Sampled: The Originals Behind Iconic Hits
Some tracks shaped the world as we know it, becoming anthems that defined generations and movements. Others, buried in the dust of forgotten vinyl, remain hidden treasures waiting to be rediscovered. Together, they form a mosaic of sound—each note and lyric a piece of the puzzle that unlocks the story of music’s past. And within these echoes lie the keys to shaping its future, inspiring the next wave of creators and listeners alike.
Sampling came from necessity. In New York City’s South Bronx of the 1970s, where money was tight and instruments were few, DJs and artists turned to the records they had. They found gold in the grooves—drum breaks, basslines, melodies that spoke louder than their surroundings. A culture was born not from stealing but from survival. And with it, a new art form: hip-hop.
One of the earliest pioneers, DJ Grandmaster Flash, would mark his records with crayons to identify the perfect “breaks”—those magical seconds of rhythm that could keep a crowd moving. This technique gave birth to breakbeat DJing, a cornerstone of hip-hop’s rise. Around the same time, producers like Rick Rubin championed the drumbeat as the heartbeat of rap. He often referenced foundational tracks like Run-D.M.C.’s “Sucker M.C.’s”—a minimalist masterpiece that stripped music to its raw essentials and made the beat the star of the show.
At its core, sampling is rebellion. It’s a way of taking what exists and flipping it into something fresh. A bassline from CHIC, a drum break from The Winstons, or a hook from James Brown became building blocks for an entire generation to create their own sound. Sampling is transformation, storytelling, and daring to hear something that others don’t.
We’ve gone deep into the record crates for this playlist. Some of these tracks you’ll recognize instantly—cultural icons that shaped the soundtrack of the past fifty years. Others are hidden gems, their brilliance revealed only when you connect the dots between the original and the hits they inspired. Pay attention. This is a journey for curious ears, a testament to the creativity of those who dare to turn fragments into masterpieces.
From the streets of the Bronx to the world stage, sampling grew from an act of survival into the foundation of genres, from hip-hop to house, from pop to electronica. This article peels back the layers to celebrate the originals behind today’s iconic hits—songs that whisper through the decades, reminding us that reinvention is the heartbeat of music.
Welcome to Sampled: The Originals Behind Iconic Hits.
The Blueprint: Foundations of Hip-Hop
Every revolution starts with a spark. For hip-hop, that spark was a beat. Or rather, the beat—pulled from the grooves of old records, looped, chopped, and flipped into an unstoppable force. These were hip-hop’s blueprints.
Before hip-hop, the idea of playing two records simultaneously was unthinkable. But in the 1970s, DJs in the Bronx had a problem: once a record’s best section—its break—ended, the party’s energy faded. Enter the innovation of the two-turntable setup. By seamlessly switching between two copies of the same record, DJs like DJ Kool Herc created an infinite loop of rhythm. Suddenly, the best part of a song became the whole track. This was revolutionary. Two turntables gave birth to an entirely new art form. DJs became musical architects, building layers of sound live. They were creating a foundation for something no one had ever heard before.
Picture this: a crowded Bronx party, a DJ perched over two turntables, a crayon-marked record spinning under his hands. The beat drops—James Brown’s drummer, Clyde Stubblefield, delivering that immortal groove from “Funky Drummer.” The room ignites. People move like they’re part of the rhythm, stitched into the beat itself. This is where it all began. These beats—lifted from funk, soul, and rock records—became the soundtrack to a generation that had nothing else to make music with. The Winstons’ “Amen Brother”, with its now-legendary Amen break, broke boundaries. That seven-second drum solo traveled from block parties to global stages, leaving its mark on everything from N.W.A. to The Prodigy.
Then there’s CHIC’s “Good Times.” That bassline defined disco and launched hip-hop’s first crossover hit, Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight.” Or Incredible Bongo Band’s “Apache”, dubbed the “national anthem of hip-hop,” sampled by legends like Kool Herc and Missy Elliott. This was proof that creativity can and does usually rise from limitation. But sampling was never about copying; it was creative alchemy. Sampling is the magic of taking something old and turning it into something the world’s never heard before. Like Bruce Hornsby’s “The Way It Is”—a reflective piano riff transformed into 2Pac’s anthem of change. Or the cinematic sweep of Isaac Hayes’ “Walk On By”, reborn as the raw emotion in Wu-Tang Clan’s “I Can’t Go to Sleep.”
These songs were the genesis of hip-hop. They were built upon, expanded, celebrated. They became the skeleton keys to a genre that refused to be ignored. And they still echo today, like voices calling out through time: Listen. Sample. Create.
James Brown – Funky Drummer
No song has left a mark on modern music quite like James Brown’s “Funky Drummer.” Clyde Stubblefield’s drum break is the most sampled beat in history, pulsing through the DNA of hip-hop, pop, R&B, and even TV soundtracks. From Public Enemy rallying the streets to Ed Sheeran crooning heartfelt ballads, these artists all owe a piece of their legacy to this immortal groove. Below is just a glimpse of the songs that have transformed this iconic rhythm into something fresh and unforgettable.
Above, you’ll find a carefully curated playlist featuring over 60 tracks that all share a common thread: the iconic drum loop from James Brown’s “Funky Drummer.” Spanning decades and genres, these songs highlight the enduring influence of Clyde Stubblefield’s legendary breakbeat. From hip-hop anthems to unexpected pop hits and even film soundtracks, this playlist is a journey through the rhythms that shaped modern music. Dive in and discover how one drum loop became the heartbeat of countless classics.
The Winstons – Amen Brother
The Amen Break. Seven seconds of rhythm that rewrote music history. Buried in the B-side of The Winstons’ 1969 track “Amen Brother,” this drum loop became a spark for an entire genre: drum and bass. Its relentless energy and unmistakable groove inspired jungle, breakbeat, and countless tracks across hip-hop, electronic, and beyond.
As genres evolved, so did the ways artists reimagined the Amen Break. From UK Apachi & Shy FX’s jungle classic “Original Nuttah” to The Prodigy’s electronic assault “Mindfields,” to modern reinterpretations by artists like Skrillex and Chase & Status, the Amen Break remains an unstoppable force in shaping the music we hear today.
Above, you’ll find a playlist celebrating the Amen Break’s legacy. With over 70 tracks, this collection spans genres and generations, showcasing how a simple loop became the heartbeat of revolutionary sounds. Explore the artistry and hear how one rhythm continues to redefine music.
The Birth of Drum & Bass
While the Amen Break revolutionized countless genres, its most profound impact came in the early 1990s with the birth of drum and bass. Producers in the UK’s underground scene took the relentless energy of the Amen Break and pushed it into overdrive, creating a new sound that was fast, chaotic, and utterly captivating. This was jungle music’s genesis, and drum and bass was its evolution.
Tracks like UK Apachi & Shy FX’s “Original Nuttah” and Dillinja’s “Baby Your” redefined the Amen Break, layering it with rumbling basslines, haunting melodies, and rapid-fire rhythms. The result? A genre that became the heartbeat of rave culture and a symbol of raw creativity. From the streets of London to dancefloors worldwide, the Amen Break found a second home in drum and bass.
Today, its influence echoes in the works of artists like Noisia, Chase & Status, and Etherwood, ensuring that this legendary loop remains as vital and relevant as ever.
Whether you’re a fan of jungle classics or modern DnB anthems, the Amen Break is the unsung hero behind the genre’s rise—and its enduring pulse.
CHIC – Good Times
Few basslines have shaped the sound of music quite like the one in CHIC’s “Good Times.” Released in 1979 at the peak of the disco era, this masterpiece, driven by Bernard Edwards’ grooving bassline and Nile Rodgers’ signature guitar riffs, was a cultural phenomenon. “Good Times” was the soundtrack of liberation and joy for an era craving escape.
But the influence of “Good Times” extended far beyond its disco roots. In the early days of hip-hop, when DJs and MCs were redefining music in real-time, the song’s infectious groove became a cornerstone of the genre’s evolution. In 1979, Sugarhill Gang famously sampled the bassline to create “Rapper’s Delight,” hip-hop’s first crossover hit. This was a transformation—proof of how a single groove could bridge musical worlds.
Over the years, “Good Times” has been sampled, reimagined, and celebrated by countless artists. From Queen’s legendary bass-driven anthem “Another One Bites the Dust” to Grandmaster Flash’s groundbreaking turntablism on “Adventures on the Wheels of Steel,” the DNA of “Good Times” runs deep across genres. Even today, it continues to inspire, with its groove weaving through the works of electronic icons like Daft Punk and pop innovators like Robyn.
Embedded above is a playlist that chronicles the legacy of “Good Times.” From hip-hop’s foundation to modern-day dance classics, this collection celebrates the song’s enduring influence on music. Listen closely, and you’ll hear how this CHIC classic laid the groundwork for decades of innovation and joy.
The Apache Legacy: How Incredible Bongo Band Redefined Sampling
In the pantheon of sampled songs, few tracks hold the cultural weight of Apache by the Incredible Bongo Band. Known as the “national anthem of hip-hop,” this percussive powerhouse has transcended its origins to become a cornerstone of modern music. The breakbeat at its heart is iconic and eternal.
When Apache was first released in 1973, no one could have anticipated its seismic impact. The infectious rhythm, hypnotic bongos, and sharp guitar riff caught the attention of DJs in the burgeoning hip-hop scene, solidifying its place as a staple in block parties across the Bronx. Innovators like DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash used the track to shape the art of turntablism, looping its breakbeat to energize crowds and inspire MCs.
But its influence didn’t stop at hip-hop’s infancy. Artists across decades and genres have tapped into the magic of Apache. From Sugarhill Gang’s playful interpretation to Nas’ introspective bars on Made You Look, Apache has acted as a creative catalyst for reinvention. It’s a toolkit—a sonic playground where new ideas are built upon a foundation of brilliance.
The versatility of Apache lies in its rhythm, a groove so irresistible that it adapts seamlessly to any context. Electronic producers like Switch have flipped it into dancefloor anthems, while experimental artists like Moby have woven it into ambient soundscapes. Its adaptability speaks to the universality of its appeal.
Each artist that taps into its essence contributes to an ongoing conversation about the evolution of music. This playlist captures that dialogue, showcasing the breadth and depth of tracks that have sampled the legendary break. It’s a celebration of how one song has continued to inspire, innovate, and influence over 50 years.
Through its presence in hip-hop, electronic, and pop, Apache has solidified itself as an enduring reminder of the power of rhythm to connect us across time and sound.
Pop’s Borrowed Beats
Sampling may have been born in the Bronx, but its reach extends to arenas and airwaves across the globe. Pop music elevated sampling, turning obscure grooves into platinum-selling hits.
Pop music producers are often curators, pulling threads of rhythm and melody from the past to craft the sound of now. Take Madonna’s “Hung Up,” which flips the iconic ABBA hook from “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” into a dancefloor anthem, seamlessly blending nostalgia with forward momentum. Or Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love,” where The Chi-Lites’ brass riff became the fiery core of a modern classic.
Then there’s Rihanna’s “SOS,” which repurposes Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” for a new generation, layering infectious beats over one of pop’s most recognizable hooks. It’s not just sampling; it’s storytelling—connecting eras, genres, and audiences through sound.
But sampling in pop is about both homage and reinvention. Tracks like Daft Punk’s “One More Time” turned a snippet of Eddie Johns’ disco hit into a global phenomenon. Lizzo infused Lauryn Hill’s essence into “Break Up Twice,” while Lady Gaga pulled disco’s sparkle into the pulsating beats of “Chromatica.”
Above, we’ve curated a playlist that celebrates pop’s love affair with sampling. Unlike the others, this playlist pairs each modern hit with the original track it sampled, letting you hear the evolution of sound side by side. To fully experience the journey from past to present, we recommend listening in order—no shuffling allowed!
Electronic Echoes: Sampling’s Sonic Architects
Sampling is the ghost in the machine, whispering through layers of rhythm and melody. In the hands of electronic music’s pioneers, it becomes more than a tool—it’s the spark of transformation, an infinite loop of reinvention.
For The Prodigy, sampling was a weapon. Their tracks are riots wrapped in rhythm, each one a declaration of sonic anarchy. With “Firestarter,” The Prodigy grabbed a jagged riff from The Breeders’ “S.O.S.” and detonated it, stitching it into a feral anthem of rebellion. “Smack My Bitch Up” layered fragments of Ultramagnetic MC’s “Give the Drummer Some” with Kool & the Gang’s “Funky Man”, creating a kaleidoscope of chaos that felt both dangerous and unstoppable.
And then there’s “Out of Space,” where they warped reality. Max Romeo’s reggae anthem “Chase the Devil” became the heartbeat of a rave revolution, its hypnotic refrain echoing through fluorescent haze and strobe-lit nights. The Prodigy showed the world that sampling was about revolution.
The Chemical Brothers engineer experiences. Their music hits you in the chest and vibrates through your entire body. “Block Rockin’ Beats” pulls its raw energy from Bernard Purdie’s thunderous drumming, while “Setting Sun” channels the fragmented psychedelia of The Beatles into a pounding sonic trip.
But it’s not just about the samples; it’s how they’re transformed. The Chemical Brothers weave rhythm and sound into sprawling, multilayered ecosystems, each track a playground for the mind and body. Listening to them is like walking through a sonic kaleidoscope, with every turn revealing something new and exhilarating.
If sampling is alchemy, Massive Attack are the ultimate sorcerers. Their debut, Blue Lines, birthed the trip-hop genre and carved out a whole new emotional landscape. With “Unfinished Sympathy,” Massive Attack stitched together classical strings and a vocal sample that feels like it’s reaching out to you from another dimension. “Safe from Harm” layers Billy Cobham’s “Stratus” with a driving rhythm, creating a track that’s equal parts intimacy and intensity.
Massive Attack’s genius lies in their ability to tell stories through sampling. Every layer of sound feels like a memory, fragmented yet achingly familiar, pulling you deeper into their cinematic world.
Where others see samples as puzzle pieces, Moby sees them as prayers. His breakthrough album, Play, reimagines forgotten voices from blues and gospel, breathing new life into them with ambient textures and electronic beats. “Natural Blues” takes Vera Hall’s lament in “Trouble So Hard” and transforms it into an ethereal hymn, while “Porcelain” strips everything back, letting a haunting vocal float over sparse instrumentation.
Moby’s work reminds us that sampling can be soulful. His music doesn’t reframes the past, giving those voices a new platform to resonate in the modern world.
Above, we’ve curated a playlist to celebrate these sampling architects. From The Prodigy’s sonic mayhem to Massive Attack’s immersive soundscapes, The Chemical Brothers’ meticulous layering to Moby’s soulful reflections, this collection showcases the power of sampling to create worlds within worlds.
Sampling as Storytelling: The Layers of a Sample
Every sample is a whisper from the past, stitched into the present. It’s a sonic thread that ties generations together, proving that music is never static—it evolves, reinterpreted by those bold enough to see its potential. Sampling represents a core memory. A single beat can carry the weight of a culture, a voice can echo the struggles of a generation, and a melody can become the spine of a new anthem. Sampling, at its core, is storytelling.
Kanye West: Turning Pain into Art
Take Kanye West’s “Through the Wire.” In the aftermath of a near-fatal car accident, Kanye sampled Chaka Khan’s “Through the Fire” to tell his story of survival. The soulful vocal, slowed and pitched to haunting perfection, became a metaphor for resilience, transforming a disco classic into a personal confession.
Nas: Building Bridges Between Eras
Nas, a master of lyrical storytelling, used sampling to amplify his narrative. In “The World Is Yours,” he reimagined Ahmad Jamal’s jazzy piano riff from “I Love Music”, creating a lush soundscape that spoke to ambition and introspection. It wasn’t just a beat—it was a dialogue between the jazz era and hip-hop’s golden age.
Björk: Emotion in Every Echo
Sampling isn’t exclusive to hip-hop. Björk uses it as a way to build surreal, emotional landscapes. In “Hunter,” she layered micro-samples of orchestral swells, creating an otherworldly backdrop that felt deeply intimate. For Björk, every sound is a story, every layer a part of her universe.
A Tribe Called Quest: A Love Letter to Jazz
With “Electric Relaxation,” A Tribe Called Quest paid homage to jazz’s rich legacy, sampling Ronnie Foster’s “Mystic Brew.” They didn’t just loop a riff—they transformed it, crafting a laid-back groove that bridged jazz’s improvisation with hip-hop’s precision. For Tribe, sampling wasn’t just a tool—it was a tribute.
Every sample carries echoes of its origin, breathing life into new stories while preserving the voices of the past. These songs—Kanye’s raw confessional, Nas’s bridge between eras, Björk’s surreal soundscapes, and Tribe’s love letter to jazz—remind us that sampling is a way of saying, “We were here. We mattered. And we’re still listening.” Each video above is a time capsule and a revelation, proof that music can be remembered, reimagined, and reborn with every beat.
Stealing or Revolution? Sampling Under Scrutiny
Art thrives on boundaries—pushing them, breaking them, and redefining them. Sampling, as an art form, lives in that tension. For decades, it’s been heralded as innovation and condemned as theft, sparking debates that go beyond the music itself.
When DJs in the Bronx began looping funk and soul breaks, they weren’t looking for legal precedent—they were creating culture. Sampling wasn’t about stealing; it was about survival. Sampling turned forgotten records into block party anthems and laid the foundation for entire new musical genres. But as hip-hop and electronic music rose to global prominence, so did the question: who owns the music?
The answer wasn’t simple. Sampling turned outlaws into innovators, but it also turned lawyers into gatekeepers. From the courtroom battles of the ’90s to the debates on digital platforms today, sampling has remained a lightning rod for controversy. Yet, through it all, artists continue to sample—transforming fragments of the past into something entirely their own.
It’s not just a debate about legality. It’s a debate about what art owes to its predecessors and what it gives to the future. In the war between innovation and ownership, sampling sits squarely at the crossroads.
Iconic Legal Battles: The Cases That Changed Sampling Forever
Sampling’s story isn’t just written in beats and basslines—it’s etched into courtrooms and legal documents. Behind every hit that flips the past into something fresh lies a battle over who owns the future.
De La Soul vs. The Turtles: The Cost of Borrowing
When De La Soul released 3 Feet High and Rising in 1989, they were hailed as hip-hop innovators. Their kaleidoscopic use of samples—from Steely Dan to Hall & Oates—turned the album into an instant classic. But not everyone was applauding. The Turtles filed a lawsuit, claiming that De La Soul had illegally sampled their song “You Showed Me.” The case settled out of court, but it sent a clear message: sampling could cost more than royalties—it could cost careers.
Biz Markie and the Day Sampling Went to Court
In 1991, Biz Markie’s album I Need a Haircut included the track “Alone Again.” It sampled Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Alone Again (Naturally),” but without permission. The resulting lawsuit, Grand Upright Music vs. Biz Markie, wasn’t just a loss for Biz—it was a seismic shift for the music industry. The judge ruled decisively: sampling without clearance was copyright infringement, famously stating, “Thou shalt not steal.”
The verdict forced record labels to rethink how they handled sampling, introducing the now-standard (and often prohibitively expensive) process of clearing samples before release. What once had been a freewheeling creative playground was suddenly fenced in by legal fees and red tape.
P. Diddy and Sting: The Price of a Hit
Not all sampling controversies end in lawsuits—some result in ongoing royalties that make history. In 1997, P. Diddy released “I’ll Be Missing You”, a tribute to The Notorious B.I.G., which prominently sampled The Police’s “Every Breath You Take.” The problem? Diddy never secured the rights to the sample before release.
While the song became a massive hit, Sting—the song’s original writer—was entitled to all publishing royalties. In a 2019 interview, Sting revealed that he earns around $2,000 a day from the track, calling it “a lovely pension plan.” The case serves as a cautionary tale: even when a sample pays homage, failing to clear it can result in an endless financial obligation.
2024: Sampling Under the Spotlight
In 2024, new lawsuits reminded the industry that sampling remains a legal minefield. Kanye West, also known as Ye, faced a lawsuit alleging unauthorized use of the track “MSD PT2” in his songs “Hurricane” and “Moon” from the 2021 album Donda. The lawsuit, filed by the original creators of the track, accused West of using the composition without permission or compensation, despite crediting them as songwriters and producers.
Similarly, Travis Scott’s Utopia stirred controversy for allegedly sampling DJ Jimi’s 1992 track “Bitches (Reply)”. The plaintiffs claimed Scott used the iconic “alright, alright, alright” vocalization without proper clearance in his songs “Stargazing” and “Til Further Notice.” Scott’s legal team moved to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the phrase was too short to warrant copyright protection, but the case reignited debates over sampling’s boundaries.
Meanwhile, a groundbreaking Supreme Court ruling granted music producer Sherman Nealy the right to pursue damages for Flo Rida’s unauthorized use of “Jam the Box” in the 2008 hit “In the Ayer.” Nealy, who co-founded Music Specialist, Inc. with his business partner Tony Butler (better known as Pretty Tony), claimed that the track was sampled without proper licensing. The Supreme Court’s decision underscored the enduring importance of copyright protection and the legal recourse available to original creators, even years after the alleged infringement.
These high-profile cases reignited discussions about balancing artistic freedom with respect for original creators, emphasizing the necessity for clear legal frameworks in the evolving landscape of music production.
The Legacy of Legal Wars
For some, these lawsuits stifled creativity, turning sampling into a privilege reserved for artists with major-label backing. For others, it was a call to innovate, leading to the rise of producers who could craft sample-like beats without ever touching a record collection.
Today, the echoes of these battles can still be felt. Every time an artist clears a sample, every time a label negotiates rights, they’re navigating the terrain mapped out by Biz Markie, De La Soul, and now the artists embroiled in 2024’s controversies. Sampling might be legally complicated, but its cultural impact remains crystal clear.
The Case for Sampling: Honoring the Past, Creating the Future
To sample is to listen. To listen is to remember. Sampling is the act of taking sound and carrying it forward. It’s the echo of a voice that might otherwise be lost, reimagined for a world that needs it anew.
Every sample is a portal. It pulls us through time, connecting us to moments we’ve never lived but can somehow feel. A drumbeat from the ’70s becomes the heartbeat of a hip-hop anthem in the ’90s. A whispered lyric from a soul ballad finds new life in an electronic odyssey. Sampling is the bridge between eras, between cultures, between stories that demand to be told again and again.
Sampling as High Art
Some artists use samples to sculpt. DJ Shadow’s “Endtroducing…”, the first album composed entirely of samples, turns fragments of forgotten records into a sonic narrative. It’s a journey through crate-digging ephemera, transformed into something haunting and profound.
Then there’s J Dilla’s “Donuts”, a love letter to sound itself. Dilla takes seconds-long snippets and bends them into emotional vignettes, each loop a meditation on life, loss, and joy. It’s sampling alchemy—turning base moments into gold.
Madlib’s “Shades of Blue” reinterprets jazz classics, weaving samples into new compositions that feel like a conversation between generations. His work is a collaboration, treating the original artists not as sources, but as bandmates in a timeless jam session.
Sampling as Storytelling
Samples carry stories. They’re the crackle of a vinyl record spinning in a dusty basement, the voice of an artist long gone but never forgotten. Sampling allows their stories to continue, to merge with new voices and find new audiences.
It’s Nas looping Ahmad Jamal’s piano riff in “The World Is Yours” to turn introspection into a hip-hop manifesto. It’s Beyoncé’s interpolation of Chi-Lites brass in “Crazy in Love,” connecting the swagger of soul to the strut of modern pop. It’s Moby, resurrecting Vera Hall’s gospel lament in “Natural Blues,” giving her a new congregation decades after her voice was silenced.
Reinvention and Rebirth
Sampling revives and reinvents. A sample is a new beginning. It’s the challenge to hear something new in the familiar, to take what’s old and make it immortal. When Kanye West flips a soul sample, when Massive Attack layers dub textures into trip-hop, when Daft Punk filters disco into futuristic grooves, they’re rewriting the DNA of music.
To sample is to honor what came before while daring to create something the world has never heard.
Sampling has been called theft. It’s been called innovation. But above all, it’s art. It’s a dialogue between the past and the future, proof that creativity doesn’t exist in isolation. Creativity is buildt on the foundations of what came before, remixing and reshaping it into a future that resonates.
Every sample is a heartbeat—syncopated, recycled, and endlessly new. To sample is to say, “I hear you. I remember you. And I will not let you be forgotten.”
Sampling and Visual Media: Beyond the Beat
In the right hands, a sample is seen, felt, and lived. Sampling’s power to evoke memory and emotion transcends music, seeping into the worlds of film, television, and advertising, where sound becomes a storyteller’s secret weapon.
Film: Scoring Emotion
Sampling has become a cinematic tool, layering scenes with a texture that’s both familiar and fresh. Think of Quentin Tarantino, whose use of sampled soundtracks turns every frame into a love letter to the past. In Pulp Fiction, the surf rock of Dick Dale’s “Misirlou” is the adrenaline that fuels the film’s non-linear chaos. Tarantino’s genius lies in his ability to sample genres, moods, and eras, remixing them into something uniquely his own.
Consider American Psycho, where Huey Lewis and the News’ “Hip To Be Square” underscores one of cinema’s most chillingly ironic scenes. The cheerful, almost clinical tone of the song becomes a haunting counterpoint to Patrick Bateman’s meticulously orchestrated chaos. In this context, the track becomes a character in its own right, embodying Bateman’s veneer of normalcy and his unraveling psyche.
It’s not just directors who sample—composers do it too. Hans Zimmer’s score for Inception takes Edith Piaf’s “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” and stretches it into a sonic motif that blurs time and reality. The result? A sample that isn’t just part of the soundtrack—it’s part of the story.
Television: Setting the Tone
In television, sampled tracks anchor moments in our collective consciousness. Take Stranger Things, where the synthesized echoes of ’80s soundtracks create a nostalgic yet haunting atmosphere. The show’s use of samples and inspired compositions reclaims a bygone era and gives it a new edge, embedding the audience in both the past and the unknown.
Or consider Mad Men, where tracks like The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” are used as commentary on Don Draper’s existential journey. Sampling here becomes a dialogue between visuals and sound, enriching the narrative and the characters.
Another notable instance is the use of Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek” in the season 2 finale of The O.C. The haunting, ethereal quality of the song underscores a climactic scene, amplifying the emotional weight and leaving a lasting impression on viewers. This moment became so iconic that it was later parodied on Saturday Night Live, cementing its place in pop culture history.
Advertising: Selling with Sound
In advertising, sampling is about memory. A well-chosen music supervised sample can turn a 30-second spot into an emotional hook, connecting brands to audiences through sound that feels personal, timeless, and resonant.
One of the most iconic examples is Nike’s 1987 campaign, which boldly sampled The Beatles’ “Revolution.” It was a statement. By borrowing the energy and rebellion of the track, Nike positioned themselves as a brand for change-makers and trailblazers. The ad made waves, not just for its creative genius but for its legal controversy, as it marked one of the earliest cases of sampling in advertising.
Apple has masterfully utilized sampling to create memorable advertising campaigns. Their early 2000s iPod commercials, known as the “Silhouette” series, featured silhouetted dancers against vibrant backgrounds, grooving to tracks like Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl.” These ads didn’t just showcase a product; they sold a lifestyle, intertwining music and technology in a way that resonated deeply with audiences.
Then there’s Levi’s, whose 1991 ad campaign for 501 jeans brought Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman” back into the spotlight. The ad didn’t just sell jeans—it sold an ideal of rugged romance, blending nostalgia with aspiration. Sampling in this context wasn’t about reworking the past—it was about celebrating it, aligning Levi’s timeless appeal with a timeless track.
Even beer brands like Guinness have embraced sampling’s storytelling power. Their “Surfer” ad, widely regarded as one of the greatest commercials of all time, featured Leftfield’s “Phat Planet.” The pulsing, primal beat of the track mirrored the intensity of the visuals, turning a simple story of surfers chasing waves into a meditation on determination and reward.
These examples show that sampling in advertising is both a creative choice and a strategic one. It taps into the cultural consciousness, linking brands to moments and memories that transcend the products they’re selling. At RIOT, we understand this power, using sound and music supervision as a tool to craft campaigns that stick, inspire, and connect. At RIOT, we know that every frame deserves a soundtrack that resonates, weaving sound and vision into an experience that stays with you long after the screen fades to black.
The Future of Sampling: The Tools of Transformation
Behind every iconic sample lies a tool—a piece of technology that turns sound into magic. Sampling has always been a marriage of creativity and machinery, with each era defined by its innovations. From clunky tape reels to sleek software interfaces, the tools have changed, but the spirit remains the same: to transform sound into something entirely new.
The Tape Era: Birth of the Loop
Before samplers and software, there was tape. In dimly lit studios filled with reel-to-reel machines, a handful of pioneers discovered that sound could be manipulated, stretched, and transformed into something entirely new.
The Beatles were at the forefront of this revolution. While recording Revolver in 1966, they delved into tape loops with a playful curiosity that yielded groundbreaking results. Songs like “Tomorrow Never Knows” transformed the mundane into the otherworldly. By physically cutting and splicing loops of tape, they layered reversed guitar riffs, seagull-like cries, and hypnotic rhythms into a soundscape that defied the era’s limitations. The result was the birth of sonic storytelling.
Artists like Pierre Schaeffer in the musique concrète movement had already been experimenting with tape manipulation in the 1940s, turning everyday sounds into surreal compositions. But with the Beatles’ mainstream success, tape loops became an artistic tool embraced by rock, soul, and eventually, hip-hop.
In the early days of DJ culture, innovators like Grandmaster Flash and Kool Herc adapted these looping techniques for the turntable. The “pause button” tape loop—where DJs would record sections of vinyl onto tape and splice them manually—laid the foundation for live sampling. It wasn’t perfect, but it was raw, real, and undeniably revolutionary.
The tape era reminds us that sampling didn’t start with machines—it started with hands, scissors, and magnetic reels. It was analog ingenuity, a precursor to the digital precision we take for granted today.
The Digital Revolution: Sampling Meets Technology
If tape loops were the dawn of sampling, the digital revolution was its sunrise. With the rise of MIDI and affordable hardware, sampling evolved from a labor-intensive process into a playground for innovation. The sound of the future was stored not on reels, but on floppy disks.
In the mid-1980s, devices like the Akai S900 and E-mu SP-1200 changed the game. The Akai S900 was one of the first samplers to offer a user-friendly interface and pitch-shifting capabilities, making it a favorite among producers. But it was the SP-1200 that became the centerpiece of golden-age hip-hop. Its gritty 12-bit sound and limited sample time forced producers to be resourceful, chopping and looping in ways that defined the genre’s raw, punchy aesthetic.
Meanwhile, the Atari ST, with its built-in MIDI ports, became a secret weapon for sequencing. Paired with samplers, it allowed producers to create intricate, multi-layered tracks with a precision that analog setups couldn’t match. This combination of tools birthed the soundscapes of artists like Public Enemy, whose dense, sample-packed productions set new standards for creativity.
But all of this innovation relied on one critical resource: the floppy disk. In an era before massive hard drives, producers carried boxes of disks filled with kick drums, snare hits, and chopped loops. A good sample collection wasn’t just a toolbox—it was a treasure chest. Producers like J Dilla and Pete Rock were known for their meticulous libraries, curating sounds that would become the backbone of their iconic tracks.
The digital revolution democratized sampling. Suddenly, you didn’t need a studio full of tape machines to create magic. All you needed was a sampler, a sequencer, and a stack of floppies. This era wasn’t just about technological progress—it was about empowerment, giving a new generation of creators the tools to tell their stories.
The MPC Era: Sampling as an Instrument
By the late 1980s, sampling had become an instrument. And no machine embodied this shift more than the Akai MPC. With its tactile pads and intuitive workflow, the MPC transformed producers into performers, making the art of sampling as expressive as playing a guitar or piano.
Created by Roger Linn, the mind behind the LinnDrum, the Akai MPC60 debuted in 1988 and changed music forever. Unlike its predecessors, the MPC combined sampling and sequencing into one machine, allowing producers to chop, loop, and arrange tracks on the fly. Its successor, the MPC3000, became the heartbeat of 1990s hip-hop, used by legends like Dr. Dre, DJ Premier, and RZA to craft beats that would define the genre.
But it wasn’t just about hip-hop. The MPC found its way into countless genres, from electronic music to pop, becoming a staple in studios worldwide. For producers like J Dilla, the MPC was a canvas. On albums like “Donuts”, Dilla used the MPC to create intricate, off-kilter rhythms that felt human, even soulful. His technique of playing the pads live, without quantization, gave his beats an organic swing that became his signature.
The MPC was a revolution. For the first time, producers could take snippets of existing songs and reimagine them in real time, creating something entirely new. It turned sampling into a performance art, bridging the gap between producer and musician.
Even today, the legacy of the MPC lives on. Modern iterations like the MPC Live and MPC One continue to inspire a new generation of beatmakers, proving that even in a world of software and AI, there’s something timeless about the tactile, hands-on approach to sampling. The MPC was a movement, one that turned beats into stories and producers into storytellers.
The DAW Explosion: Sampling Goes Software
By the early 2000s, sampling made a leap from the tactile to the virtual. Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) turned computers into studios, giving producers an unprecedented level of control and creativity. Sampling wasn’t just a feature anymore—it became the foundation of a new era of music production.
FL Studio: The Gateway to Creativity
For countless producers, FL Studio was the spark that ignited their journey. Originally released as FruityLoops in the late 1990s, this software offered an intuitive interface that made beat-making accessible to anyone with a computer. Its drag-and-drop simplicity, coupled with powerful sampling tools like Edison and SliceX, allowed bedroom producers to chop and manipulate samples with ease.
Artists like Soulja Boy used FL Studio to craft chart-topping hits, proving that you didn’t need a big studio to make big moves. The software’s affordability and flexibility democratized sampling, inspiring a generation to explore sound design and production from their laptops.
Reason: The Modular Playground
Where FL Studio prioritized simplicity, Reason catered to those who wanted to dive deeper. Released in 2000 by Propellerhead Software, Reason recreated the physical experience of a hardware studio within a digital environment. Its rack-mounted virtual instruments and samplers, like the NN-XT, allowed producers to build intricate, sample-based compositions while experimenting with modular setups.
Reason’s visual interface, complete with patch cables and customizable racks, appealed to tinkerers and sound designers. For producers like Grimes, Reason became a playground for creating lush, sample-heavy soundscapes that blurred genre lines.
Ableton Live: Redefining Sampling
Then came Ableton Live, the tool that took sampling to another level. First released in 2001, Ableton bridged the gap between studio production and live performance, offering unmatched versatility. Its Warp feature allowed producers to time-stretch and pitch-shift samples in real-time, opening up endless creative possibilities.
For electronic acts like Daft Punk and Flying Lotus, Ableton became the backbone of their workflow, enabling them to seamlessly blend samples into their performances. Its sampler plugins, like Simpler and Sampler, made chopping and reimagining audio intuitive and powerful.
Today, Ableton Live is the gold standard for sampling in both studio and live settings. Its integration with hardware like Push further cements its role as a tool for creative freedom. Ableton didn’t just embrace sampling—it redefined it for the digital age.
The DAW explosion marked a turning point for sampling, shifting it from niche craft to mainstream art form. With tools like FL Studio, Reason, and Ableton Live, the power to sample is now in everyone’s hands—proof that innovation doesn’t just break barriers; it builds new worlds.
AI and the Future of Sampling: Redefining Creativity
With the rise of artificial intelligence, sampling is entering a new dimension, where creativity is no longer bound by the limits of human capability.
At the forefront of this revolution are AI-driven tools like lalal.ai, which allows producers to extract stems—vocals, drums, basslines—from full tracks with uncanny precision. What once required hours of manual labor can now be done in minutes, giving artists the ability to isolate and manipulate elements from virtually any song. This is powerful, placing an entire world of sound at a producer’s fingertips.
AI platforms like Splice are also reshaping the sampling landscape, offering vast libraries of royalty-free sounds tailored to every genre. Meanwhile, machine learning algorithms are enabling tools like Google’s Magenta to generate entirely new melodies and rhythms inspired by existing music, blurring the line between sampling and composition.
The Creative Frontier
With AI, the possibilities for sampling are limitless. Imagine generating a sample that mimics the texture of a vintage vinyl recording but with notes that have never been played. Picture creating a symphony of sounds where every element is derived from a single stem, deconstructed and rebuilt through neural networks. AI rewrites the rules of what’s possible.
For live performers, AI tools like Endlesss allow real-time collaboration and remixing, turning sampling into an interactive, communal art form. The future is about creating samples on the fly, responding to the energy of the moment with infinite flexibility.
Challenges and Ethics
But with great power comes complexity. As AI tools make it easier to sample anything, the lines between homage and infringement become increasingly blurred. Who owns a sample created by an algorithm? How do we credit inspiration when the source material is reimagined beyond recognition? These questions challenge the very foundations of copyright law, forcing the industry to rethink what it means to create—and to own—music.
Despite these challenges, the spirit of sampling endures: to honor the past while pushing music forward. Whether it’s a drum loop from the 1970s or an AI-generated vocal melody, sampling remains an art of reinvention, a reminder that music is a living, breathing dialogue across time. AI is not the end of sampling—it’s a chance to explore sound in ways that were once unimaginable, to bring voices from the past into harmony with the future. In the hands of artists, these tools are invitations to dream bigger, to create boldly, and to remind the world that sampling is, and always will be, an art of endless reinvention.
Sampling: The Art That Never Ends
From the crackle of vinyl to the hum of neural networks, sampling has been the thread that weaves music’s past into its future. It’s a language spoken by crate-diggers and coders, by pioneers and dreamers, by anyone who dares to hear possibility in what others might overlook. Sampling is culture. It’s connection. It’s art.
As we’ve explored, sampling began with necessity and grew into a revolution. It evolved with the tools of the times, from reel-to-reel machines to MPCs, from floppy disks to DAWs, and now into the boundless realm of AI. Each innovation carried the same spirit: to transform sound into stories, to remix what was into what could be. At RIOT, we share this same ethos. Like sampling, our work is about reimagining the familiar and creating something unexpected. Whether we’re crafting immersive campaigns, producing unforgettable visuals, or weaving soundscapes that resonate, we draw inspiration from the art of transformation. Sampling is part of our creative DNA and a reflection of how we see the world: as a canvas for endless reinvention.
Now, it’s your turn. Dive into the playlists and videos we’ve curated, tracing the lineage of iconic samples and the tracks they inspired. Discover how a single drumbeat or bassline can ripple across decades, shaping genres and sparking movements. Let this journey deepen your appreciation for the craft, the creativity, and the courage it takes to sample, to remix, to create.
Because in the end, sampling is the heartbeat of music; the pulse of culture itself. And it’s still beating.
