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CULTURE: A Walk Down the History of Sampling in Hip-Hop Music Production

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Hip-hop has always been known for its unique sound and adaptability, partly defined by its use of sampling.

If you're not clear on what sampling is in music, it's essentially when an artist takes snippets of existing music and incorporates them into a new composition, creating something distinctive and relatable.

Sampling first emerged in the late 1970s, as hip-hop DJs began to use two turntables to mix and scratch records; a visual we never bore of.

DJs would isolate instrumental breaks in funk and soul songs and loop them to create new beats. This technique was popularised by DJs such as , , and . It became a central element of hip-hop culture.

As hip-hop moved into the realm of recorded music in the 1980s, producers began to use sampling in their studio productions.

The dawn of the decade saw the rise of '', the first classified hip-hop single to grace the billboard top 40. Sampling Chic's '', 'Rappers Delight' is a perfect examples of taking an existing composition and reusing elements of it to create something new and fresh.

The Beastie Boys' album '' is heralded as a masterpiece in sampling (and something to look out for).

, a production team that worked with Public Enemy, were known for their dense, sample-heavy productions, which often used dozens of samples in a single track. Other producers, such as and , developed reputations for their innovative use of samples, blending disparate sources to create new, textured soundscapes.

As sampling became more prevalent, it also became more controversial. As a result, record labels and artists began to sue hip-hop producers for the unauthorised use of their music, leading to several high-profile legal battles. This led to the development of a sample clearance system, in which producers must seek permission from the copyright holder and pay a fee to use a sample.

The multimillion-dollar lawsuit claims his voice was imitated on the single "" without permission.

Though Gravy did licence the instrumental part of the song, he nor his team gained permission to use or impersonate Astley's voice.

Astley claims that Yung Gravy ruined any future collaborations and projects he had in mind for "Never Gonna Give You Up".

Despite the legal challenges, sampling has remained and will continue to be a fundamental element of hip-hop production. It allows producers to pay homage to the music that has influenced them and create new compositions rooted in past sounds.

What is your favourite sample used in a song?

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CULTURE: A Walk Down the History of Sampling in Hip-Hop Music Production

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Hip-hop has always been known for its unique sound and adaptability, partly defined by its use of sampling. If you're not clear on what sampling is in music, it's essentially when an artist takes snippets of existing music and incorporates them into a new composition, creating something distinctive and relatable.

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bcg. mag • best kanye west samples of his song/productions • playlist 144

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BcG. Mag * Best Kanye West Samples Of His Song/Productions * Playlist 144 by BcG. Mag on Apple Music

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Listen to the BcG. Mag * Best Kanye West Samples Of His Song/Productions * Playlist 144 playlist by BcG. Mag on Apple Music. 69 Songs. Duration: 5 hours, 8 minutes.

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Jay Z's Best Samples by Anthony Adams on Apple Music

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Listen to the Jay Z's Best Samples playlist by Anthony Adams on Apple Music. 30 Songs. Duration: 2 hours, 19 minutes.

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Discover videos related to sample based hip hop albums on Kwai

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De rol van sampling in hiphop vroeger en nu

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De rol van sampling in hiphop vroeger en nu

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Sampling: Its Role In Hip Hop And Its Legacy In Music Production Today

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Sampling has been influential on producer and artist Jason O’Bryan. We dive into its history, its influence on Jason and relevance and legacy

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Wat is de influence van samples op de hiphop industrie

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Wat is de influence van samples op de hiphop industrie

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Arts & Entertainment

Artur Galocha August 24, 2023 at 10:14 a.m. EDT Listen
3 min
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Sometimes you hear a new hip-hop song and think, "I know this song - I've heard these sounds before." You're probably right, because hip-hop music is built on sampling, the process of using existing recorded music to create a sound collage of new music.

Take, for example, this song from "People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm," the 1990 album by A Tribe Called Quest. Listen to the notes at the very end of this preview:

Sound familiar? Now listen to "Walk on the Wild Side," from Lou Reed's second solo album from 1972:

Q-Tip, the main producer for A Tribe Called Quest, borrowed parts of the song and gave it new life.

Technology fueled sampling in the 1980s, but this way of beat-making originated in the 1970s with the break beats of hip-hop pioneers Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash.

50 years of hip-hop: Rappers, DJs and producers share 50 songs they love

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Did you ever love part of a song so much that you never wanted it to end?

Visual representation

of a sound wave

Did you ever love part of a song so much that you never wanted it to end?

Visual representation

of a sound wave

Did you ever love part of a song so much that you never wanted it to end?

Visual representation

of a sound wave

That's how DJs in the Bronx felt in 1973 about percussion sequences, which they called "breaks." So they started repeating those parts in a continuous loop so people could dance to them.

They used one mixer and two turntables each playing a copy of the same record at the same part of the song.

Left

turntable

Right

turntable

Mixer

The crossfader allowed the DJ to play sound from one record at a time.

When it's on the left, you hear sound from the left turntable.

When it's on the right, you hear sound from the right turntable.

Using the crossfader and spinning the record backwards, a technique called breakbeat, creates a loop of the same sound, over and over.

Technology allowed DJs to expand that technique and create the art of sampling, a fundamental part of hip-hop music and culture.

384

That's how DJs in the Bronx felt in 1973 about percussion sequences, which they called "breaks." So they started repeating those parts in a continuous loop so people could dance to them.

They used one mixer and two turntables each playing a copy of the same record at the same part of the song.

Left

turntable

Right

turntable

Mixer

The crossfader allowed the DJ to play sound from one record at a time.

When it's on the left, you hear sound from the left turntable.

When it's on the right, you hear sound from the right turntable.

Using the crossfader and spinning the record backwards, a technique called breakbeat, creates a loop of the same sound, over and over.

Technology allowed DJs to expand that technique and create the art of sampling, a fundamental part of hip-hop music and culture.

That's how DJs in the Bronx felt in 1973 about percussion sequences, which they called "breaks." So they started repeating those parts in a continuous loop so people could dance to them.

They used one mixer and two turntables each playing a copy of the same record at the same part of the song.

Left

turntable

Right

turntable

Mixer

The crossfader allowed the DJ to play sound from one record at a time.

When it's on the right, you hear

sound from the right turntable.

When it's on the left, you hear sound from the left turntable.

Using the crossfader and spinning the record backwards, a technique called breakbeat, creates a loop of the same sound, over and over.

Technology allowed DJs to expand that technique and create the art of sampling, a fundamental part of hip-hop music and culture.

That's how DJs in the Bronx felt in 1973 about percussion sequences, which they called "breaks." So they started repeating those parts in a continuous loop so people could dance to them.

They used one mixer and two turntables each playing a copy of the same record at the same part of the song.

Left

turntable

Right

turntable

Mixer

The crossfader allowed the DJ to play sound from one record at a time.

When it's on the right, you hear

sound from the right turntable.

When it's on the left, you hear sound from the left turntable.

Using the crossfader and spinning the record backwards, a technique called breakbeat, creates a loop of the same sound, over and over.

Technology allowed DJs to expand that technique and create the art of sampling, a fundamental part of hip-hop music and culture.

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A beat to rap to

At the birth of hip-hop in 1973, DJs were the stars, and emcees were entertainers who talked over the beat to rev up the crowd. By the time "Rapper's Delight" became the first rap song to be played on the radio, their roles had evolved and emcees, or rappers, overshadowed DJs.

Hip-hop is turning 50. Here's why this moment matters.

But rappers still needed music. In the late 1970s and early '80s, studio bands did the job. Then producers started using drum machines to make beats that sounded like this:

When DJs and producers had exhausted the limits of turntables, they added echo boxes and synthesizers - anything to produce a new type of sound.

But a technological advance was about to change music production history forever. Electronic samplers, invented in the 1970s, became more affordable in the late 1980s.

Here's how authentic, old-school sampling works. In the era of streaming, using an MP3 and a laptop is an easier - but far less romantic - way to do it.

First, you have to find a good song to sample.

Record stores and fairs are the best places to go "crate digging" to find original sounds in old vinyl records.

Record stores and fairs are the best places to go "crate digging" to find original sounds in old vinyl records.

Record stores and fairs are the best places to go "crate digging" to find original sounds in old vinyl records.

Keep in mind that using any part of a record protected by copyright laws without the permission of the owner is illegal. So if you don't want to pay royalties, look for music that is in the public domain or that has a creative commons license that allows you to use and modify it.

Next, record it in the sampler.

Recording transforms analog music into digital music so you can chop it up and manipulate it

Connected to

the SAMPLER

Turntable

These are

the parts of

the song

you want

to sample

This is the

sound wave

of the entire

song

Samples

are just

small

portions

of it

Kick

drum

Snare

drum

Melody

Hi-Hat

Here we have chopped three percussion sounds to make a drum pattern and a melody that will lead the song.

Next, record it in the sampler.

Recording transforms analog music into digital music so you can chop it up and manipulate it

Connected to

the SAMPLER

Turntable

These are the

parts of the

song you want

to sample

This is the

sound wave

of the entire

song

Samples

are just

small

portions

of it

Kick

drum

Snare

drum

Melody

Hi-Hat

Here we have chopped three percussion sounds to make a drum pattern and a melody that will lead the song.

Next, record it in the sampler.

Recording transforms analog music into digital music so you can chop it up and manipulate it

Connected to

the SAMPLER

Turntable

These are the

parts of the song

you want to sample

This is the sound wave

of the entire song

Samples are

just small

portions of it

Kick

drum

Snare

drum

Melody

Hi-Hat

Here we have chopped three percussion sounds to make a drum pattern and a melody that will lead the song.

Next, record it in the sampler.

Recording transforms analog music into digital music so you can chop it up and manipulate it.

Connected to

the SAMPLER

Turntable

These are the

parts of the song

you want to sample

This is the sound wave

of the entire song

Samples are

just small

portions of it

Kick

drum

Snare

drum

Melody

Hi-Hat

Here we have chopped three percussion sounds to make a drum pattern, and a melody that will lead the song.

Play the sampler like a piano.

You will assign each sound to a pad.

Connected to

the TURNTABLE

Akai MPC 3000 sampler

Samplers allow you

to modify the pitch,

tone and speed

Pads

Snare

drum

Kick

drum

Hi-Hat

Melody

Once each sound is assigned to a pad, you can play the pads as if they are piano keys.

Play the sampler like a piano.

You will assign each sound to a pad.

Connected to

the TURNTABLE

Akai MPC 3000 sampler

Samplers allow you

to modify the pitch,

tone and speed

Pads

Snare

drum

Hi-Hat

Melody

Kick

drum

Once each sound is assigned to a pad, you can play the pads as if they are piano keys.

Play the sampler like a piano.

You will assign each sound to a pad.

Connected to

the TURNTABLE

Akai MPC 3000 sampler

Snare

drum

Samplers allow you

to modify the pitch,

tone and speed

Kick

drum

Hi-Hat

Melody

Pads

Once each sound is assigned to a pad, you can play the pads as if they are piano keys.

Play the sampler like a piano.

You will assign each sound to a pad.

Connected to

the TURNTABLE

Akai MPC 3000 sampler

Snare

drum

Samplers allow you

to modify the pitch,

tone and speed

Kick

drum

Hi-Hat

Melody

Pads

Once each sound is assigned to a pad, you can play the pads as if they are piano keys.

Finally, sequence it.

A sampler allows you to create and repeat patterns of sound, such as these four bars, and play them over and over in a loop.

Each event

triggers a

sound

Bar

1

2

3

4

Kick

Snare

Hi Hat

Melody

LOOP

By repeating different patterns and adding new sounds, you can create the beat for a new song out of parts of old songs.

Finally, sequence it.

A sampler allows you to create and repeat patterns of sound, such as these four bars, and play them over and over in a loop.

Each event

triggers a

sound

Bar

1

2

3

4

Kick

Snare

Hi Hat

Melody

LOOP

By repeating different patterns and adding new sounds, you can create the beat for a new song out of parts of old songs.

Finally, sequence it.

A sampler allows you to create and repeat patterns of sound, such as these four bars, and play them over and over in a loop.

Each event

triggers a sound

Bar

1

2

3

4

Kick

Snare

Hi Hat

Melody

LOOP

By repeating different patterns and adding new sounds, you can create the beat for a new song out of parts of old songs.

Finally, sequence it.

A sampler allows you to create and repeat patterns of sound, such as these four bars, and play them over and over in a loop.

Each event

triggers a sound

Bar

1

2

3

4

Kick

Snare

Hi Hat

Melody

LOOP

By repeating different patterns and adding new sounds, you can create the beat for a new song out of parts of old songs.

The technique and the hip-hop genre evolved in a way that beats were no longer made just to rap over them.

DJ Shadow's "Endtroducing....", an instrumental and conceptual album released in 1996, is recognized by Guinness World Records as the first album ever made entirely from sampled sounds. According to WhoSampled.com, a collaborative website that identifies samples in songs, DJ Shadow used more than 100 samples ranging from 1970s funk, soul and disco recordings, such as this one from Giorgio Moroder's 1972 song "Tears,"

"" which appears in his song, "Organ Donor,"

... to classical tunes and '90s hip-hop. The result is an amazing travel in time through the history of music.

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Hip-hop is not the only genre that uses samples.

Beyoncé's "Renaissance" uses more than 20 samples, according to WhoSampled, and she even had to remove one that was taken from a Kelis song. The song "Safaera" by Bad Bunny contains a sample from Missy Elliot's "Get UR Freak On." Elliot explained some details of her royalties in a 2022 social media back-and-forth with reggaeton artist Joel Muñoz of Jowell & Randy.

So the next time you hear a new song that sounds oddly familiar, see if you can identify elements from past songs that made them memorable to you - and to the artist who sampled them.

50 years of hip-hop: The beats, rhymes and culture

HAND CURATED

View 3 more stories Bonnie Berkowitz contributed to this report.

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'I've heard that sound before!' How sampling influenced hip-hop.

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Hip-hop music is built on sampling, the process of using existing recorded music to create a sound collage of new music.

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Long past the era of crate-digging, producers now have access to an unprecedented wealth of resources to sample from. But where you look will often depend on the type of music you're producing. Many classic hip-hop producers have flipped samples from old funk and soul records, movie soundtracks, and obscure European jazz albums.

As with anything else in life, there's no one "right" way to find hip-hop samples-it's all about experimenting until you find something that works for you. Finding samples is easier than ever but how do you find the best samples for your particular sound?

1. Online Sample Libraries
A sample library is simply an online resource for finding samples and clearing them. We at Tracklib are a widely-used example of an online sample library. We provide a vast catalog of easily clearable samples for you to use. The likes of Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Brockhampton, Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled, and Mary J. Blige have all used the service before.

2. Sample-sharing websites
Some sample-sharing websites provide a vast supply of royalty-free samples for free. These are great resources for young producers looking for samples of all sorts. These can be one-shots (snares, kicks, etc.), melodic samples, or SFX. Examples of these sites include Looperman and Cymatics.

3. SoundCloud and other streaming services
There's no better way to find your sound and pick your samples than to listen to a lot of music. Exploring the unexplored depths of streaming services like Bandcamp, SoundCloud, and Tidal can often yield some amazing samples and new ideas.

However, it's worth noting that this should only serve as inspiration! To sample music, you need to chase down the rightsholders of the song as it's always required to clear your samples.

4. YouTube and other video sites
YouTube and other video sites are another goldmine for rare, high-quality samples. In addition, some of the lesser-known, obscure gems are easily clearable. However, only use this as inspiration! Make sure to properly clear samples before you release your music.

5. Record labels and artist websites
It's always worth digging through the catalogs of lesser-known artists and record labels. If you particularly like their work and negotiate clearance agreements, you could even develop a deeper relationship when it comes to sampling or even collaborating.

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Ultimate Guide to Hip Hop Samples, Beats & Loops (+ Free Samples You Can Use Right Now)

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This guide outlines the crucial tenets and pinpoints the various places to find the best hip hop samples, beats, and loops online.

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The 10 most-used samples in hip hop history - 909originals

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Hip hop and sampling go hand in hand, with many of the genre’s most iconic…

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Today, Vinyl Me, Please is going to be selling three albums - Skull Snaps, Bongo Rock and The Gospel According to Zeus - that are among the most sampled records in the history of rap music. From drum breaks to shouts to basslines, these albums have helped write the history of rap music.

When you're talking about samples, there's one place to go on the internet: Who Sampled, the No. 1 name in breaking down exactly where that part of a song is from originally. So, we're proud to present our bundle of the most sampled albums in history, along with these visualizations of their samples.

In figure one below, we can see that Bongo Rock has been sampled more than 600 times in the last 38 years, which works out to something like 16 songs a year sampling some piece of it.

Here we break down those 604 samples in Bongo Rock further.

Here we have the nearly as sampled Skull Snaps. Gang Starr to Linkin Park to The Prodigy. This one has the range.

Here's the long and winding sampling road of a single track from Skull Snaps, " It's A New Day."

This is where Who Sampled rules extra hard: I'd never have guessed that Bongo Rock actually peaked in the early '90s, but I guess it makes sense because that was really the era of the super hard crate-digging producer.

And finally, we bring you this chart, which shows some of the key samples from Power Of Zeus' " The Sorcerer Of Isis."

Any questions?

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The Most Sampled Albums Of All Time

Check Them Out Here

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Today, Vinyl Me, Please is going to be selling three albums - Skull Snaps, Bongo Rock and The Gospel According to Zeus - that are among the most sampled records in the history of rap music. From drum breaks to shouts to basslines, these albums have helped write the history of rap music.

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50 beste hiphop nummers met soul muziek als sample

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50 beste hiphop nummers met soul muziek als sample

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Over the past few decades, hip hop and soul music have always had a close relationship, with some of the greatest rap producers drawing inspiration from the bygone eras of the '60s and '70s to create new classics.

This fusion of genres has led to some of the most iconic hip hop songs of all time. From the smooth, soulful melodies of artists like Marvin Gaye and Al Green, to the funky grooves of James Brown and Curtis Mayfield, hip hop producers have constantly turned to soul music as a source of inspiration.

On this list we take a look at classic tracks like Common's "Love Is..." and DMX's "No Sunshine" to Wu-Tang Clan's "C.R.E.A.M." and Ice Cube's "It Was a Good Day" to present the 50 best hip hop songs that sample soul music.

50. Drake - "Middle of the Ocean"

Released: November 4, 2022

Producer: Oz, Nik D, Noel Cadastre, Sucuki, LOOF

Samples: "Cry Together" by The O'Jays

49. Elzhi ft. Royce da 5'9″ - "Motown 25"

Released: August 12, 2008

Producer: Black Milk

Samples: "True Love Can Be Beautiful" by The Ruffin Brothers

48. LL Cool J - "Around the Way Girl"

Released: November 20, 1990

Producer: Marley Marl, LL Cool J

Samples: "All Night Long" by Mary Jane Girls

47. The Game - "Dreams"

Released: June 7, 2005

Producer: Kanye West

Samples: "No Money Down" performed by Jerry Butler

46. Project Pat - "I Choose You"

Released: August 6, 2002

Producer: DJ Paul, Juicy J

Samples: "I Choose You" by Willie Hutch

45. Ghostface Killah - "Holla"

Released: April 20, 2004

Producer: Ghostface

Samples: "La La (Means I Love You)" by The Delfonics

44. Nipsey Hussle - "Blue Laces 2"

Released: February 16, 2018

Producer: Rance, Mr. Lee, Mike & Keys

Samples: "Hospital Prelude of Love Theme" by Willie Hutch

43. Capone-N-Noreaga - "Invincible"

Released: November 21, 2000

Producer: DJ Premier

Samples: "Hey Boy Over There" by Jimmie & Vella

42. Little Brother - "Lovin' It"

Released: August 16, 2005

Producer: 9th Wonder

Samples: "One Night Affair" by The Stylistics

41. Kanye West - "Blood on the Leaves"

Released: June 18, 2013

Producer: Kanye West, Hudson Mohawke, Lunice, Carlos Broady (co.), 88-Keys (add.), Mike Dean (add.), Arca (add.)

Samples: "Strange Fruit" by Nina Simone

40. 21 Savage ft. J. Cole - "A Lot"

Released: January 8, 2019

Producer: DJ Dahi, J. White Did It

Samples: "I Love You" by East of Underground

39. Common - "Faithful"

Released: May 24, 2005

Producer: Kanye West

Samples: "Faithful to the End" by D. J. Rogers

38. Wu-Tang Clan - "Tearz"

Released: November 9, 1993

Producer: RZA

Samples: "After Laughter (Comes Tears)" by Wendy Rene

37. Big Daddy Kane - "Ain't No Half-Steppin'"

Released: June 21, 1988

Producer: Marley Marl

Samples: "Blind Alley" by The Emotions

36. 50 Cent - "Ghetto Qur'an (Forgive Me)"

Released: May 21, 2002

Producer: Trackmasters

Samples: "Stop, Look, Listen (to Your Heart)" by Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye

35. 2Pac - "Me Against the World"

Released: March 14, 1995

Producer: Soulshock and Karlin

Samples: "Walk On By" by Isaac Hayes

34. Ghostface Killah - "After The Smoke Is Clear"

Released: October 29, 1996

Producer: RZA

Samples: "After The Smoke Is Clear" by Jimmy Ruffin

33. GZA ft. Ol' Dirty Bastard, Masta Killa & Inspectah Deck - "Duel of the Iron Mic"

Released: November 7, 1995

Producer: RZA

Samples: "I'm Afraid the Masquerade Is Over" by David Porter

32. J Dilla - "Won't Do"

Released: August 22, 2006

Producer: J Dilla

Samples: "Footsteps in the Dark" by The Isley Brothers

31. Jay-Z - "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)"

Released: September 11, 2001

Producer: Kanye West

Samples: "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" by Bobby Blue Bland

30. The Notorious B.I.G. - "Big Poppa"

Released: December 24, 1994

Producer: Chucky Thompson, Sean Combs

Samples: "Between the Sheets" by The Isley Brothers

29. AZ ft. Nas - "Mo Money, Mo Murder"

Released: October 10, 1995

Producer: DR Period

Samples: "Cry Together" by The O'Jays

28. The Diplomats - "I Really Mean It"

Released: March 25, 2003

Producer: Just Blaze

Samples: "I Got Over Love (Live)" by Major Harris

27. Ghostface Killah - "Malcolm"

Released: February 8, 2000

Producer: Choo the Specializt

Samples: "Going in Circles" by Isaac Hayes

26. Nas ft. AZ - "Life's a Bitch"

Released: April 19, 1994

Producer: L.E.S.

Samples: "Yearning for Your Love" by The Gap Band

25. Kendrick Lamar - "The Heart Part 5"

Released: May 8, 2022

Producer: Beach Noise

Samples: "I Want You" by Marvin Gaye

24. Fugees - "Fu-Gee-La"

Released: February 13, 1996

Producer: Salaam Remi

Samples: "Ooo La La La" by Teena Marie

23. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - "Tha Crossroads"

Released: April 23, 1996

Producer: Tim Middleton

Samples: "Make Me Say It Again Girl Part 1 & 2" by The Isley Brothers

22. Blu & Exile - "O Heaven"

Released: September 4, 2012

Producer: Exile

Samples: "How High the Moon" by Ella Fitzgerald

21. Masta Ace - "Good Ol' Love"

Released: August 3, 2004

Producer: 9th Wonder

Samples: "Hospital Prelude of Love Theme" by Willie Hutch

20. Jay-Z - "American Dreamin"

Released: November 6, 2007

Producer: Diddy, Sean C, LV, Mario Winans

Samples: "Soon I'll Be Loving You Again" by Marvin Gaye

19. Kanye West ft. Jamie Foxx - "Gold Digger"

Released: July 5, 2005

Producer: Kanye West, Jon Brion

Samples: "I Got a Woman" by Ray Charles

18. Common - "The Light"

Released: July 18, 2000

Producer: J Dilla

Samples: "Open Your Eyes" by Bobby Caldwell

17. Pete Rock & CL Smooth - "Take You There"

Released: November 8, 1994

Producer: Pete Rock

Samples: "Risin' to the Top" by Keni Burke

16. 2Pac ft. Richie Rich - "Ratha Be Ya Ni**a"

Released: February 13, 1996

Producer: Doug Rasheed

Samples: "I'd Rather Be with You" by Bootsy's Rubber Band

15. Jay Electronica - "Exhibit C"

Released: December 22, 2009

Producer: Just Blaze

Samples: "Cross My Heart" by Billy Stewart

14. Jay-Z - "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)"

Released: July 28, 2001

Producer: Kanye West

Samples: "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5

13. UGK ft. OutKast - "International Players Anthem (I Choose You)"

Released: June 6, 2007

Producer: DJ Paul, Juicy J

Samples: "I Choose You" by Willie Hutch

12. Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg - "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang"

Released: November 19, 1992

Producer: Dr. Dre

Samples: "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You" by Leon Haywood

11. Fugees - "Killing Me Softly"

Released: May 27, 1996

Producer: Fugees

Samples: "Killing Me Softly with His Song" by Roberta Flack

10. Jay-Z & Kanye West - "Otis"

Released: July 20, 2011

Producer: Kanye West

Samples: "Try a Little Tenderness" by Otis Redding

9. The Notorious B.I.G. - "One More Chance / Stay with Me (Remix)"

Released: June 6, 1995

Producer: Sean "Puffy" Combs, Rashad Smith

Samples: "Stay with Me" by DeBarge

8. Common - "Love Is..."

Released: May 24, 2005

Producer: J Dilla

Samples: "God Is Love" by Marvin Gaye

7. DMX - "No Sunshine"

Released: March 13, 2001

Producer: Dame Grease

Samples: "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers

6. Cam'ron ft. Juelz Santana - "Oh Boy"

Released: April 2, 2002

Producer: Just Blaze

Samples: "I'm Going Down" by Rose Royce

5. Wu-Tang Clan - "C.R.E.A.M."

Released: January 31, 1994

Producer: RZA

Samples: "As Long as I've Got You" by The Charmels

4. Mobb Deep - "Drop a Gem on 'Em"

Released: August 25, 1996

Producer: Havoc

Samples: "Can't Help but Love You" by The Whispers

3. Jay-Z - "Song Cry"

Released: September 11, 2001

Producer: Just Blaze

Samples: "Sounds Like a Love Song" by Bobby Glenn

2. Ice Cube - "It Was a Good Day"

Released: February 23, 1993

Producer: DJ Pooh

Samples: "Footsteps in the Dark" by The Isley Brothers

1. Mos Def - "Ms. Fat Booty"

Released: August 2, 1999

Producer: Ayatollah

Samples: "One Step Ahead" by Aretha Franklin

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The 50 Best Hip Hop Songs that Sample Soul Music - Beats, Rhymes and Lists

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From Common's "Love Is..." to Wu-Tang Clan's "C.R.E.A.M." and Ice Cube's "It Was a Good Day," these are the 50 best hip hop songs that sample soul music.

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20 tracks die de sample muziek hebben gevormd

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20 tracks die de sample muziek hebben gevormd

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Emerging in the mid-70s and blooming spectacularly in the 80s, hip-hop has been built on sampling, with its producers seeking to inject some old-school grooves into their future-shaping tracks. The Godfather Of Soul, James Brown, was a bedrock of early hip-hop, but so was the Blue Note catalogue. Some groups - most notably A Tribe Called Quest, one of hip-hop's biggest jazz-influenced acts - particularly liked some of the iconic jazz label's more overtly funk-influenced recordings of the late 60s and early 70s; their best Blue Note samples included deep grooves by guitarist Grant Green, keyboardist Ronnie Foster, flutist Bobbi Humphrey, singer Marlena Shaw, organist Lonnie Smith, and alto saxophone maestro Lou Donaldson.

Other acts to have found inspiration in the Blue Note discography include some of the biggest names in hip-hop's hallowed pantheon: Public Enemy, Dr Dre, De La Soul, 2Pac, Ice-T, Busta Rhymes, and Beastie Boys.

In hip-hop's early days, sampling was a free-for-all, smash-and-grab situation. Blue Note, however, under the visionary stewardship of the late Bruce Lundvall - who was in charge of the label from 1984-2010 - led the way in legitimizing sampling by inviting London hip-hop group Us3 to access the label's catalogue. The result was their 1992 hit "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)," which was built on a sample of Herbie Hancock's classic track "Cantaloupe Island."

Today, artists such as J Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Flying Lotus, and Kanye West have continued to plunder the Blue Note vaults, ensuring that the best Blue Note samples remain key building blocks in hip-hop's evolution.
Listen to Blue Note's Most Sampled playlist now.
Herbie Hancock: Cantaloupe Island (1964)

London-based group Us3 were the first hip-hop act signed to Blue Note and scored a Top 10 US pop hit, "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)," in 1993, which famously reconfigured the most accessible cut from Hancock's fourth Blue Note album, Empyrean Isles. The group's debut album, Hand On The Torch, featured music that sampled a variety of classic Blue Note recordings.

In 2006, the Hancock original also formed the backbone for a European EDM track called "Blue Note Tribute" by Congaman. As for Herbie Hancock, the website whosampled.com lists him as the third most-sampled jazz musician of all time, which makes the pianist responsible for an astounding amount of the best Blue Note samples to appear on record.

Grant Green: Down Here On The Ground (1970)

Never ones to let a good groove - and a vintage, funky jazz one at that - to go to waste, A Tribe Called Quest were so taken with guitarist Grant Green's live version of "Down Here On The Ground" (co-written by Argentine pianist Lalo Schifrin) that they sampled it on "Vibes And Stuff" from their 1991 LP, The Low End Theory. Green's version had appeared on his 1970 album Alive!, recorded at a venue called The Cliché Lounge in Newark, New Jersey.

The guitarist's jazzed-up version of James Brown's "Ain't It Funky Now," along with "Cantaloupe Woman" and "Sookie Sookie," can also claim a place among the best Blue Note samples, while Green's music continues to find new ears. His 1971 cut "Maybe Tomorrow" was sampled by Kendrick Lamar in 2012 for the track "Sing About Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst."

Ronnie Foster: Mystic Brew (1972)

Given that, in the 70s, Blue Note turned from hard bop to jazz-funk, it's no surprise that the label's 70s discography has been sampled by myriad hip-hop acts. Keyboardist Ronnie Foster's "Mystic Brew," a mellow slow jam taken from his 1972 album Two Headed Freap, was famously repurposed by New York group A Tribe Called Quest for the track "Electric Relaxation" from their 1993 LP, Midnight Marauders. DJ/producer Madlib remixed the track, calling it "Mystic Bounce," on his 2003 Blue Note album Shades Of Blue. More recently, J Cole sampled it for the track "Forbidden Fruit," featuring Kendrick Lamar, on his 2013 album, Born Sinner.

Lou Donaldson: Ode To Billie Joe (1967)

Easily earning his place on the list of best Blue Note samples, this North Carolina-born alto saxophonist is apparently Blue Note's most sampled musician ever (at the last count, his work has been repurposed over 200 times). Donaldson was a leading exponent of soul jazz at Blue Note in the 60s, and his cover of the famous Bobbie Gentry hit from 1967 turned up on his album Mr. Shing-A-Ling later the same year. Kanye West sampled it for his track "Jesus Walks," which appeared on his 2004 debut album, The College Dropout. Eminem followed suit in 2013 (on "Bad Guy" from The Marshall Mathers LP 2) and, more recently, in 2015, Donaldson's greasy soul groove was part of the musical DNA of A$AP Rocky's cut "L$D," from the album At. Long. Last. A$AP. Other Donaldson tunes that jostle for attention among the best Blue Note samples include "Turtle Walk," "Who's Making Love," "Pot Belly," "The Caterpillar" and "Brother Soul." Those who have sampled his work include A Tribe Called Quest, Mary J Blige, Nas, Dr. Dre, De La Soul, and Pete Rock & CL Smooth.

Donald Byrd: Flight-Time (1972)

A noted hard bop trumpeter of the 50s and 60s, Byrd switched to fusion in the early 70s. His biggest album in that vein was 1972's Black Byrd, produced by Larry Mizell. From it came the laidback groove "Flight-Time," which was used by Public Enemy on the title track of their 1990 Def Jam LP, Fear Of A Black Planet. Four years later, Nas built another new track on "Flight-Time": "NY State Of Mind," from the Illmatic album.

Many other Byrd tunes have found their way into an Akai S900 sampler (the affordable bit of hardware that, in the 80s, changed music-making forever), including "Blackjack," "Stepping In Tomorrow," "Think Twice," "Wind Parade" and "Street Lady." Overall, his music has been sampled over 100 times.

Bobby Hutcherson: Ummh (1970)

An atmospheric mid-paced shuffle groove with a strong blues feel, "Ummh" was the killer cut from vibraphonist Hutcherson's 1970 Blue Note album, San Francisco, a collaboration with West Coast tenor saxophonist Harold Land. Ice Cube was the first rapper to sample the tune (on "Ghetto Bird," from his 1993 LP, Lethal Injection). "Ummh" also turned up as part of UK DJ/producer/remixer Photek's "The Rain" and Madonna's "Bedtime Story," both recorded in 1994. Hutcherson's "Goin' Down South" - which also appeared on the San Francisco LP - was used by Us3 as the basis of their track "Lazy Day."

The Three Sounds: Repeat After Me (1969)

This Michigan trio, with Gene Harris on piano, came to epitomize finger-clicking soul jazz in the 50s and 60s. A strutting blues-based cut dominated by Harris' prominent piano, "Repeat After Me" was first sampled by US/Canadian hip-hop trio Main Source for their 1991 cut "Vamos A Rapiar," which appeared on their debut LP, Breaking Atoms. The same Three Sounds track - which originally featured on their 1969 LP, Soul Symphony - ended up inspiring The Coup's "Kill My Landlord" a year later. In 2002, UK jazz-based hip-hop duo The Herbaliser utilized the same sample on "The Turnaround."

Reuben Wilson: We're In Love (1971)

This soul-jazz organ grinder from Mounds, Oklahoma, was one of many Hammond heroes on Blue Note's roster in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Between 1968 and '71, Wilson cut five albums for the label, and "We're In Love" came from his Blue Note swansong, Set Us Free. A dreamy ballad laced with electric sitar, percussion and vocals, it caught the ears of Nas in 1994, who used it on his urban meditation "Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park)." Wilson's original was actually first sampled two years earlier by Scientifik ("I Ain't The Damn One") and, more recently, in 2011, was utilized by Ace Hood on "Forgiv'n." In 2018, the rapper Problem sampled it for his track "Stressin'." Wilson's Blue Note songs "Orange Peel" and "Stormy" also qualify for honorable mention among the best Blue Note samples.

Duke Pearson: Ground Hog (1969)

Pearson's jaunty blues tune, recorded in 1968 for his Blue Note LP Introducing Duke Pearson's Big Band, inspired the "DAISY Age" trio De La Soul's "Long Island Wildin'," featuring Japanese hip-hop artists Scha Dara Parr and Takagi Kan. The track appeared on their 1993 LP, Buhloone Mindstate, and their use of a hard-to-find Duke Pearson extract soon had crate-diggers looking through their Blue Note collections for similar sample fodder.

Jeremy Steig: Howlin' For Judy (1969)

Originally released on the short-lived Solid State label, which in 1970 became part of the Blue Note catalogue, "Howlin' For Judy" came from the Manhattan flutist's fifth LP, Legwork. Steig's wild jazz groove is dominated by intertwining overdubbed flutes and was famously used by Beastie Boys on "Sure Shot" in 1994, though a year earlier DJ Shadow And The Groove Robbers had sampled it on their single "In/Flux." Clockwork Voodoo Freaks (aka The Mexican) also filched it for a track called "Deaf Mick's Throwdown" in 1997.

Ronnie Laws: Tidal Wave (1975)

Beginning as a mellow jam on which tenor sax, electric piano, and astral synths interlock, "Tidal Wave" quickly grows in emotional intensity. The track came from Laws' classic breakthrough debut album, Pressure Sensitive. Those who admired it enough to sample it included Black Moon ("Who Got Da Props," 1993), Quasimoto ("Return Of The Loop Digga," 2000), and Young Lean ("Princess Daisy," 2013).

Eddie Henderson: The Kumquat Kids (1975)

Jazz-fusion trumpeter Henderson (who's also a qualified psychiatrist) made two albums for Blue Note in the mid-70s, the first of which was Sunburst, which contained the super-funky "The Kumquat Kids," distinguished by a squelchy synth bass. It was sampled by British electronica duo Hexstatic on their infectious dance tune "Kids Can Dance," in 2000. Henderson's "Inside You" (from his second Blue Note album, Heritage) also features among the best Blue Note samples, thanks to its use by Jay Z on 1996's "Coming Of Age" and Souls Of Mischief's 1993 cut "Tell Me Who Profits."

Gene Harris And The Three Sounds: Book Of Slim (1968)

A jaunty but graceful tune written and arranged by the estimable Arkansas saxophonist Monk Higgins, "Book Of Slim" came from the album Elegant Soul, attributed to Gene Harris And The Three Sounds (it was the first time that Harris' name received separate billing from the rest of the group). Rapper Guru (one half of Gang Starr) sampled it in 1993 on "Take A Look (At Yourself)," which featured vibes maestro Roy Ayers. Blackalicious ("Lyric Fathom") and The Herbaliser ("Intro") also borrowed it in 1994 and 1999, respectively. Madlib remixed the track on Shades Of Blue, calling it "Slim's Return."

Stanley Turrentine: Sunny (1966)

Noted for his robust tenor saxophone sound, Pittsburgh soul-jazz maven Turrentine has been much-sampled by the hip-hop generation. In 2016 a snippet from his soulful rendition of Bobby Hebb's immortal tune, "Sunny," found its way on to "Foreplay" by California-based MC Jalen Santoy, and, a year later, inspired "Sunny Nights" by young Dallas rapper LeRoyce. J Dilla, J Cole, and Ice Cube are among those who have also sampled Turrentine's music.

Jimmy McGriff: The Worm (1968)

A Blue Note acquisition from the Solid State catalogue, "The Worm" is an infectious slice of soul jazz that was the title track of the Philadelphia organist's 15th LP, featuring trumpeter Blue Mitchell. It's been sampled over 100 times, most notably by the UK dance act The Chemical Brothers (on "Chemical Beats" and "Delek"), Norwegian electro duo Röyksopp ("Remind Me") and Ghostface Killah (on the 2007 Marky & Bungle remix of "Back Like That").

Marlena Shaw: Woman Of The Ghetto (1973)

Only the third singer signed to Blue Note, and the first to record more than one album for the label, Marlena Shaw had recorded a studio version of the anthemic "Woman Of The Ghetto," which she co-wrote, for her 1969 Cadet album The Spice Of Life. But it's her live version for Blue Note (from the Live At Montreux LP) that's seen the most action, sample-wise. UK dance act Blue Boy took a vocal sample from it to create "Remember Me" in 1997; in 2000, French producer St Germain used it on the track "Rose Rouge," taken from his Blue Note album, Tourist. It was also used in 2012 by UK singer-songwriter Daley, who sampled Blue Boy's Shaw sample on his song "Remember Me," featuring Jessie J.

Big John Patton: Alfie's Theme (1968)

Patton's rip-roaring soul jazz organ trio take on Sony Rollins' memorable theme to the 1966 Alfie movie (starring Michael Caine as an endearing love rat) appeared on his eighth Blue Note album, Understanding, released in 1968. London hip-hop act Us3 used a segment of the track for their song "It's Like That," released on Blue Note in 1993. Though he's one of Blue Note's least sampled artists, Patton's tasty version of The Meters' "Cissy Strut" has also been used by Polish rapper OSTR.

Blue Mitchell: Good Humor Man (1968)

Florida horn-blower Blue Mitchell couldn't read music and played trumpet entirely by ear. Rising to fame with The Horace Silver Quintet in the early 60s, he began to make albums under his own name for Blue Note. "Good Humor Man," sampled by the UMCs in 1991 ("One To Grow On"), and Bloodhound Gang in 1995 ("Mama Say"), was taken from a big-band album Mitchell recorded called Heads Up! Another one of Mitchell's Blue Note tunes, "Flat Backing," recorded in 1969, is also worth mentioning as one of the best Blue Note samples, thanks to its use by several hip-hop artists, among them Del The Funky Homosapien.

Lonnie Smith: Spinning Wheel (1970)

A Tribe Called Quest certainly felt that "Spinning Wheel" was one of the best Blue Note samples the label had to offer: they liked this organ-led soul-jazz retread of Blood, Sweat & Tears' 1970 pop-rock hit so much that they used it twice - first in 1990, on their hit "Can I Kick It?," taken from their debut LP, People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm, and then again in 1991 on "Buggin' Out," from The Low End Theory. Smith's Blue Note version of "Spinning Wheel'" also inspired Wu-Tang Clan's "Wu Tang: 7th Chamber," which appeared on that group's 1993 debut album, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Lonnie Smith's music has also been sampled by Nightmares On Wax, Da Youngsta's, and Kase.O.

Bobbi Humphrey: Harlem River Drive (1973)

A classic slice of flute-led jazz-funk produced by the influential Larry Mizell, this cut has been sampled numerous times, most famously, perhaps, by DJ Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince in a 1987 sample collage called "Touch Of Jazz." Others who have lifted it include Common (1992's "Just In The Nick Of Rhyme"), Young MC (the following year's "Back In The Day") and, in more recent times, KD ("Ride Around Town"). Other Humphrey Blue Note recordings that found their way into a sampler include "Blacks And Blues," "Jasper Country Man," "My Little Girl," "Smiling Faces Sometimes" and "San Francisco Lights," the latter used by Flying Lotus on his 2012 track "Until The Colours Come." Humphrey has also been sampled by Eric B & Rakim, Ludacris, Ice-T, and Digable Planets.
Follow the Blue Note's Jazz Meets Hip-Hop playlist for more essential Blue Note.

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Best Blue Note Samples: 20 Tracks That Built Hip-Hop

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Widely used by the best crate-diggers and hip-hop heads, the jazz of Blue Note has been sampled time and time again over the years.

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Kanye West, Late Registration (Voorbeeld 1)

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Kanye West, Late Registration (Voorbeeld 1)

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Late Registration is the second studio album by the American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on August 30, 2005, through Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. West recorded the album over the course of a year during sessions held at studios in Hollywood and New York City, in collaboration with Jon Brion. The album features guest appearances from Adam Levine, Jamie Foxx, Common, Brandy, Jay-Z, and Nas, among others.

West's production for Late Registration departed from the sped-up soul samples of his debut studio album, The College Dropout (2004), moving towards a more elaborate and orchestral style with a 20-piece ensemble. Drawing creative inspiration from alternative acts such as Fiona Apple and Portishead, he experimented with musical shifts, string arrangements, and a variety of instruments not usually associated with hip hop, including a celesta, harpsichord, and Chinese bells. In an effort to write authentic yet relatable lyrics, West engages in storytelling while showcasing his Christian heritage that informed his relationship to the capitalist market economy. He critiques multiple issues, such as institutional racism, higher education, health care, and the blood diamond trade.

A widespread critical success, Late Registration has often been viewed as a progression from The College Dropout and a pivotal release in hip hop. Numerous reviewers praised the former's elegant and ambitious musical direction, while some highlighted West's songwriting and performances for their balance of pop and conscious hip hop sensibilities. It was named to year-end lists for 2005 by multiple publications, such as Rolling Stone, , and . The album led to West receiving eight nominations at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Best Rap Album, winning the latter.

Matching The College Dropout's commercial success, Late Registration debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and sold 860,000 copies in the first week, while reaching the top 10 in nine other countries, including the United Kingdom and Ireland. It eventually sold more than 3,000,000 copies in the US and received a five-times platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), as well as sales certifications in several other territories. Five accompanying singles were released, including the hits " Touch the Sky", " Heard 'Em Say", and " Gold Digger", the latter of which topped the Billboard Hot 100. Music videos for all five singles were produced, while West also promoted the album with the Touch the Sky Tour (2005-06) and his debut live album, Late Orchestration (2006). Since then, Late Registration has frequently appeared on top albums lists, including Rolling Stone's " 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", on which it ranked 117th in 2020.

Late Registration is the second of Kanye West's planned four education-themed studio albums, following the major success of his 2004 debut The College Dropout. The album showcased his signature production style of using sped-up vocal samples from soul records, known as " chipmunk soul". However, because of its success, other hip hop artists widely imitated this sampling style. In response to this, and fearing his own dependence on the technique, West decided to find a new sound and progress in both songwriting and stylistic range. West enlisted the film score composer and record producer Jon Brion for Late Registration, resulting in Brion serving as co-executive producer for several tracks. The rapper heard and liked Brion's score while watching the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and also listened to songs he had produced for the singer-songwriter Fiona Apple's second album, When the Pawn... (1999). Apple was another one of West's favorite acts and sources of musical inspiration for Late Registration, whose direction West described as "that Coldplay, Portishead, Fiona Apple style". Portishead's 1994 album was another reference point for West's direction with the album.

Brion was inexperienced in creating hip hop records when initially collaborating with West, yet the two were able to productively work together after only one afternoon in the studio when they discovered that neither confined his musical knowledge and vision to any specific genre. Discussing Late Registration differing in direction from standard hip hop, Brion said, "There are colors and ideas that make [the album] different from average hip-hop, but Kanye is already different from the average hip-hop guy. He's got this sense of pop record-making which is really solid, and he likes tracks with a lot of things going on in them - which is not necessarily common for hip-hop. He was already barking up that tree."

West spent approximately two million USD to produce Late Registration, recording it in slightly over a year. The majority of the recording sessions for the album took place at Sony Music Studios in New York City and the Record Plant in Hollywood, California; further sessions were held at other Hollywood locations Chalice Recording Studios and Grandmaster Recording Studios. In June 2004, the rapper made plans to begin recording material after finishing his support of R&B singer Usher's Truth Tour. By November, West had completed around 75 percent of the album. However, he felt unsatisfied with the outcome and this led to Brion becoming involved in March 2005, which drastically altered the project's direction.

The album's recording sessions between West and Brion were largely exploratory, as the pair experimented with a broad spectrum of sounds. West would construct a song's basic structure, bringing in a sample, drum beat programming, and occasionally unfinished rap verses. After thinking through what musical direction to take, he would then select from a variety of unique instruments that Brion both provided and played, including drums and strings. With the instruments, West attempted to incorporate a distinctive sound into the song's texture. West envisioned the recording as the creation of a film: visualizing the songs as scenes, outlining each in such a way that they efficiently conveyed their respective social or introspective context, and ensuring all were synchronized within the fabric of the complete set. This sentiment was shared by Brion who said, "He thinks in frequency ranges. I can recognize when someone sees music architecturally, which is how I work. I see it as a spatial thing: left to right, front to back, up and down. It's animated and it's moving in real time. Kanye has that. He tries things out until it fits, until it sits where it is supposed to sit and everything has the correct emotional function."

For Late Registration, West also collaborated with guest artists, whom he selected based on the effect each of their voices had on him upon hearing them. He cited the serene vocals of pop rock band Maroon 5's lead vocalist Adam Levine, the trademark voice of Brandy, the rap skill of his frequent collaborator Jay-Z, and the lyricism of fellow rapper Paul Wall as primary examples. Levine is featured on the album's opening track, " Heard 'Em Say". The two had previously collaborated on a remix for " This Love" (2004) that Maroon 5 commissioned West to work on and later became good friends when sitting together on a flight to Rome for the 2004 MTV Europe Music Awards. While playing songs from his second album via his iPod for him on the flight, West presented the demo for "Heard 'Em Say", to which Levine added a hook he had recently written and thought was an ideal fit. The song was recorded quickly because the singer only had a couple of hours free for studio time, and Brion was able to effectively work with the composition and Levine's vocal track in a few hours.

West originally produced and recorded " Gold Digger" at Ludacris's home in Atlanta, Georgia, for fellow rapper Shawnna's 2004 debut album Worth tha Weight. He had written the chorus from a female first-person viewpoint, though Shawnna ultimately passed the song on to him. West then rewrote the two verses from his own point of view and shortly before the release of "Gold Digger" in 2005, he penned a third verse; the final recording and mastering was done at Sony Music Studios in a week. After he saw singer Jamie Foxx's portrayal of singer-songwriter Ray Charles when watching the 2004 film with his friend John Mayer, West decided to have him sing an interpolation of Charles' song " I Got a Woman". Once the track was in place, it was layered with additional instruments that Brion contributed.

Wall appears alongside West and his GOOD Music labelmate GLC on " Drive Slow". It was recorded in Los Angeles after the two had formed a friendship while posing for a photo shoot for an August 2005 issue of , in a spread titled "Coming Kings". West had originally wanted British-Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A. to appear on the track, but she opted out of the appearance due to a busy schedule. "My Way Home" is performed solely by West's GOOD Music associate and fellow rapper Common, whose sixth studio album was being produced and recorded by West alongside Late Registration. Certain tracks originally produced by West for the former turned into beats for his own work. 107 tracks were recorded during a Pro Tools session for "Bring Me Down"-48 of which were solely sung by Brandy- and the editing process for the tracks lasted one day.

West first crafted " Diamonds from Sierra Leone" as a song about his friendship with his crew, until he learned of the civil war in Sierra Leone financed by conflict diamonds and re-recorded it. While the original version of the song featured West as the sole performer, he decided to record a remix with a guest verse provided by Jay-Z. Both the original and remix versions of "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" appear on the album, with the former included as a bonus track. The original contains live drums played by Michel Gondry, the director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and later the first music video for "Heard 'Em Say"; he had visited the studio one day when a drum kit was set up by Brion. According to Jay-Z, West mixed "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" about 14 times before he felt comfortable with premiering it. The recording was further delayed when West and Brion were required to wait two weeks to rent the harpsichord that they used for the percussion. West recorded a verse by fellow rapper Nas for the track "We Major", even though the rapper was engaged in a feud with Jay-Z at the time. Despite this, West revealed that the song is regarded by Jay-Z as his favorite on Late Registration. " Hey Mama" was first recorded by West as early as 2000.

Brion experienced difficulty conducting a 20-piece orchestra for "Celebration", as its musicians were distracted when giggling at West's humorous lyrics. West and Brion had some minor discord for "Roses"; Brion initially layered it with keyboard arrangements, only for West to remove his keys along with the beat and completely reconfigure the entire song so that the verses are built around the rhythm of his vocals, while Brion's arrangements arrive during the choruses. Brion later lightheartedly compared the indecision surrounding the construction of the track to that of Prince's well-known last-minute removal of the bassline from " When Doves Cry" (1984). Singer Patti LaBelle recalled having contributed vocals to "Roses": "I was in [West's] studio one night, and he and his mother both asked if I'd just sing something on this song." The singer further stated that she was not credited because the album's liner notes "had already been printed up".

West's prize catch, audibly enriching at least half [the] songs, is co-producer Jon Brion ... adding an unprecedented third element to West's proven meld of hitbound soul hooks and rhythm tracks made or played. There's never been hip-hop so complex and subtle musically.

The music of Late Registration blends West's primary hip hop production with Brion's elaborate orchestration and experimentally delves into a wide variety of genres, including pop, R&B, soul, and G-funk. With the presence of Brion, who conducted a 20-piece orchestra and played instruments chosen by West, the album is largely orchestral in nature, featuring string arrangements, drums, gospel choirs, a 360 digital keyboard, guitars, pianos, and brass, among other symphonic instrumentation. Brion further incorporated authentic instruments, such as a celesta, Chamberlin, harpsichord, Chinese bells, and berimbau.

In a piece about Late Registration, Serena Kim of magazine noted how West uses unconventional styles and sudden musical shifts in song structures, drawing comparisons to the Beatles' experimental era. Kim observed a heavy difference between the album and West's previous work, stating, "West ambitiously attempts to depart from the street sensibilities of Dropout by giving Late Registration a shiny, quasi- alt-pop finish." Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield concurred with this sentiment, analyzing that West "claims the whole world of music as hip-hop turf", taking on a "mad quest to explode every cliché about hip-hop identity". The album has been described as a work of pop rap by Caleb Wossen of the Dallas Observer.

West played with an extensive orchestra on "Bring Me Down", "Gone", and "Celebration".

The first full track on Late Registration, "Heard 'Em Say" exhibits a cascading piano melody provided by excerpts of "Someone That I Used To Love", as performed by Natalie Cole, embellished over tumbling beats, a bass synthesizer, and brief plucks of acoustic guitar. The song's intricately composed outro features the last vocals fading out as various bells and whistles are incorporated, succeeded by the bass synthesizer. " Touch the Sky" stands as the sole song on the album not to feature production by West. The song was produced by fellow Roc-A-Fella producer Just Blaze, who uses a slowed-down sample of Curtis Mayfield's " Move On Up" (1970), filled with Latin horns. "Gold Digger" contains an interpolation of "I Got a Woman" by Charles and a bouncy beat that relies on handclaps, accompanied by scratches from West's touring DJ A-Trak. Towards the end, the song employs vintage synthesizers, which are joined by a honking keyboard. West's production approach is simplified for "Drive Slow", a song that contains a looped sample of the alto sax from Hank Crawford's recording of the 1973 track " Wildflower" by Skylark, before slowing down the sample towards the end, which is antithetical to West's "chipmunk soul"-styled loops.

The interlude "My Way Home" contains a sample of "Home Is Where The Hatred Is" (1971) by Gil Scott-Heron. "Bring Me Down" has more orchestration than any other track on Late Registration, including string arrangements, violins, and cello. The structure of "Addiction" contains synths, congas, strings, and elements of Etta James's " My Funny Valentine" (1937). All the while, West's vocals go through heavy overdubbing. "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" is built around a sample of Shirley Bassey's theme song for the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, layering it with lush instrumental arrangements that feature drums, horns, strings, and a harpsichord.

Late Registration's longest track, the seven-minute-long "We Major", implements exuberant, amplified backing vocals and a "splashy disco groove" featuring a bassline, electric piano glissandos, and horns. The melody of "Hey Mama" is laced with a looped "La-la-la" vocal sample from the 1972 track "Today Won't Come Again" by Donal Leace, while its beat contains Tin Pan Alley-styled drums. Additionally, the song features vocoder-processed background vocals, a xylophone solo, and a cascading synth outro. "Celebration" is a cinematic-styled song that includes contributions from a 20-piece orchestra and contains a sample of the KayGees's "Heavenly Dream" (1979). A columnist for The Guardian described the song as evoking "the lavish 1970s psychedelic soul of Rotary Connection".

Some of the most elaborate orchestral arrangement expressed on the album is contained within its final official track " Gone". The composition begins with a vocal sample of " It's Too Late" (1965) by Otis Redding that develops into a two-chord piano ostinato, followed by a simplistic funk beat. As the song progresses, its structure gradually morphs and experiences growing musicality. The composition later adds a string arrangement from ten violinists, four violists, and four cellists, which initially comes in brief staccato bursts and acts as a counterpoint to the rise and fall of West's voice. After its third verse, the song enters an instrumental passage.

West spoke about the way he planned raps for Late Registration, specifying his aim for them to be understandable.

According to magazine's Josh Tyrangiel, Late Registration acts as a demonstration of West's deliberate storytelling mode. West stated that his goal for the album was to touch on topics that people from all walks of life could find relatable, while remaining true to himself, intending his rapping to be "just as ill as Jadakiss and just as understandable as Will Smith". University of North Carolina scholar Kevin Pyon sees Late Registration as a continuation from The College Dropout in demonstrating how West's Christian heritage has informed his relationship to the capitalist market economy. In his analysis, the album reaffirms West's "paradoxical articulation of market and religion-that is, his simultaneous sacred critique and secular valorization of capitalism". The scholar elaborated that West being an authentic Christian "does not replace or merge with his market authenticity as a materialistic rapper but co-exists with it in uneasy tension". West later told Berlin-based artist Tino Sehgal in 2021 that being "under capitalist rule" is "killing us" and declared, "It's time to change that." Robert Christgau summed up West's lyrical persona to be " mammon in practice, Christ in spirit".

"Heard 'Em Say" is told from the perspective of an afflicted, impoverished American quietly lamenting the fallacies of society and questioning the ways of the world around him. According to rap scholar and author Mickey Hess, West's lyrics contemplate "being honest with yourself in a world that is not". On "Touch the Sky", West expresses wonder about his good fortune, while also admitting that his mistakes helped him with songwriting despite trying to put them right. West speaks about women that drain men of the money in their pockets on "Gold Digger", accompanied by Jamie Foxx's ad libbing. However, another story arises within the third verse, which illustrates a formerly destitute black male who abandons a non-gold digger for a white woman. "Drive Slow" acknowledges car culture and features West reflecting on when he was young, poor, and ambitious. In West's description, "Crack Music" delves into "how crack was placed in the black community". West delivers poetry on "Roses", which sees him criticizing the quality of American health care.

The remix of "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" references the deaths of many civilians in diamond mines, as well as reiterating the tension between criticizing consumerism and failing to resist it. Jay-Z appears towards the end of the remix, focusing on his ongoing feud with Dame Dash. The original version is included as a bonus track, featuring West linking Sierra Leone's civil war to the jewellery trade. The extended raps on "We Major" are a spiritual exultation of generational and personal success, followed by Kanye's dedication to his mother Donda West on "Hey Mama". In the latter song, Kanye West recounts his mother being supportive of him even though he was doing the opposite of what she desired. West looks at the idea of abandoning fame on "Gone", thinking about a simpler life.

Similarly to The College Dropout, a series of skits are voiced by comedian DeRay Davis throughout Late Registration. They involve a fictional black fraternity called "Broke Phi Broke", which West's character joins. The members pride themselves in living a life without money or worldly possessions, despite the clear disadvantages such a lifestyle brings. West's character is eventually expelled from the fraternity after the leader discovers that not only has he been making beats for cash on the side, but has also broken some of its rules, such as eating meals everyday, buying new clothes, and taking showers. According to Hess, the skits serve to encapsulate "a contradiction at the core of contemporary American life: the need to belong, to fit in, with your fellow humans versus the Darwinistic mad grab at material things, success in the latter being the very definition of success in our culture". The album's critique of higher education, including historically black colleges and universities, as a useless institution for African Americans is considered by some scholars to be a variation of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's theories connecting education to social and cultural reproduction. According to academic journalist Chris Richardson, West advances "a theme critical of institutional education and the broader social distinctions it produces" that is specifically connected to Bourdieu's concept of symbolic violence, which is "defined as the ability to impose meanings while concealing their underlying power relations".

The fraternity theme is revisited towards the end of the album on the UK edition bonus track "We Can Make It Better", featuring guest raps from Talib Kweli, Q-Tip, Common, and Rhymefest over a sped-up sample of " Make It Easy on Yourself", as covered by the Three Degrees. In his lyrics, West addresses a girl as a tour guide through her first day on a college campus while trying to alleviate her fears of dating black men in the aftermath of an abusive relationship. The guest rappers offer observations on urban threats such as exploitative criminals, drug addicts, and dangerous police officers, concluding with Rhymefest's blame of government tactics in terrorizing African Americans. On the Japanese and Australian Tour editions bonus track "Back to Basics", West explores the materialist-conscious rapper contrast.

Late Registration was originally set to be released on July 12, 2005, but was pushed back to August 16 by West's record labels Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam. The release date was postponed once more to August 30, 2005, for which over 1,600,000 copies were distributed to stores in preparation because the album was expected to be the best-selling record of the year. On the iTunes Store, it became one of the most pre-ordered titles in history up to September 2005.

An advertising campaign for Late Registration was directed by Maggie Rogers and Paul Tuersley, while commissioned by Rachel Paley. It was produced by Abby Johnson for Mr & Mrs Smith Design. At the 2006 Cads Music Vision Awards, the campaign received a nomination for Best Music TV Commercial. Late Registration was released for online streaming via AOL Music on August 30, 2005. That same day, West made an in-store appearance at the Tower Records location in New York's Lincoln Center to autograph copies of the album for fans. In September 2005, Def Jam announced tour dates across North America from October to December of that year for West's Touch the Sky Tour, titled after the song. West was supported by Common, Keyshia Cole, and Fantasia on the tour. Common had cancelled his involvement, until he performed with West for the Touch the Sky Tour's kickoff show at the University of Miami Convocation Center on October 11, 2005. After he finished the tour's first leg, West supported Irish rock band U2 for four dates of their Vertigo Tour at the end of 2005. West later performed five UK dates on the Touch the Sky tour in 2006 and during the last show at the NEC Arena in Solihull, two security guards were shot. The rapper was then supposed to support U2's Australian concerts on their Vertigo Tour in March 2006, but the shows were postponed.

The art direction and music packaging design for Late Registration were both handled by Brooklyn graphic design studio Morning Breath, Inc, while Louis Marino served as creative director. The photography was done by Sarah A. Friedman and Kris Yiengst, the latter of which also did art coordination. Styling and grooming were handled by Charlene Roxborough and Ibn Jasper, respectively, for the company Partos, while Doug Joswick was responsible for package production. Similar to the cover art of The College Dropout, the artwork features West's " Dropout Bear" mascot, showing it at a child's size and stood in the center of two large wooden doors at Princeton University. The mascot has goggle eyes, perky ears, and a collegian outfit, wearing a blazer with a school insignia. In the album booklet, Dropout Bear appears in the university, sitting alone in classrooms and reads books before exiting. The booklet includes a banner that reads Tardus Subcriptio, translated as Late Registration. West's vision for the style of the pictures was inspired by the works of American satirical painter John Currin, one of his favorite artists.

In a preview of Late Registration on April 20, 2005, West appeared on New York radio station Hot 97 and premiered "Diamonds from Sierra Leone". The following month, the song was serviced to US mainstream radio stations as the album's lead single by Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam. It charted at number 43 on the US Billboard Hot 100, alongside reaching number eight on the UK Singles Chart. "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" has been certified platinum in the US by the RIAA for amassing 1,000,000 certified units, while the BPI has awarded it with a silver certification for sales of 200,000 units. An accompanying music video was debuted on June 15, 2005, in which rough scenes of young children mining for diamonds are juxtaposed with shots of West rapping through the streets of Prague. On July 5, "Gold Digger" was released to US rhythmic contemporary radio stations as the second single from Late Registration, through West's labels. The song was a smash hit, topping the Hot 100, ARIA Singles Chart, and NZ Singles Chart. It experienced similar success on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at the second position. In September 2020, "Gold Digger" received an octuple platinum certification from the RIAA for pushing 8,000,000 certified units in the US, standing as one of the best-selling singles digitally in the country. The song was later certified triple platinum by the BPI for selling 1,800,000 units in the UK.

On October 24, 2005, "Heard 'Em Say" was issued on a 12" vinyl as the album's third single by Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam. The song peaked at numbers 26 and 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart, respectively. It has been awarded a platinum certification by the RIAA for shelving 1,000,000 certified units in the US. The song's first music video depicts a Christmas world in Macy's flagship New York store, while the second one utilizes animation and shows West taking on the role of a cab driver in an imaginary city. "Touch the Sky" was released on a digital EP in the UK as the fourth single from Late Registration on January 1, 2006, through West's labels. The song reached number 42 on the Hot 100, while it debuted at number six on the UK Singles Chart. "Touch the Sky" has been certified platinum by both the RIAA and BPI in the US and UK, respectively, having amassed 1,000,000 certified units in the former country and pushed 600,000 units in the latter. The song's music video was debuted in February 2006 and features West portraying the character "Evel Kanyevel", preparing to travel across the Grand Canyon in homage to Evel Knievel's unsuccessful 1974 jump across the Snake River Canyon. On June 6, "Drive Slow" was released on a 12" vinyl as the album's fifth and final single by Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam. The song was later certified gold by the RIAA for shelving 500,000 certified units in the US. An accompanying music video was filmed, featuring cameos from Wall and fellow rapper T.I.

Late Registration was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 85, based on 31 reviews. Reviewers generally regarded it as far superior to The College Dropout.

Writing in Rolling Stone, Sheffield deemed Late Registration "an undeniable triumph" throughout, seeing it as expansive enough to make "the debut sound like a rough draft" and adding that West proves he is a real rapper. The Guardian lead critic Alexis Petridis highlighted West's topicality and subversive studio production on the album; he noticed the indication of "an artist effortlessly outstripping his peers: more ideas, better lyrics, bigger hooks, greater depth". Andy Kellman from AllMusic said the rapper "can be tremendous" as a songwriter and noted his production style had gone from unrefined and erratic-tempo samples to "a more traditionally musical touch" contributed by Brion. Sean Fennessey of felt West provided a worthy successor to The College Dropout with an "expansive, imperfect masterpiece" that draws on his enthusiastic, ambitious, and scattered personality.

Late Registration was hailed by some journalists as a pivotal release in hip hop. senior editor Gail Mitchell said that with its combination of socially conscious hip hop, club, and personal reflections, the album "represents a watershed moment in rap music history", while Kitty Empire from The Observer viewed it as an important milestone for the genre, declaring West "the Brian Wilson of hip-hop" and observing that he "plays up the struggle between conscience and covetousness, the pop mainstream", and what is achievable within hip hop's traditional boundaries. Similarly, Steve Yates from the same publication compared West's aspirations in working with Brion to how Stevie Wonder collaborated in his classic 1970s period, adding that by being "creative, intelligent, funny and daring" he is the only act besides rap group Outkast "to walk the tightrope between pop sensibility, conscious rap and the outright nihilism of your common-or-garden [variety] gangsta". In the Los Angeles Times, Robert Hilburn compared West's dignified execution of pop crossover to that of the Beatles, Johnny Cash, and Bob Marley. Robert Christgau, writing in The Village Voice, praised the lyrical and musical "exquisite details" of the album, saying that West may be arrogant, "only that's not why he always samples". He concluded that West is as good as he believes himself, calling the rapper "a backpacker at heart who, like many brilliant nerds before him, has accrued precious metal by following his dream".

Some reviewers were more qualified in their praise. In , Nathan Rabin found Late Registration as ambitious as The College Dropout, albeit "less successful" because of melodramatic lyricism and symphony music without a "strong narrative" to hold the songs together; he finalized that the album "plays like a brilliant first draft, flawed and uneven, but radiating humor and heart". The New York Times critic Jon Pareles believed West's elevated status undermined the underdog quality that had accentuated his debut, writing that "for much of Late Registration, the striver has turned into a hip-hop V.I.P.", with his "cool arrogance" being prominent on the songs. Hattie Collins of was highly impressed by the beats in the music, which she called "pure cranium-crushing boom bap at its best", but lamented the lack of "rubbish lyrics" and clumsy charm that made The College Dropout appeal to West's hardcore fans. In the eyes of magazine's Jon Caramanica, the improved versatility and eccentricity of West's flow still "pales in comparison to his sonic ambition".

Robert Christgau (pictured in 2014) supervised the 2005 Pazz & Jop critics poll, which Late Registration won. He also named it the best album of the year on his own list.

Late Registration appeared on year-end best album lists for 2005 by numerous publications, including being named the best album of the year by Spin, Time, and . Rolling Stone also gave the album this accolade, with the staff hailing it as a "sweepingly generous, absurdly virtuosic hip-hop classic". In The Village Voice's 2005 Pazz & Jop nationwide poll of 795 popular music critics, Late Registration finished at number one with 2,525 points. It scored a 107-point lead, standing as the narrowest margin in the poll's history. Christgau, the poll's supervisor, also ranked Late Registration first on his own list, and assigned it an "A+" grade in his "Consumer Guide" column. On the Washington City Paper's list of the top 20 favourite albums of 2005 calculated from points assigned by the magazine's music writers, the album finished at number four with 43 points, becoming one of the five albums to score over 40 that year. Late Registration was West's second consecutive album to be rated "XXL" by , the magazine's highest rank, which had been awarded to only 16 other hip hop albums by 2005.

selected the album as the seventh best album of the 2000s decade; the staff praised West's work with Brion for expanding his genre range. PopMatters ranked Late Registration as the 15th best album of the 2000s, while Pitchfork named it the decade's 18th best album. Observer Music Monthly listed the album as the 19th best of the decade, and the staff noted that West reached his ambition to be "bigger than hip-hop". Consequence named Late Registration the 26th best album of the 2000s, whereas La Vanguardia picked it as the 36th best of the decade. The album finished at number 40 on Rolling Stone's list of the best albums of the 2000s, with the staff highlighting West's decision to work with Brion.

In 2012, Rolling Stone placed Late Registration at number 118 on their revised list of the " 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". The album was the highest entry among both recent albums and the three West releases to appear on the list. On a 2013 list published by Vibe of the 50 best albums since 1993, it was positioned 16th. In 2012, Late Registration was placed at number 100 on Spin's list of the 125 best albums of the past 25 years. Three years later, the magazine ranked the album at number 104 on its list of the 300 best albums of the past 30 years. Late Registration was later listed at number 117 on Rolling Stone's 2020 edition of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Late Registration was a contender for numerous industry awards. In December 2005, prior to the nominations being announced for the 2006 Grammy Awards, West complained that he would have a problem with not winning the Album of the Year award. Late Registration received a nomination for the award at the ceremony, and West recalled himself and Brion saying in the studio, "We're making the Album of the Year!" At the 2006 Grammys, the album won the award of Best Rap Album, becoming West's second consecutive album to do so and he delivered an acceptance speech that night. "Gold Digger" and "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" were winners of the awards for Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song, respectively, at the same ceremony, while the former was also nominated for Record of the Year. West's nominations for the album were six of the eight awards that he contended for at the 2006 Grammys, tying with Mariah Carey and John Legend for the show's most nominations. Despite West having stating he would have a problem with not winning, he was happy with eight nominations. However, Late Registration won the Best Album award at the 2006 MP3.com Awards.

In its first week of release, Late Registration debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with first week sales of 860,000 copies, selling over 600,000 more copies than Tony Yayo's album Thoughts of a Predicate Felon at number two. This stood as West's first chart-topping album in the United States and gave him first-week sales nearly double those of The College Dropout. The album had the highest-selling first week sales in the US for two years, until West's next album Graduation suprassed it in September 2007 by selling 957,000 copies. The former's first-week sales also ranked as the seventh largest for a rap album up to March 3, 2020. In Late Registration's second week, it remained atop the Billboard 200 and sold an additional 283,000 copies, resulting in more than 1,140,000 copies sold within the first two weeks on the chart. In early 2006, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awarded the album a triple platinum certification, indicating sales of 3,000,000 copies in the US. In June 2013, Late Registration reached 3,100,000 copies sold in the US. On July 21, 2022, it was certified five-times platinum by the RIAA for sales of 5,000,000 album-equivalent units in the country.

Late Registration also debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart. On February 14, 2006, it was certified double platinum by Music Canada (MC) for shipments of 200,000 copies in Canada. In the United Kingdom, the album entered the UK Albums Chart at number two for the issue date of September 5, 2005, being prevented from topping the chart by McFly's album Wonderland. The former was certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales of 900,000 units in the UK on March 12, 2022. As of May 2018, Late Registration is the 12th highest-selling rap album in the UK in the 21st century. By November of that year, the album had sold 852,000 copies in the UK, ranking as West's highest selling album in the country. Late Registration reached numbers two and three on the Irish Albums Chart and Scottish Albums Chart, respectively, while it received a double platinum certification from the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) by the end of 2005 for pushing 30,000 units in Ireland. The album also charted within the top 10 in Norway, Greece, Switzerland, and Japan, as well as entering the European Top 100 Albums chart at number six. In 2021, Vibe reported that Late Registration became one of the rap albums released before 2010 to have been streamed one billion times through Spotify.

With the album's commercial success, West established himself as a recording artist in his own right outside of his earlier success with hip hop productions for other rappers. By surpassing the sales and acclaim of The College Dropout, Late Registration proved that "the Kanye West experiment was no longer an experiment, it was a business model", according to author Shea Serrano. He explained, "It helped revitalize sampling soul music, it stitched together pop music themes generally attributable to the easily ignorable 'conscious rap' quadrant ('Gold Digger' is secretly a clever examination of the effects money has on relationships), and it created a precedent for the larger-scale gazing he'd go on to do. Rap followed along right behind him." As The Ringer's Logan Murdock chronicles, Late Registration proved his unprecedented artistry and relentless ambition with "a story to tell, an underdog tale that the masses related to", particularly the black community. The journalist relates his own experience connecting with the music, recalling having been a fan of West at 12 years old in Oakland, California, recognizing "the same struggles [he] spoke about plaguing my own environment. Like West, I had educated parents and a stable home life, but was aware of the world around me. Like West, I struggled to get acceptance, living a double life."

Released in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's destructive landfall on the US Gulf Coast, Late Registration was followed a few days later by West's appearance on the live telethon A Concert for Hurricane Relief. In a segment alongside actor Mike Myers, he made harsh remarks criticizing the US government's response to the storm and the media for lacking empathy toward black people disproportionately impacted. According to Murdock, West's remarks were in line with both the criticism then-President George W. Bush would receive for his handling of Hurricane Katrina and "with the defiance that Late Registration displayed" through its insight into the " systematic racism faced by those in the water". A few weeks later, West performed tracks from the album at Abbey Road Studios in London for a live record entitled Late Orchestration, which was released in April 2006 and also includes accompanying music videos on the home video edition.

In retrospect, Highsnobiety writer Shahzaib Hussain recognized Late Registration in West's opening trilogy of highly successful albums that "cemented his role as a progressive rap progenitor". Similarly, the staff of XXL felt satisfied with the album as the second work of West's education-themed trilogy and noted that a sophomore slump was avoided. The staff commented that it "relied on his production savvy to craft some of the most stellar beats of his career", which they felt was equaled by West's lyricism. According to Jay Willis of , Late Registration marked the last great album by " the old Kanye"; he remembered it being the soundtrack to many of his life activities.

"Wake Up Mr. West" and "Heard 'Em Say" both contain excerpts of "Someone That I Used to Love" as performed by Natalie Cole.

"Touch the Sky" contains samples of "Move On Up" as performed by Curtis Mayfield.

"Gold Digger" contains samples of "I Got a Woman" as performed by Ray Charles.

"Drive Slow" contains samples of "Wildflower" as performed by Hank Crawford.

"My Way Home" contains samples of "Home Is Where The Hatred Is" as performed by Gil Scott-Heron.

"Crack Music" contains samples of "Since You Came in My Life" as performed by New York Community Choir.

"Roses" contains samples of "Rosie" as performed by Bill Withers.

"Addiction" contains elements of "My Funny Valentine" as performed by Etta James.

"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" contains samples of "Diamonds Are Forever" as performed by Shirley Bassey.

"We Major" contains samples of "Action" as performed by Orange Krush.

"Hey Mama" contains samples of "Today Won't Come Again" as performed by Donal Leace.

"Celebration" contains samples of "Heavenly Dream" as performed by The Kay-Gees.

"Gone" contains samples of "It's Too Late" as performed by Otis Redding.

"Late" contains samples of "I'll Erase Away Your Pain" by The Whatnauts.

"We Can Make It Better" contains a sample of "Make It Easy on Yourself" as performed by The Three Degrees.

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.

Eric Gorfain - violin (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Daphne Chen - violin (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Victoria Lanier - violin (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Julie Rogers - violin (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Alyssa Park - violin (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Audrey Solomon - violin (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Terry Glenny - violin (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Susan Chatman - violin (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Marisa Kuney - violin (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Amy Wickman - violin (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Marda Todd - viola (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Piotr Jandule - viola (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Tom Tally - viola (tracks 10, 17, 19)

David Sage - viola (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Richard Dodd - cello (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Matt Cooker - cello (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Armen Ksadjikian - cello (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Victor Lawrence - cello (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Jason Torreano - contrabass (tracks 10, 17)

Francis Senger - contrabass (tracks 10, 17)

Denise Briese - contrabass (tracks 10, 17)

Gary Grant - trumpet, flugelhorn (tracks 10, 17)

Dan Fornero - trumpet, flugelhorn (tracks 10, 17)

Andrew Martin - trombone (tracks 10, 17)

Stephen Holtman - trombone (tracks 10, 17)

Bruce Otto - bass trombone (tracks 10, 17)

Rick Todd - French horn (tracks 10, 17)

Brad Warnaar - French horn (tracks 10, 17)

Ervin "EP" Pope - keyboards (tracks 9, 17)

Keenan "Keynote" Holloway - bass (tracks 9, 17)

Tom Craskey - keyboards (tracks 13, 20)

Dave Tozer - guitar (tracks 13, 20)

Michel Gondry - live drums (tracks 13, 20)

A-Trak - scratches (track 4)

Tony "Penafire" Williams - additional vocals (tracks 2, 6, 8, 9, 14)

John Legend - additional vocals (tracks 16, 17)

DeRay Davis - additional vocals (track 1)

Plain Pat - additional vocals (track 4)

Don C. - additional vocals (track 4)

Keyshia Cole - additional vocals (track 8)

Charlie Wilson - additional vocals (track 8)

Strings - additional vocals (track 11)

Anthony Kilhoffer - recording (tracks 3, 4, 6, 8-14, 16, 17, 19, 20)

Andrew Dawson - recording (tracks 2-4, 6-8, 16, 17, 21), mixing (tracks 8, 16, 17, 19)

Tom Biller - recording (tracks 2, 4, 11-14, 16, 17), strings recording (tracks 10, 17, 19, 20)

Brian Sumner - recording (tracks 8, 9, 21)

Richard Reitz - recording (track 6)

Mike Dean - mixing (tracks 2-4, 6, 7)

Craig Bauer - mixing (tracks 9-12)

Manny Marroquin - mixing (tracks 13, 20)

Nate Connelly - assistant engineering (tracks 2-4, 6, 9, 10, 14, 21)

Mike Mo - assistant engineering (tracks 2-4, 6, 10, 14)

Matt Green - assistant engineering (tracks 3, 4, 8, 10, 16, 17)

Taylor Dow - assistant engineering (tracks 2, 7, 16, 17, 19)

James Auwarter - assistant engineering (tracks 9-12)

Ryan Neuschafer - assistant engineering (tracks 9-12)

Jon Brion - string arrangement (tracks 10, 17, 19), brass arrangement (tracks 10, 17)

Eric Gorfain - strings orchestration (tracks 10, 17, 19)

Vlado Meller - mastering

Louis Marino - creative direction

Morning Breath, Inc. - art direction, design

Sarah A. Friedman - photography

Kris Yiengst - photography, art coordination

Charlene Roxborough - styling

Ibn Jasper - grooming

Notes

Citations

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Christgau, Robert (August 30, 2005). "Growing by Degrees - Kanye West adds new subtlety, complexity, and Jon Brion to the idea of sophomoric". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on October 25, 2008.

Empire, Kitty (August 28, 2005). "West Ends the Wait" The Observer. Archived September 19, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 4, 2005.

Peters, Micah (August 30, 2016). "A Toast to the Best Song on Kanye West's 'Late Registration'". The Ringer. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022.

Caramanica, Jon (September 2005). "The Man Who Would Be King". . pp. 99-100. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016 - via Google Books.

Frere-Jones, Sasha (August 22, 2005). "Overdrive" The New Yorker. Archived December 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 23, 2008.

Henderson, Eric (August 31, 2005). "Review: Late Registration" Slant Magazine. Archived February 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 5, 2011.

^ Schaller, Robert C. Jr. (2009). Kanye West: A Biography. ABC-Clio. ISBN 9780313374616. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020 - via Google Books.

Pyon, Kevin (2019). "Towards an African-American Genealogy of Market and Religion in Rap Music". Popular Music and Society. 42 (3): 363-384. doi:10.1080/03007766.2018.1458275. S2CID 194135145. Archived from the original on July 24, 2021 - via Taylor & Francis Online.

Rabin, Nathan (September 7, 2005). "Kanye West: Late Registration". . Archived from the original on March 21, 2015.

^ Richardson, Chris (2011). "'Can't Tell Me Nothing': Symbolic Violence, Education, and Kanye West". Popular Music and Violence. 34 (1): 97-112. doi:10.1080/03007766.2011.539831. S2CID 56118993. Archived from the original on July 24, 2021 - via Taylor & Francis Online.

^ Caramanica, Jon (December 18, 2005). "Kanye West: Rapper and Reanimator". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2013.

Hilburn, Robert (August 25, 2005). "West connects with heart and sophistication". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 31, 2009.

"Top 50 Records of 2005". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 19, 2005.

"Washington City Paper's 2005 Top 20". Washington City Paper. January 5, 2006. Archived from the original on June 8, 2008.

^ Collett-White, Mike (April 27, 2012). "Kanye West gets 3 albums on Rolling Stone's revised 500 greatest list". MSNBC. Archived from the original on April 29, 2012.

^ "2005 Rewind: 50 Records of the Year". (263): 41. January 2006. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018 - via Exact Editions. (subscription required)

^ Ahmed, Insanul (August 28, 2015). "The Grammy's Created an Awesome Infographic About Kanye West's 'Late Registration'". Complex. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016.

^ Wilson, H.W. (2006). "Kanye West, Hip-hop artist and record producer". Current Biography Yearbook. p. 591.

Wete, Brad (June 14, 2013). "Kanye West: How the Rapper Grew From 'Dropout' to 'Yeezus'". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 17, 2013.

"Kanye West Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 22, 2019.

"Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 22, 2019.

Serrano, Shea (2005). "'Gold Digger' Kanye West, featuring Jamie Foxx". The Rap Year Book: The Most Important Rap Song From Every Year Since 1979, Discussed, Debated, and Deconstructed. ABRAMS. ISBN 9781613128190.

^ "ARIA Urban Chart - Week Commencing 10th October 2005" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association (815): 16. October 10, 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2008 - via Pandora archive.

^ "Kanye West Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 22, 2019.

Verkade, Herman (January 21, 2006). ^ UKChartsPlus. (228): 4. The Official UK Albums Chart of 2005 at the Wayback Machine (archived February 25, 2009). Archived from the original on February 25, 2009. Retrieved August 19, 2011.

^ "2005 Year End Charts - The Billboard 200 Titles". Billboard. November 26, 2005. Archived from the original on August 19, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2011.

^ "Year End Charts - Top Billboard 200". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 19, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2011.

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Late Registration is the second studio album by the American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on August 30, 2005, through Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. West recorded the album over the course of a year during sessions held at studios in Hollywood and New York City, in collaboration with Jon Brion.

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Tien hits waarvan je niet weet waar de samples vandaan komen

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Of je wist het wel. In dat geval: sorry.

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DJ Premier selecting records to sample

In sound and music, sampling is the reuse of a portion (or sample) of a sound recording in another recording. Samples may comprise elements such as rhythm, melody, speech, or sound effects. A sample can be brief and only incorporate a single musical note (as is the case with sample-based synthesis), or it can consist of longer portions of music (such as a drumbeat or complete melody), and may be layered, equalized, sped up or slowed down, repitched, looped, or otherwise manipulated. They are usually integrated using electronic music instruments ( samplers) or software such as digital audio workstations.

A process similar to sampling originated in the 1940s with musique concrète, experimental music created by splicing and looping tape. The mid-20th century saw the introduction of keyboard instruments that played sounds recorded on tape, such as the Mellotron. The term sampling was coined in the late 1970s by the creators of the Fairlight CMI, a synthesizer with the ability to record and playback short sounds. As technology improved, cheaper standalone samplers with more memory emerged, such as the E-mu Emulator, Akai S950 and Akai MPC.

Sampling is a foundation of hip hop music, which emerged when producers in the 1980s began sampling funk and soul records, particularly drum breaks. It has influenced many other genres of music, particularly electronic music and pop. Samples such as the Amen break, the " Funky Drummer" drum break and the orchestra hit have been used in thousands of recordings, and James Brown, Loleatta Holloway, Fab Five Freddy and Led Zeppelin are among the most sampled artists. The first album created entirely from samples, Endtroducing by DJ Shadow, was released in 1996.

Sampling without permission can infringe copyright or may be fair use. Clearance, the process of acquiring permission to use a sample, can be complex and costly; samples from well-known sources may be prohibitively expensive. Courts have taken different positions on whether sampling without permission is permitted. In Grand Upright Music, Ltd. v. Warner Bros. Records Inc (1991) and Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films (2005), American courts ruled that unlicensed sampling, however minimal, constitutes copyright infringement. However, VMG Salsoul v Ciccone (2016) found that unlicensed samples constituted copying, and did not infringe copyright. In 2019, the European Court of Justice ruled that modified, unrecognizable samples could be used without authorization. Though some artists sampled by others have complained of plagiarism or lack of creativity, many commentators have argued that sampling is a creative act.

The Phonogene, a 1940s instrument which plays back sounds from tape loops

In the 1940s, the French composer Pierre Schaeffer developed musique concrète, an experimental form of music created by recording sounds to tape, splicing them, and manipulating them to create sound collages. He used sounds from the human body, locomotives, and kitchen utensils. The method also involved tape loops, splicing lengths of tape end to end so a sound could be played indefinitely. Schaeffer developed the Phonogene, which played loops at 12 different pitches triggered by a keyboard.

Composers including John Cage, Edgar Varèse, Karheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis experimented with musique concrète, and Bebe and Louis Barron used it to create the first totally electronic film soundtrack, for the 1956 science fiction film Forbidden Planet. Musique concrète was brought to a mainstream audience by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, which used the techniques to produce soundtracks for shows including .

In the 1960s, Jamaican dub reggae producers such as King Tubby and Lee "Scratch" Perry began using recordings of reggae rhythms to produce riddim tracks, which were then deejayed over. Jamaican immigrants introduced the techniques to American hip hop music in the 1970s. Holger Czukay of the experimental German band Can spliced tape recordings into his music before the advent of digital sampling.

The Fairlight CMI, a sampler and synthesizer released in 1979. The designers coined the term sampling to describe one of its features.

The Guardian described the Chamberlin as the first sampler, developed by the English engineer Harry Chamberlin in the 1940s. The Chamberlin used a keyboard to trigger a series of tape decks, each containing eight seconds of sound. Similar technology was popularised in the 60s with the Mellotron. In 1969, the English engineer Peter Zinovieff developed the first digital sampler, the EMS Musys.

The term sample was coined by Kim Ryrie and Peter Vogel to describe a feature of their Fairlight CMI synthesizer, launched in 1979. While developing the Fairlight, Vogel recorded around a second of piano performance from a radio broadcast and discovered that he could imitate a piano by playing the recording back at different pitches. The result better resembled a real piano than sounds generated by synthesizers. Compared to later samplers, the Fairlight was limited; it allowed control over pitch and envelope, and could only record a few seconds of sound. However, the sampling function became its most popular feature. Though the concept of reusing recordings in other recordings was not new, the Fairlight's design and built-in sequencer simplified the process.

The Akai MPC, an influential sampler produced from 1988

The Fairlight inspired competition, improving sampling technology and driving down prices. Early competitors included the E-mu Emulator and the Akai S950. Drum machines such as the Oberheim DMX and Linn LM-1 incorporated samples of drum kits and percussion rather than generating sounds from circuits. Early samplers could store samples of only a few seconds in length, but this increased with improved memory. In 1988, Akai released the first MPC sampler, which allowed users to assign samples to pads and trigger them independently, similarly to playing a keyboard or drum kit. It was followed by competing samplers from companies including Korg, Roland and Casio.

Today, most samples are recorded and edited using digital audio workstations (DAWs) such as Pro Tools and Ableton Live. As technology has improved, the possibilities for manipulation have grown.

Samples are distributed in sample libraries, also known as sample packs. In the 1990s, sample libraries from companies such as Zero-G and Spectrasonics had a major influence on contemporary music. In the 2000s, Apple introduced "Jam Packs" sample libraries for its DAW GarageBand. In the 2010s, producers began releasing sample packs on online platforms such as Splice.

Library music may be sampled without clearance. In the 2000s, producers began releasing compositions to be used by others in the tradition of library music. The Kingsway Music Library, created in 2015 by the American producer Frank Dukes, has been used by artists including Drake, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Madlib and J. Cole. In 2020, the US Library of Congress created an open-source web application that allows users to sample its copyright-free audio collection.

Instead of sampling, artists may recreate a recording, a process known as interpolation. This requires only the musical content owner's permission, and creates more freedom to alter constituent components such as separate guitar and drum tracks.

Sampling has influenced many genres of music, particularly pop, hip hop and electronic music. The journalist David McNamee likened its importance in these genres to the importance of the guitar in rock. In August 2022, the Guardian noted that half of the singles in the UK Top 10 used samples. Sampling is a fundamental element of remix culture.

Using the Fairlight, the "first truly world-changing sampler", the English producer Trevor Horn became the "key architect" in incorporating sampling into pop music in the 1980s. Other users of the Fairlight included Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel and Thomas Dolby. In the 1980s, samples were incorporated into synthesizers and music workstations, such as the bestselling Korg M1, released in 1988.

The Akai MPC, released in 1988, had a major influence on electronic and hip hop music, allowing artists to create elaborate tracks without other instruments, a studio or formal music knowledge. Its designer, Roger Linn, anticipated that users would sample short sounds, such as individual notes or drum hits, to use as building blocks for compositions; however, users sampled longer passages of music. In the words of Greg Milner, author of Perfecting Sound Forever, musicians "didn't just want the sound of John Bonham's kick drum, they wanted to loop and repeat the whole of ' When the Levee Breaks'." Linn said: "It was a very pleasant surprise. After 60 years of recording, there are so many prerecorded examples to sample from. Why reinvent the wheel?"

Stevie Wonder's 1979 album Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants may have been the first album to make extensive use of samples. The Japanese electronic band Yellow Magic Orchestra were pioneers in sampling, constructing music by cutting fragments of sounds and looping them. Their album Technodelic (1981) is an early example of an album consisting mostly of samples. My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (1981) by David Byrne and Brian Eno is another important early work of sampling, incorporating samples of sources including Arabic singers, radio DJs and an exorcist. Musicians had used similar techniques before, but, according to the writer Dave Simpson, sampling had never before been used "to such cataclysmic effect". Eno felt the album's innovation was to make samples "the lead vocal". Big Audio Dynamite pioneered sampling in rock and pop with their 1985 album This Is Big Audio Dynamite.

DJ Shadow's 1996 album Endtroducing is cited as the first created entirely from samples.

Sampling is one of the foundations of hip hop, which emerged in the 1980s. Hip hop sampling has been likened to the origins of blues and rock, which were created by repurposing existing music. The Guardian journalist David McNamee wrote that "two record decks and your dad's old funk collection was once the working-class black answer to punk".

Before the rise of sampling, DJs used turntables to loop breaks from records, which MCs would rap over. Compilation albums such as Ultimate Breaks and Beats compiled tracks with drum breaks and solos intended for sampling, aimed at DJs and hip hop producers. In 1986, the tracks " South Bronx", " Eric B. is President" and " It's a Demo" sampled the funk and soul tracks of James Brown, particularly a drum break from " Funky Drummer" (1970), helping popularize the technique.

The advent of affordable samplers such as the Akai MPC (1988) made looping easier. Guinness World Records cites DJ Shadow's acclaimed hip hop album Endtroducing (1996), made on an MPC60, as the first album created entirely from samples. The E-mu SP-1200, released in 1987, had a ten-second sample length and a distinctive "gritty" sound, and was used extensively by East Coast producers during the golden age of hip hop of the late 1980s and early 90s.

Commonly sampled elements include strings, basslines, drum loops, vocal hooks or entire bars of music, especially from soul records. Samples may be layered, equalized, sped up or slowed down, repitched, looped or otherwise manipulated.

A seven-second drum break in the 1969 track "Amen, Brother", known as the Amen break, became popular with American hip hop producers and then British jungle producers in the early 1990s. It has been used in thousands of recordings, including songs by rock bands such as Oasis and theme tunes for television shows such as , and is among the most sampled tracks in music history. Other widely sampled drum breaks came from the 1970 James Brown song " Funky Drummer"; the Think break, sampled from the 1972 Lyn Collins song " Think (About It)", written by Brown; and Led Zeppelin's 1971 recording of " When the Levee Breaks", played by John Bonham and sampled by artists including the Beastie Boys, Dr. Dre, Eminem and Massive Attack.

In 2018, the Smithsonian cited the most sampled track as " Change the Beat" by Fab Five Freddy, which appears in more than 1,150 tracks. According to WhoSampled, a user-edited website that catalogs samples, James Brown appears in more than 3000 tracks, more than any other artist. The Independent named the American singer Loleatta Holloway as the most sampled female voice in popular music. Her vocals were sampled in house and dance tracks such as " Ride on Time" by Black Box, the bestselling single of 1989 in the UK.

The orchestra hit originated as a sound on the Fairlight, sampled from Stravinsky's 1910 orchestral work Firebird Suite, and became a hip hop cliché. MusicRadar cited the Zero-G Datafiles sample libraries as a major influence on 90s dance music, becoming the "de facto source of breakbeats, bass and vocal samples".

To legally use a sample, an artist must acquire legal permission from the copyright holder, a potentially lengthy and complex process known as clearance. Sampling without permission can breach the copyright of the original sound recording, of the composition and lyrics, and of the performances, such as a rhythm or guitar riff. The moral rights of the original artist may also be breached if they are not credited or object to the sampling. In some cases, sampling is protected under American fair use laws, which grant "limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the rights holder".

The American musician Richard Lewis Spencer, who owned the copyright for the widely sampled Amen break, never received royalties for its use as the statute of limitations for copyright infringement had passed by the time he learnt of the situation. The journalist Simon Reynolds likened it to "the man who goes to the sperm bank and unknowingly sires hundreds of children". Clyde Stubblefield, the performer of the widely sampled drum break from " Funky Drummer", also received no royalties.

DJ Shadow said that artists tended to either see sampling as a mark of respect and a means to introduce their music to new audiences, or to be protective of their legacy and see no benefit. He described the difficulty of arranging compensation for each artist sampled in a work, and gave the example of two artists both demanding more than 50%, a mathematical impossibility. He instead advocated for a process of clearing samples on a musicological basis, by identifying how much of the composition the sample comprises.

According to Fact, early hip hop sampling was governed by "unspoken" rules forbidding the sampling of recent records, reissues, other hip hop records or non-vinyl sources, among other restrictions. These rules were relaxed as younger producers took over and sampling became ubiquitous. In 2017, DJ Shadow said that he felt that "music has never been worth less as a commodity, and yet sampling has never been more risky".

Sampling can help popularize the sampled work. For example, the Desiigner track " Panda" (2015) reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 after Kanye West sampled it on " Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 2" (2016). Some record labels and other music licensing companies have simplified their clearance processes by "pre-clearing" their records. For example, the Los Angeles record label Now-Again Records has cleared songs produced for West and Pusha T in a matter of hours.

The owner of sampled material may not always be traceable, and such knowledge is commonly mislaid through corporate mergers, closures and buyouts. For example, Eddie Johns, the author of a song sampled in the 2000 Daft Punk track " One More Time", has never been located. As of 2021, he was owed an estimated "six-to-seven-figure sum" based on streams.

In 1989, the Turtles sued De La Soul for using an unlicensed sample on their album 3 Feet High and Rising. The Turtles singer Mark Volman told the Los Angeles Times: "Sampling is just a longer term for theft. Anybody who can honestly say sampling is some sort of creativity has never done anything creative." The case was settled out of court and set a legal precedent that had a chilling effect on sampling in hip hop.

Biz Markie in 2016

In 1991, the songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan sued the rapper Biz Markie after Markie sampled O'Sullivan's " Alone Again (Naturally)" on the album I Need a Haircut. In Grand Upright Music, Ltd. v. Warner Bros. Records Inc, the court ruled that sampling without permission infringed copyright. Instead of asking for royalties, O'Sullivan forced Markie's label Warner Bros. to recall the album until the song was removed.

The journalist Dan Charnas criticized the ruling, saying it was difficult to apply conventional copyright laws to sampling and that the American legal system did not have "the cultural capacity to understand this culture and how kids relate to it". In 2005, the writer Nelson George described it as the "most damaging example of anti-hip hop vindictiveness", which "sent a chill through the industry that is still felt". In the Washington Post, Chris Richards wrote in 2018 that no case had exerted more influence on pop music, likening it to banning a musical instrument. Some have accused the law of restricting creativity, while others argue that it forces producers to innovate.

Since the O'Sullivan lawsuit, samples on commercial recordings have typically been taken either from obscure recordings or cleared, an often expensive option only available to successful acts. According to the Guardian, "Sampling became risky business and a rich man's game, with record labels regularly checking if their musical property had been tea-leafed." For less successful artists, the legal implications of using samples pose obstacles; according to Fact, "For a bedroom producer, clearing a sample can be nearly impossible, both financially and in terms of administration." By comparison, the 1989 Beastie Boys album Paul's Boutique is composed almost entirely of samples, most of which were cleared "easily and affordably"; the clearance process would be much more expensive today. The Washington Post described the modern use of well known samples, such as on records by Kanye West, as an act of conspicuous consumption similar to flaunting cars or jewelry. West has been sued several times over his use of samples.

In 2000, the jazz flautist James Newton filed a claim against the Beastie Boys' 1992 single " Pass the Mic", which samples his composition "Choir". The judge found that the sample, comprising six seconds and three notes, was (small enough to be trivial) and did not require clearance. Newton lost appeals in 2003 and 2004.

In the 2005 case Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films, the hip hop group N.W.A. were successfully sued for their use of a two-second sample of a Funkadelic song in the 1990 track " 100 Miles and Runnin'". The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that all samples, no matter how short, required a license. A judge wrote: "Get a license or do not sample. We do not see this as stifling creativity in any significant way."

As the Bridgeport judgement was decided in an American Federal court of appeal, lower courts ruling on similar issues are bound to abide by it. However, in the 2016 case VMG Salsoul v Ciccone, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Madonna did not require a license for a short horn sample in her 1990 song " Vogue". The judge Susan Graber wrote that she did not see why sampling law should be an exception to standard de minimis law.

In 2019, the European Court of Justice ruled that the producers Moses Pelham and Martin Haas had illegally sampled a drum sequence from the 1977 Kraftwerk track " Metal on Metal" for the Sabrina Setlur song "Nur Mir". The court ruled that permission was required for recognizable samples; modified, unrecognizable samples could still be used without authorization.

Bryan J. McCann, The Mark of Criminality: Rhetoric, Race, and Gangsta Rap in the War-On-Crime ERA, pages 41-42, University of Alabama Press

^ Hamer, Mick (26 March 2015). "Interview: Electronic maestros". New Scientist. Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on 8 July 2008.

Milner, Greg (3 November 2011). Perfecting Sound Forever: The Story of Recorded Music. Granta Publications. ISBN 9781847086051. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018.

Jones, Rhian (5 August 2022). "'Common decency': Beyoncé's Renaissance sparks debate about the politics of music sampling". The Guardian.

^ Mayumi Yoshida Barakan & Judith Connor Greer (1996). Tokyo city guide. Tuttle Publishing. p. 144. ISBN 0-8048-1964-5. Archived from the original on 23 March 2017.

Condry, Ian (2006). Hip-hop Japan: rap and the paths of cultural globalization. Duke University Press. p. 60. ISBN 0-8223-3892-0. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019.

^ Taylor, Ken (14 August 2012). "The exclusive interview; 'I feel like I've done a lot for the MPC'". Beatport. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012.

^ Cheal, David (21 February 2015). "The Life of a Song: 'When the Levee Breaks'". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 29 November 2018.

^ Eveleth, Rose. "The world's most sampled song is "Change the Beat" by Fab 5 Freddy". Smithsonian. Archived from the original on 12 October 2018.

^ Perrone, Pierre (25 March 2011). "Loleatta Holloway: Much-sampled disco diva who sued Black Box over their worldwide hit 'Ride on Time'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 July 2019.

^ Siedel, George (2016). The Three Pillar Model For Business Decisions: Strategy, Law, Ethics. Michigan: Van Rye Publishing. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-9970566-1-7.

"DJ Shadow on sampling as a 'collage of mistakes'". . 17 November 2012.

George, Nelson (26 April 2005). Hip Hop America. Penguin. ISBN 9781101007303. Archived from the original on 23 March 2017.

^ Tingen, Paul (May 2005). "The Dust Brothers: sampling, remixing & the Boat studio". Sound on Sound. Cambridge, UK: SOS Publications Group. ISSN 1473-5326. Archived from the original on 29 May 2016.

Beadle, Jeremy J. Will Pop Eat Itself?: Pop Music in the Soundbite Era (1993)

Katz, Mark. "Music in 1s and 0s: The Art and Politics of Digital Sampling." In Capturing Sound: How Technology has Changed Music (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004), 137-57. ISBN 0-520-24380-3

McKenna, Tyrone B. (2000) "Where Digital Music Technology and Law Collide - Contemporary Issues of Digital Sampling, Appropriation and Copyright Law" Journal of Information, Law & Technology.

Challis, B (2003) "The Song Remains The Same - A Review of the Legalities of Music Sampling"

McLeod, Kembrew; DiCola, Peter (2011). Creative License: The Law and Culture of Digital Sampling. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-4875-7.

Ratcliffe, Robert. (2014) "A Proposed Typology of Sampled Material within Electronic Dance Music." Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture 6(1): 97-122.

Patrin, Nate (2020). Bring That Beat Back: How Sampling Built Hip-Hop. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-1-5179-0628-3.

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In sound and music, sampling is the reuse of a portion (or sample) of a sound recording in another recording. Samples may comprise elements such as rhythm, melody, speech, or sound effects.

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Vijftig jaar geleden legde DJ Kool Herc de basis voor één van de belangrijkste muziekgenres ooit, namelijk hiphop. De grondlegger van hiphop gebruikte twee draaitafels om de breaks van twee van dezelfde platen aan elkaar te mixen, waardoor hij een nieuw ritmisch nummer creëerde. Het hergebruiken van oude muziek om nieuwe muziek te maken, werd een van de bouwstenen van hiphop en kennen we vandaag de dag als samplen. Sommige samples zijn zo vaak gebruikt en zo herkenbaar dat de kans klein is dat je ze nooit eerder hebt gehoord. Ter ere van het vijftigjarige bestaan van hiphop zet FunX vijf van de bekendste samples ooit voor je op een rij.

James Brown - Funky Drummer (Pt. 1 & 2)

DJ Kool Herc mag dan wel de godfather van hiphop genoemd worden, maar het genre zou niet zijn wat het vandaag de dag is zonder James Brown. De legendarische artiest begon zijn illustere carrière in 1954 als R&B-zanger. In de tweede helft van de jaren '60 begon hij steeds meer Afrikaanse invloeden te verwerken in zijn muziek, waarbij de nadruk sterk kwam te liggen op de ritmesectie van zijn nummers. Deze dansbare muziek werd op een gegeven moment aangeduid met de term funk. Deze sterk ritmische muziekstijl viel goed in de smaak bij de jeugd uit die tijd en toen hiphop in de jaren '70 opkwam, was het dan ook geen verrassing dat James Brown veelvuldig gesampled werd. Eén van de bekendste samples in hiphop is de drumbreak van Funky Drummer. De track is typerend voor de sound van James Brown en werd vooral in de jaren '90 veelvuldig gesampled (zelfs de titelsong van The Powerpuff Girls bevat een sample van Funky Drummer). Eén van de bekendste hiphophits uit de jaren '90 is de track Mama Said Knock You Out van LL Cool J, waarop de welbekende drumbreak direct terug te horen is.

Melvin Bliss - Synthetic Substitution

De kans is groot dat de naam Melvin Bliss je niets zegt. Dat is ook niet zo gek, want de soulzanger scoorde slechts een bescheiden hitje met zijn single Reward. Op de B-side van deze single stond echter het nummer Synthetic Substitution, dat in 1989 voor het eerst werd gesampled door Ultramagnetic MCs. In de jaren daarna volgden vele hiphopartiesten het voorbeeld van Ultramagnetic MCs waardoor Synthetic Substitution één van de meest gesamplede tracks ooit werd in hiphop. Op talloze klassieke nummers zijn de kicks en snares te horen van Synthetic Substitution, waarvan O.P.P. van Naughty By Nature misschien wel de bekendste is.

Skull Snaps - It's a New Day

Net als Melvin Bliss doet de naam Skull Snaps hoogstwaarschijnlijk geen belletje bij je rinkelen. Dat heeft mede te maken met het feit dat de funkband maar drie jaar bestond en slechts één album heeft uitgebracht. Daarnaast is de oorsprong van Skull Snaps vrijwel volledig gehuld in mysterie en was het decennia lang onbekend wie de bandleden nou precies waren. Minder mysterieus is hun album genaamd, je raadt het al, Skull Snaps. Op die plaat staat namelijk de track It's a New Day, wat vanaf eind jaren '80 een favoriet werd onder hiphopproducers. De eerste artiest die de track samplede was de New Yorkse rapper en producer Stezo, die in 1989 de track It's My Turn uitbracht. Niet lang daarna werd de drumbreak van It's a New Day mateloos populair en hebben talloze rappers verses geschreven op de maat van deze veelgebruikte break. Een goed voorbeeld daarvan is Hef op de track Luie Mannen.

The Honey Drippers - Impeach the President

Ook The Honey Drippers hebben nooit enorme bekendheid genoten. De funkband werd in 1973 opgericht door muzikant Roy C. en bestond uit een groep middelbare scholieren uit de wijk Jamaica in het New Yorkse stadsdeel Queens. De band bracht in de jaren '70 een aantal singles uit waarvan Impeach the President de bekendste is. Op het nummer roept de band op om president Nixon, de toenmalige president, af te zetten na het Watergate-affaire. Het schandaal leidde uiteindelijk tot het aftreden van Nixon, maar dat had weinig te maken met de impact van Impeach the President. Waar het nummer wel impact op had, was de creativiteit van hiphopproducers, want Impeach the President is nog altijd een van de meest gesamplede tracks ooit. Opmerkelijk is ook dat vele hiphopnummers waarop de sample te horen is enorme hits zijn geworden. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan I Get Around van 2pac, I Can van Nas en Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey) van De La Soul. Echter, de hit die bij velen hoogstwaarschijnlijk nog vers in het geheugen zit, is Wet Dreamz van J. Cole.

James Brown - Funky President

Terwijl The Honey Drippers luisteraars opriepen om de president af te zetten, koos James Brown voor een mildere aanpak. De zanger wilde zijn fans er simpelweg op wijzen dat Nixons opvolger, president Ford, niet deugde. Dat deed hij in de vorm van de track Funky President, wat tot de dag van vandaag een van zijn meeste gesamplede tracks ooit is. Zo zijn de lyrics van de track gesampled op hits als 3005 van Childish Gambino, Runaway van Kanye West en HYAENA van Travis Scott om er maar een paar op te noemen. Niet alleen de vocalen van Brown op Funky President zijn geliefd in hiphop, maar ook de iconische drumbreak is terug te horen op honderden hiphopnummers, waaronder de zomerhit Summertime van DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.

Hoe is hiphop ontstaan?

Hiphop viert in 2023 zijn vijftigste verjaardag. Op 11 augustus 1973 besloten Cindy Campbell en Clive Campbell, beter bekend als Kool Herc, een Back To School Party te geven in The Bronx in New York City. Op dat feest bracht Kool Herc voor het eerst zijn breakbeats ten gehore waarbij hij de drumsolo's van twee van dezelfde platen aan elkaar mixte om een eindeloos ritmisch nummer te creëren. De muziek viel zo goed in de smaak dat Kool Herc block party's (buurtfeesten) begon te organiseren, waarop hij hiphop aan een groter publiek introduceerde. Sindsdien nam de invloed van hiphop in rap tempo toe en is het genre uitgegroeid tot één van de meest invloedrijke muziekstromingen ooit.

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Dit zijn de bekendste samples ooit in hiphop

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Vijftig jaar geleden legde DJ Kool Herc de basis voor één van de belangrijkste muziekgenres ooit, namelijk hiphop. De grondlegger van hiphop gebruikte twee draaitafels om de breaks van twee van dezelfde platen aan elkaar te mixen, waardoor hij een nieuw ritmisch nummer creëerde.