The Sanctity of Sampling

I was a late bloomer during the spring growth of Hip Hop. Born in the 80s, I had the perfect opportunity to see the growth and development of Hip Hop in the early 90s. A growth fueled by the ruggedness of Wutang, the essence of Pete Rock and the individuality of A Tribe Called Quest. However, I choose to stick with my parents’ tastes, indulging myself in the church with Walter Hawkins and the soulful sounds of Luther Vandross on weekdays. I don’t regret it one bit, however when I began to fall in love with Hip Hop around year 2000, I had to do a bit of studying to understand what it was really about.

Luckily, I had some older cousins who knew the haps (not to mention the graff friends I began to make in high school) who pointed me in the right direction. I spent my lunch hours in ciphers in the snack lines, or watching the B-boys get down in the cafeteria. I loved the community, the battles, the beatboxing… and the beats, oh man, the BEATS! The heart-stopping kicks, funky bass lines, and crisp snares. And then there were the samples…

For the longest time, the MPC programmed drum sounds were foreign to me, but the the samples were something I was familiar with. Dilla pulled them from thin air, Primo chopped them up, and 9th served them with Fruit. The samples came from records I grew up with, the records my parents had at home. I’m talking, Barry White, The Gap Band, Minnie Riperton and Roy Ayers. Oh yeah, Roy Ayers. The samples were my direct connection to Hip Hop. They became my comfort. So naturally when my high school went crazy over Lil Jon, I couldn’t relate. Everything the Dirty South sound had to offer was everything I was unfamiliar with in high school. Synths, yellin, and club life? Essaywhuuman?!!!??!

As copyright holders and songwriters closed their jaws tighter on Hip Hop producers, many have made the transition to fully composing original music. Respect where its due, most of it sounds great, but simply lack that “Hip Hop sound.” This isn’t an essay of protest against the producers and artists who create their hip hop from scratch. More so let this be a declaration of the sanctity of sampling, and that it can never be replaced.

My two cents.

Sampling is to Hip Hop as Electricity is to Metal