Playlist: Sample Series

A playlist by Fiona McMahon.

Image courtesy of Fiona McMahon.

You know that feeling when you hear a song and can’t place where you’ve heard it before? Sometimes it’s subtle, sometimes it’s blatantly obvious. But you know it’s from somewhere. 

I run into this problem a lot, and it immediately prompts me to delve into research. It’s like an itch I can’t scratch.

To me, sampling translates to pure love. An artist loves a song SO much they can’t help but fuse it with their own. In some cases, isn’t imitation a form of admiration? 

Its roots, like almost all genres of music, come from Jazz. Musicians would replicate licks and melodies from other songs, blending them into their own performance. It added a level of playfulness to the music and crowds loved it. As technology progressed, sampling became easier and Hip Hop became the driving force behind it. DJs would sample classic funk records while MCs rapped over them. At first, some claimed it was “stealing” music, but sampling eventually transformed into a whole new art form. Some artists even got their fame from it, giving us legends like J Dilla, Madlib, DJ Premier, and many others. 

Although it’s credited as the originator of sampling, Hip Hop is not the only genre that thrives off of it. Soul, pop, and rock have used samples, borrowing melodies and beats from other music. Here is a playlist with a few other examples of sampling, expanding into other genres, moods, and eras. I hope you share the same excitement of hearing an oddly familiar song.