or song in electronic[nb]'electronic' being a catch-all term for yer hip hops and dance musics and all that lark[/nb] music.

If we're going for individual songs, surely UFO by ESG has to be a strong contender. That machine grind at the start has been fucking everywhere in hip hop. It's been looped, chopped, scratched and used as both background noise and as a primary instrument.

As for bands with sample-worthy bars, I'm willing to place money on Sly & The Family Stone being one of the most ripped groups of all time. They've been revamped by the likes of Arrested Development in People Everyday but mostly their work has been straight-up jacked and looped and, in most cases because their music is fucking excellent, it sounds just as great in its new form. The right MC can absolutely devastate, as demonstrated by LL Cool J in the classic Mama Said Knock You Out which samples Sly's Trip To Your Heart.

I was at a friend's house the other week and he was playing the solo work of one of the Public Enemy guys and as soon as one of the tunes started up I instantly recognised the unmistakable and fantastic funk outro of Stand. Every time I hear a Sly tune sampled, it makes me smile, and despite my poor memory, I have heard it occur a fair few times. Hopefully uyou lot can help fill in the puzzle pieces and tell me of some of your favourite Sly samplings.

So, any more? Rack 'em up!

[Hank Venture]

The Amen Break, surely?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac

[Stone Cold Jane Austen]

It's an obvious choice, but my favourite Sly sample would have to be Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation, built around the guitar break from Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).

There are numerous others, fill your boots: http://www.whosampled.com/sampled/Sly%20%26%20the%20Family%20Stone/

[buttgammon]

Loads of James Brown samples have been floated around in hip-hop, particularly the drum bit from his mediocre 'Funky Drummer' and different parts of 'Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud'. Brand Nubian are a bit obsessed with the latter, along with their constant use of Parliament's 'Flash Light'.

[Petey Pate]

James Brown is probably the most sampled artist of all time, with 'Funky Drummer' being his most sampled track.  WhoSampled lists 1789 samples of his songs, which is definitely incomplete.

[NoSleep]

The most sampled song I can think of is Nautilus by Bob James. I chose this one because, unlike Amen Brother or Funky Drummer (or any number of other records regularly sampled) many artists have sampled many different parts of the song. I had the idea of stitching the whole back together by resampling bits from the various records that have sampled this over the years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BP1_1DpeBE

It's fucking awesome, too. Spot all the samples.

[Beep Cleep Chimney]

The most sampled song I can think of is Nautilus by Bob James. I chose this one because, unlike Amen Brother or Funky Drummer (or any number of other records regularly sampled) many artists have sampled many different parts of the song. I had the idea of stitching the whole back together by resampling bits from the various records that have sampled this over the years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BP1_1DpeBE

It's fucking awesome, too. Spot all the samples.

Fucking great tune.  His songs "Take Me To The Mardi Gras" and (the intro from) "Sign Of The Times" have also had their fair share of plunderings from the hip-hop fraternity over the years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hl4UrqgCjQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfzs00EuWMg

EDIT: Plus SURELY The Incredible Bongo Band's version of "Apache" has got to be near the top of the sampling lists.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA_NcXVGBLE

[Absorb the anus burn]

Genius Of Love - Tom Tom Club?

[QtheRaider]

sneakin in the back by tom scott & l.a. express is another one

http://youtu.be/uHrTzqmw6Mo

[Tiny Poster]

It's an obvious choice, but my favourite Sly sample would have to be Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation, built around the guitar break from Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).

There are numerous others, fill your boots: http://www.whosampled.com/sampled/Sly%20%26%20the%20Family%20Stone/

I've always had a soft spot for De La Soul's use of Crossword Puzzle on Say No Go (perfectly matched with Hall & Oates)

[The Masked Unit]

In terms of drum breaks that have been sampled a hell of a lot, this has got to be up there with funky drummer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0_uMSd4xOM

[NoSleep]

Another old hip hop chestnut, mostly because of the opening break and that piano note straight after, but plenty of other tunes have been made from further bits of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0T48Qwn4dA

I'm wondering if TMU might have mistakenly identified the Skull Snaps break on some occasions when it was actually Substitution (I've done the reverse, they sound so similar).

[The Masked Unit]

Yes, you've correctly identified what I've done there Nosleep, well spotted! For the record, Synthetic Substitution is the better break IMO; it's a bit harder and more crisp, and the reverb on the hi hats on Skull snaps break makes it a bit harder to cut up and use for your own dastardly ends.

[Petey Pate]

Who was Melvin Bliss anyway?  There's nowt information about him anywhere.  Was he just one of these dudes that cut one record just for fun and then disappeared into the abyss of an ordinary day job until hip hop came along to give him some significance?

[NoSleep]

...and it's Bernard Purdie featured in Synthetitic Substitution.

Yes, you've correctly identified what I've done there Nosleep, well spotted! For the record, Synthetic Substitution is the better break IMO; it's a bit harder and more crisp, and the reverb on the hi hats on Skull snaps break makes it a bit harder to cut up and use for your own dastardly ends.

...and it's Bernard Purdie featured in Synthetitic Substitution.

Who was Melvin Bliss anyway?  There's nowt information about him anywhere.  Was he just one of these dudes that cut one record just for fun and then disappeared into the abyss of an ordinary day job until hip hop came along to give him some significance?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B90nUqlJM0s

Sadly, Melvin died shortly after the above interview.

[Petey Pate]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B90nUqlJM0s

Sadly, Melvin died shortly after the above interview.

Thanks for that. Sad to learn that he never received any royalties or even a "thank you". Clyde Stubberfield (James Brown's drummer on 'Cold Sweat' and 'Funky Drummer') made similar remarks in this documentary about sampling that he features in. As a drummer, he got paid for the time he spent in the recording studio, and nothing else.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsS7F5H2VpM&feature=related

[NoSleep]

People I know, who know Clyde, tell me the one use of Funky Drummer that really bugs him the most is Sinead O'Connor's "I Am Stretched On Yor Grave". I think it's because it's almost just the break backing her voice.

[Petey Pate]

And the fact that it's a song that she didn't write adds to the lack of originality.  It's a lazy example of sampling, there's virtually no alteration to the simple loop.  With Public Enemy say, you get all kinds of subtle tweaks to the 'Funky Drummer' break, with drum machines being layered over the top, extra snares added, compression, e.t.c.  I used to think that 'Rebel Without a Pause' simply took the loop and compressed it, but if you listen to the instrumental you can hear how the beat is varied to avoid repetition. Plus it also of course syncs with the trumpet glissando from The J.B.'s 'The Grunt', another track which has been sampled all over the place, none more lazy than the Black Eyed Peas' atrocious 'Holiday'.

[NoSleep]

I would say more power to Sinead O'Connor for being so direct. You might as well slag anyone who sings a rendition of a traditional song for being unoriginal. I've worked on enough productions to know that it's the easiest thing in the world to put a beat together for a jam, and that elaborate programming does not always represent the best final results. It can actually become a disease. The long and the short of it is; You're nicking bits of somebody else's music to make something that sounds really good to you. It's a kind of Fantasy Football in music. You can spend a week proving how clever you are in the process, or just bash a couple or three beats out in a single day. What is going to matter to most people is what the rapper is going to do on top of that.

Another barefaced steal that worked rather well was Madonna (Justify My Love)

http://youtu.be/Np_Y740aReI

...sampling Public Enemy (Security Of The First World)

http://youtu.be/jJmoTjY04-o

...sampling James Brown (Funky Drummer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNP8tbDMZNE

None of which show signs of being elaborate productions.

Madonna's is simply a loop from PE's together with an improvised vocalisation from her and a simple pad added (probably another one-take improvisation) before adding the lyric.
PE's is a derivation of Funky Drummer using a couple of chops from the break plus an 808 kick.
James Brown's is essentially an improvisation over a riff. The arrangement hasn't even been discussed before the tape starts rolling, as is made clear when he tells the band that they're going to leave the drummer playing on his own after his count and then declares that the piece will be called Funky Drummer.

It probably took less than half a day to put them all together combined.

[Petey Pate]

I would say that there is a distinction to be made between the Madonna track (and Sinead O'Connor's) in that it was a number 1 single intentionally recorded for the charts whereas 'Security of the First World' is really just a throwaway instrumental piece of a filler on the album and the James Brown track was just a jam which happened to be recorded. I agree that the length of time spent on the production of music isn't an indicator of its quality but I still find 'Justify My Love' to be overly derivative and not a good listen. Even if I didn't know the original source material I think I'd still find it dull and repetitive. Different pairs of ears at the end of the day though. 

[NoSleep]

That was a single (triumvirate) example.

There is Prince Paul's production on De La Soul which he has described as almost throwaway in execution. And, the RZA, who probably makes 10 beats in the morning (before breakfast).

[doppelkorn]

I'm going to sling my oar in and say that "aaaah" and "fresh" will be up there with those breaks for sheer number of uses as a scratched sample.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDjBC7HYnrA#t=3m34s

From there

[Nobody Soup]

who coined the phrase "throw your hands in the air and wave them all about like you just don't care."?

[Hank Venture]

Sugarhill Gang in Rapper's Delight? Probably not the first, after a quick Google, but they seem to be the ones popularising it.

[NoSleep]

What? Sampling? There isn't any samples on Rapper's Delight. Just a shit-hot band (featuring Doug Wimbush & Skip McDonald, I believe) playing the Chic riff.

[Nobody Soup]

erk, I think it might just be "throw your hands in the air and wave them like you just don't care." and I've added "all about" as some sort of accidental homage to the hokey cokey.

but yeah, it's not really a sample, just a commonly repeated phrase in a lot of hip hop songs, I think I've even heard it be subverted it's so common.

[Hank Venture]

What? Sampling? There isn't any samples on Rapper's Delight. Just a shit-hot band (featuring Doug Wimbush & Skip McDonald, I believe) playing the Chic riff.

Never said it was, just tried to answer NS' question.

[NoSleep]

Ah... thought you were answering the OP. Now it all makes sense.

I think it was Robocop, anyway.

[Desi Dubs Dallas]

Not the most ubiquitous of sampled records,but an artist often overlooked in the list is Lyn Collins,

Think (About It)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHn48b7iWF0

[Desi Dubs Dallas]

Sugarhill Gang in Rapper's Delight? Probably not the first, after a quick Google, but they seem to be the ones popularising it.

I'd say its very possibly to have been Lovebug Starski,

the original crowd pleaser.Mr Hyde of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde attributes it to him.Given the sugerhill gangs notoriety for plagiarizing its likely they picked it up around the way.