Rap: The Samples

 Here are some files for you to download and listen to. I believe these are all songs you will be interested in listening to and doing so will help you gain a greater understanding of the information contained on this website.

All these files are short clips of around 30 to 60 seconds each in Ogg Vorbis format.

"Who the hell is Ogg Vorbis when he's at home?" I hear you ask. An ogg file is simply an alterative to a mp3 file. Both formats offer almost equal quality sound with a small file size with ogg being slightly better than mp3. However, the main advantage of ogg is that unlike mp3, it doesn't have patent restristrictions that make it difficult for me to use it. You should be able to play ogg files with any player that can play mp3 files.

Who's been sampling whom? - The Breaks.

First up, here are some examples of hip hop songs sampling songs from other genres. By no means is this list complete. However, I believe there is a good selection here...

•   "Impeach the President" by the Honey Drippers.

  The drums of the intro to this 1973 record is one of the most used breaks in hip hop. Sampled by...

  1. De La Soul on their 1991 hit "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" from their album "De La Sould is Dead"
  2. N.W.A on 1988's "Gangsta Gangsta" off the album "Straight Outta Compton" and also "The Days of Way Back" from their 1991 album "Niggaz4Life"
  3. Nas on "I Can" (More info coming soon)
  4. 28 Days, this break also made its way into rock music when 28 Days used it on "Rip It Up". On this song the sample was sped up quite a bit but is still unmistakably the "Impeach the President" break.

   

•   "Trans-Europe Express" by Kraftwerk

  This German pioneering synthesiser group can lay claim to inspiring countless electro acts in North America. This song from the 1977 album of the same name was sampled by Afrika Bambaataa in 1982 with his now classic "Planet Rock".

•  "Funky Worm" by the Ohio Players

  This 1972 record is another much used break. Sampled by..

  1. N.W.A in a couple of their songs with 1988's "Gangsta Gangsta" and from 1987, "Dopeman".
  2. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince in "Boom! Shake the Room" There has been some renewed interest in this song due to Will Smith's increased popularity as both a rapper and more importantly an actor.

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•  "Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So)" by The Chi-Lites.

  Think of the horns on "Crazy in Love" by Beyonce and Jay-Z...Need I say more?

•  "The Edge" by David McCallum.

  The star of the 1960's TV show "The Man From U.N.C.L.E" was also a talented musician. This 1968 release was sampled quite memorably by Dr Dre on his song "The Next Episode" featuring Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg from his strangely titled album, "2001" which was actually released in 1999.

•  "Under Pressure" by David Bowie and Queen.

  Ah, the track behind "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice. Also inspiring counless people who were ignorant of hip hop music to hassle Vanilla Ice for "stealing". He still cops flack for this today, over 15 years later!

•   "Take Me To The Mardi Gras" by Bob James.

  Cleverly disguised within Run DMC's "Peter Piper" the first track on their brilliant 1986 album "Raising Hell". Also sampled by the World Class Wrecking Crew in "The Cabbage Patch".

•  "Those Shoes" by the Eagles.

  From their 1979 album "The Long Run", this track was sampled ten years later in 1989 by the Beastie Boys on "High Plains Drifter" from the album "Paul's Boutique".

•   "Unwind Yourself" by Marva Whitney

  This James Brown produced record had a horn section that was sampled by DJ Kool on "Let Me Clear My Throat".