Recently I have been listening to a lot of oldies music, specifically soul from the 60s and 70s. The deeper I get into the genre, the more songs I find that I seem to recognize. Although these songs may be new to me, many of them have been sampled in songs I already know and love. As I come across these songs, I add them to a list in my notes.
Sampling in music is taking a portion of an already existing song and creating something new with it. DJs and producers can use it as a way to create something new while paying homage to past artists.
One of the first songs I came across that was familiar was Let Me Prove My Love To You (1975) by The Main Ingredient. The song opens with a melody that I immediately recognized. The same one is used in one of my favorite songs of all time: You Don’t Know My Name by Alicia Keys. Produced by Kanye West, the song uses the same melody as The Main Ingredients throughout the song.
Kanye is not the only one who was attracted to this melody. The song Grass, produced and performed by Redveil, also samples Let Me Prove My Love To You. Similarly, the artist Foggieraw sampled Key’s You Don’t Know My Name in his song Psalm 62, keeping the familiar tune from the original from The Main Ingredient.
Kanye is arguably one of the best in the industry at manipulating samples. Other producers like Madlib, The Alchemist, and 9th Wonder are known for their sampling.
Produced by Madlib, the song Shame by Freddie Gibbs samples Wish That You Were Mine (1973) by The Manhattans. Madlib flips the old soulful love song to something fresh, incorporating the oldies into new age hip hop.
More examples that I came across were Dream (1977) by Al Green which is sampled in Are We Still Friends by Tyler, the Creator, and Call Me by Aretha Franklin which is sampled in Selfish by hip hop group Slum Village (produced by Kanye).
Another one on my list is Surrender by Kut Klose, which is sampled in the song dont be afraid by Knxwledge. This is different from the others in the way that he uses the original lyrics, without adding any of his own. He manipulates the original, creates a beat out of it, and flips the old song into something new.
Many people say that hip hop was born on sampling. These producers help preserve older music by using samples. They give the oldies a new life by taking something nostalgic and putting their own spin on it.
