2009: A Big Year for Sample-Based Music… and WhoSampled!

2009 was a phenomenal year for sample-based music. Looking at the list of U.S. number-one singles of 2009 to date, it’s astonishing to see that no less than 6 out of 13 are based on samples:

• Crack a Bottle by Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent
• Right Round by Flo Rida feat. Kesha
• Poker Face by Lady Gaga
• I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas
• Whatcha Say by Jason Derulo
• Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys

And that is only the tip of the iceberg – many of this year’s best-selling albums, and countless others, are heavily sample-based. We truly believe that the WhoSampled community is doing something important (and really fun!) by documenting, sharing and discussing all of this incredible activity, past and present.

We’ve quietly launched the site just over a year ago, and what a year it’s been! The database, which started with just a couple of hundred samples, has recently crossed the important 10,000 samples mark, and hundreds more are being added every week. It’s good timing to have a quick pause for breath and tell you a little bit more about what we’ve done so far.

• We’ve been focusing hard on improving the moderation process to allow for all this incredible amount of contributions to be added efficiently to the database. We now have over 30 fantastic moderators from all over the world, who take care of processing everyone’s submissions – you can always see a list of our moderators on the About Us page
• We’ve recently added cover songs to the site, and the response has been great – we already have thousands listed!
• We added new buttons that allow you to easily share your finds on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace – you can find them on top of every sample, cover and artist page
• We’ve added the option to browse the database by genre, meaning that if you only want to look at Hip-Hop or Electronic artists, you now can
• We did a slight design facelift and added all sorts of small improvements across the site

For ongoing updates on what is happening on the site, make sure you become our fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. As always, we would be very happy to get your thoughts and suggestions on how we can improve, so please get in touch if you have any!

We’d like to thank all our moderators, contributors and visitors for making all of this happen. We all still have a lot to do of course, but we can definitely be proud of what we have achieved so far! Let’s tell the world about what we are doing, and spread the word!

RJD2: The WhoSampled Interview

Beatdigger, producer and DJ RJ Krohn aka RJD2 needs no introduction. With 3 studio albums under his belt and a whole string of productions and remixes for artists such as Massive Attack, The Go! Team, Aesop Rock and Souls of Mischief, RJD2 is certainly a force to be reckoned with.

Right at the calm before the storm of launching his next album, The Colossus, WhoSampled got the man to talk about his musical development, vinyl and sampling, and the making of an RJD2 production from the beats up.

WhoSampled: What is your earliest musical memory?

RJD2: Records. I remember my mom’s record collection: Kraftwerk, The Beatles, Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass – things like that. I remember playing NES games and listening to those records. Both things played an important part in my development.

WS: To what extent did older records inspire you in your past productions? Is that still true today? Which artists do you feel have influenced you the most?

RJ: The tones that are found within records are constantly informing what I do. I think that my best foot forward is as a producer, not a DJ or singer or keys player. And obviously, when sampling records, they end up playing a direct role in a new song. Even if I’m not sampling them per se, it’s still true; I am constantly referencing things off records when I’m tracking live instruments.
I think the biggest things I’ve internalized are the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, The Impressions, and then the experience of things like a Meters or De La Soul record on a big system.

WS: When digging for samples, are there any specific genres or eras that you look out for?

RJ: Eras, yes. Genres, no. My roll-off years are around 1961 and 1985 or so. That’s my usual window. Otherwise, I’m just usually looking for the rarest things I can get my hands on; the least visible record I can possibly sample.

WS: What is/was your favorite 2nd hand record store and why?

RJ: The one that was a huge contributor to my first record (Deadringer) was a place called Robert’s Records on the southeast side of Columbus, Ohio. They had been a distributor throughout the 70’s, and then went out of business around 1999 or 2000. It was just an insane goldmine, when they had their going out of business sale. It was massive; about a basketball court sized room for LP’s, and another for 45’s. HUGE. All LP’s were $1, all 45’s were $.25. I spent 5 days going through a storage closet stacked top to bottom with boxes of 45’s; I was pulling things like Lowell Fulsom and J.B.’s 45’s, and thought I was doing well. I didn’t realize the 45 room was open as well at the time; we are talking 8 ft racks, 60ft long rows, and about 8-10 rows. Alvin Cash’s Keep on Dancin’, Incredible Bongo Band 45’s, that caliber of stuff, all for a quarter a pop. I probably clocked 50-60 hours in the store before it closed.

WS: What’s your forecast on the future of vinyl – do you think it will die out and if it does, will it matter?

RJ: No, I think it’s gonna do fine, cause it already is! Records are definitely making a resurgence. People will always love buying vinyl, even if it’s not a huge market.

WS: What rapper(s) would you like to work with if you could choose anyone you want? Whose style and voice do you think would go well together with your beats?

RJ: Ludacris, first and foremost. The Clipse. Freeway.

WS: How different was your approach to the production on The Third Hand from that on Deadringer and Since We Last Spoke? Did you use any samples on The Third Hand at all, or was it all made from live instrumentation?

RJ: There were some very minute samples, and all of the drums were samples, on The Third Hand. I was still going for “vintage” type of sounds, but trying to do it in a different way.

WS: You did a set for the BBC’s Breezeblock radio show, where you deconstructed some of your own beats using some of the original samples. It was interesting to hear you recreate some of the cuts by hand. What’s the initial catalyst or first step in an RJD2 production – beats, samples, instruments, inspiration from DJing or something else? When in the studio, do you often get ideas for sample combinations or tracks from “DJing on top of a beat”?

RJ: When I’m in the studio, it’s really all centered around the MPC, at least if I’m doing something that is inherently “beat oriented”, or if I’m just making a beat. There are things that can be done on an MPC that can’t be done on turntables, so when I’m doing those “redux” versions of tracks using the original records, it’s more reverse engineering a beat, rather than providing the germination point of a beat. On the MPC, I’m working at a more molecular level; DJ’ing is much more broad strokes, if you will.

WS: What can your fans expect to hear on The Colossus, your next album due in 2010?

RJ: BIG SECRET! Nah, I might end up talking about it closer to the release, but I don’t want anyone going into it with a preconceived notion of anything, stylistically speaking. Fresh ears and multiple listens, that’s all I ask of the listener. I always try to be as detail-oriented as possible with my solo records, and this one’s no different in that respect.

WhoSampled manages RJD2’s page on the site in cooperation with the artist. Look out for RJD2’s fourth studio album The Colossus, which will be released on his own label in 2010.

http://rjselectricalconnections.com
http://www.myspace.com/rjd2

The Blueprints for “The Blueprint 3″

Rap mogul Jay-Z returns this week with ‘The Blueprint 3’, his eleventh studio album and the follow up to 2007’s ‘American Gangster’. With production from Timbaland, Swizz Beatz and of course Kanye West, ‘The Blueprint 3’ looks set to be a landmark for the ever-changing face of hip-hop in 2009. With mainstream rap split between conservative boom-bap nostalgia and the modern electronic club-oriented sounds, Jay-Z has managed to strike a fine balance between the two, offering up an album that will not only work on modern urban dancefloors but also keeps his hard earned street-level credibility intact.

Naturally, the WhoSampled community was quick to map out the samples used on the album. The finds may surprise you; Kanye and co have dug up some real gems, and not only from the usual funk, soul and jazz crates which are an age-old staple for beatmakers. This forward-thinking approach is evident from the start – the album kicks off with ‘What We Talkin’ About‘, where Jay-Z’s hard-hitting raps are laced over a driving four-to-the-floor loop lifted from 70’s French cosmic electronica don Frédéric Mercier’s ‘Spirit’ (submitted by kidwho).

‘D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)’ keeps things fresh with a killer beat built from Janco Nilovic and Dave Sucky’s 1970 psych-blues workout ‘In The Space’, from French library music label Montparnasse (submitted by sclem), while interpolating some lyrics from ‘Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye‘ by Steam (submitted by danny_c98812) and ‘You’re Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)‘ by The Notorious B.I.G. (submitted by heartfire93).

The psych-rock theme is maintained on lead single ‘Run This Town’, as Jay partners up with Rihanna and Kayne West to serious effect over a massive electric guitar loop from 70’s Greek band 4 Levels of Existence (submitted by joshyjosh).

If tracks like ‘D.O.A.‘ and ‘What We Talkin’ About’ are about thrusting hip-hop into the future, then this track is all about celebrating where hip-hop has been. ’Empire State of Mind’, a duet with Alicia Keys, brings things closer to home again, sampling American 60’s soul band The Moments‘ ‘Love on a Two Way Street‘, chopped and set against big drums reminiscent of the 90’s head-nod beats on which Jay-Z made his name (submitted by kidwho).

On ‘On to the Next One’, producer Swizz Beats chops up the vocals off French electro duo Justice’s ‘D.A.N.C.E.’ (submitted by eldaash).

The recently-deceased Autotune is resurrected on ‘A Star is Born’, featuring J. Cole. An uptempo beat drives a big brass sample from funky disco number ‘Touch Me’ by Mother Freedom Band. A sure dancefloor winner! (submitted by kidwho).

And to finish off it’s back to Europe on ‘Young Forever’, with the chorus and synth pads borrowed from German 80’s New Wave band Alphaville’s ‘Forever Young’. It is interesting to note that whilst ‘Forever Young’ was a huge hit for Alphaville in Europe, it never made the U.S. top 40, which hints at a wider issue within American sample-based music, and especially hip-hop. You only have to scan through this post to notice how many European records have been used in creating ‘The Blueprint 3’. European records made throughout the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s would generally only have made it across the Atlantic if there was a demand for them. It is an entirely different story today, however, since thanks to the internet, any music can reach further than it ever has. It could be that this exposure to a wider range of non-American music is having a direct effect on the sound of contemporary hip-hop, keeping it fresh and allowing it to reinvent itself at what many people believe is a critical moment for urban music. Whatever the reasons, on ‘The Blueprint 3’, with its many unusual European influences, Jay-Z has created a sound which certainly bodes well for the future of hip-hop.

Musical Organ Donors

Back in the 1930’s, the union of musicians in the US went into strike, trying to stop radio stations from using recorded music instead of live musicians. We all know who won that battle eventually…

Since then, many musicians have been fighting against technology. Multi-track recordings, drum machines, synthesizers and finally, samplers, have all been ridiculed or posed a threat to studio musicians, while making those musicians redundant in many cases. Sample-based music certainly had to fight for its legitimacy. “It’s not real music”, said some, “it’s only taking other people’s music and stitching it together. It’s just what a DJ does anyway” said others.

But even if some of these notions may occasionally be true, DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing….., released in 1996, is widely regarded as one of the best records of the 1990’s, and surely a cornerstone in sample-based cut-and-paste music. Josh Davis (aka DJ Shadow) has painstakingly assembled dozens of bits and pieces from other people’s records, most of which were long-forgotten gems unearthed from the bins of second-hand shops. He managed to crystallize raw emotion from those samples, truly creating new and exciting music from the building blocks of other records.

In 2006, Dutch funk combo Lefties Soul Connection took Organ Donor, one of the more upbeat tracks on Endtroducing….. (or to be more accurate, the Extended Overhaul version which appeared on the compilation Preemptive Strike and the Endtroducing….. Deluxe Edition Bonus Disc), and played it live using traditional instruments. The outcome is breathtaking – a cover version of a samples collage, which actually sounds as if it was the original track that inspired DJ Shadow in the first place. They took Shadow’s track, and with a big, hot, steamy iron, melted all the stitches that held the various samples together, and made a solid, homogeneous, complete piece of music out of it – without losing the depth and body of the original.

In a way, this version was made by a group of “real” musicians, who were giving their stamp of approval and legitimacy to the sample-based music of DJ Shadow. For a cut-and-paste musician, perhaps no honor is bigger than that.

Michael Jackson’s Magic Lives On through Samples and Covers

It’s with great sadness that we learnt of Michael Jackson’s untimely passing at the age of 50. Even more sad is the fact that he was due for a spectacular series of comeback shows in London in just two weeks. Michael’s contribution to music, and pop culture in general, is immeasurable. A true icon of his time.

An interesting fact is that practically every hip-hop, R&B, pop and even electronic music artist counts Jackson as a major influence. While it’s quite obvious that he produced his greatest music in the late 1960’s (as part of the Jackson 5) through to the mid 1980’s, his music lives on in the DNA of a whole new wave of musical styles. Looking at his and the Jackson 5’s pages on WhoSampled, it’s just astonishing to see how long and varied the list is. From leading hip-hop artists such as Kanye West, Jay-Z, Nas, 2Pac, Ghostface Killah, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, LL Cool J, De La Soul and MURS, via pop giants such as Rihanna and through to electronic music heavyweights The Prodigy, it seems like everyone wants a little bit of Michael magic in their music too.

We cannot think of a better way to pay respect to the man and his work than make sure that his everlasting contribution to contemporary music is discovered and appreciated. Michael may no longer be with us, but we just know that his and the Jackson 5’s pages on WhoSampled will just keep on expanding, meaning that his magic keeps on pumping in the veins of new music for decades to come.

May he rest in peace.

Guess Who’s Back? Eminem Relapse Sample Sources

This week marks the big return of Eminem with the release of his 6th studio album, Relapse. It took the man over 4 years to release new material and after a long and troubled period in his life he has come back with what is arguably his darkest and most sinister album yet. While you may or may not like his style, flow and lyrics, it’s hard not to agree that his music has been blessed with the very highest in hip-hop production values, all conducted by the mighty Dr. Dre. It’s always thrilling to check out Dre’s productions, and for us sample spotters to find out what has influenced and served as the basis of the new tunes.

We didn’t have to wait long before our amazing community came up with the goods: so far 5 samples have been spotted, and the choice of originals is definitely quite surprising. In no particular order, here they are:

1. Crack a Bottle samples Mike Brant’s Mais Dans La Lumière (1970) – This collaboration with Dr. Dre and 50 Cent samples an over-the-top French crooner chanson [contributed by Smokey]

2. We Made You samples Walter Egan’s Hot Summer Nights (1978) – A forgotten rock musician who is now a high school substitute teacher according to Wikipedia, how cool is that for the students?! Please also note the vocals on the Eminem tune are somewhat closer to a cover version by the band Night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmz4sBnIlOc [contributed by Shinj]

3. Beautiful samples Queen & Paul Rodgers’s Reaching Out (2005) – A surprising sample of a live performance by Queen in their post-Freddie Mercury era. The original song was some sort of a charity release by Brian May and Paul Rodgers with some guests under the name “Rock Therapy” [contributed by Shinj]

4. Insane samples Skinny Boys’s Jockbox (1986) – Taking it back to the old skool, a lyrical reference to this Skinny Boys hip-hop classic [contributed by Shinj]

5. Same Song & Dance samples Metallica’s One (1988) – The guitar riff is pretty much lifted off the song that broke Metallica into the mainsteam [contributed by bari13]

Many thanks to the contributors and moderators who make all of this possible. If you spotted more samples off this album, or any other album for that matter, please submit them and they will be added to the site. Keep on spottin’!

Twit! Twit!

It’s busy times here at the WhoSampled HQ. The site is growing rapidly and we’re working hard on improving it by adding new features on a continuous basis. We did a slight facelift to the design last week and incorporated the ability to browse the database by years. The new “Similar Samples” box on the right-hand side of every sample page now suggests a random selection of samples, providing a great way to casually explore the database and stumble upon some hidden treasures. There is also a better ranking algorithm for the top samples now, so get voting if you want to see your favourite samples reach the top spots! The search functionality has been improved as well, and can take you directly to an artist page if that’s what you were looking for.

We’ve just launched a WhoSampled Twitter account so that you can keep on top of what’s happenning on the site. We will aim to continuously send interesting updates, so why not start following us right now? Please also remember to join us on Facebook and MySpace if you use them.

One more issue that we have been handling recently is the whole thing with YouTube videos being removed by the copyright holders, and especially Warner Music’s decision to remove their content. At WhoSampled we always look to provide official, legal content that is approved by the copyright holders, while making sure you can watch and listen to complete tracks in good quality. Thankfully the major labels are starting to provide ways to stream their catalogue online, and we will watch closely to see how that trend unfolds in order to provide the best experience for our users. In the meantime, whenever a good video source for a track cannot be located, we are using an Amazon mp3 widget instead (for example here). These widgets play a high quality 30-second clip and allow you to conveniently purchase the track directly from Amazon. However, we will use those widgets only when there is no full-length alternative and when the sample can be clearly heard in Amazon’s 30-second clip.

As always, we are looking forward to hearing your comments and suggestions so please get in touch if you have something to tell us.

What a Great Start! We Need Moderators :)

Phew! It’s been just over three months since we launched WhoSampled, and the site is taking off very nicely. We already have several hundred members and more than 2,500 tracks, 1,500 artists and 1,500 samples in the database, and loads more are coming in on a daily basis. We’d like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed to the site so far

Due to the high level of activity, we are now looking for members willing to become moderators on the site. If you can spare at least two hours a week and have a great eye for detail, you can gain the endless satisfaction of playing an important part in further developing the web’s Mecca of sample spotting. If you’re interested, please get in touch with us here

We would like to use this opportunity to wish you all a great 2009 – keep on discovering and enjoying great music and watch this space for some exciting announcements!

Kanye West – 808s & Heartbreak Samples

Kanye West’s new album, 808s & Heartbreak, has dropped today (nearly two months ahead of the original release date). Given the radical approach Mr. West took on this album and all the buzz around it, we just had to get it and form our own opinion! So yes, Kanye has definitely stepped way out of his comfort zone on this one. The rapping is all but gone and replaced by auto-tuned singing, an approach which in principle could be a really bad idea but in reality works well and creates some stunning moments. The best bit for us though is the heavy, clean use of the 808 bassdrum throughout the album. Almost makes up for the relatively sparse use of samples!

So what samples did Kanye use on the album after all? Thanks to you, our wonderful community, we didn’t have to wait long to find out! Here is what you have come up with so far:

• Heartless, the second single from the album, samples an incredible pan flute hook from The Alan Parson’s Project (1984) – submitted by jamieduffy21
• RoboCop’s chorus is built around some soundtracky violins taken from Patrick Doyle’s Kissing in the Rain from the soundtrack to the film – submitted by jamieduffy21
• Bad News samples the folky drum loop from See-Line Woman by Nina Simone – submitted by jamieduffy21
• And the album’s grand finale (not counting the bonus track), Coldest Winter, is all based on Tears for Fears’s incredible Memories Fade, a killer ballad from 1983 – submitted by Shinj

If you’ve spotted any more samples on the album, please submit them to us and the world will know!

So what do we think of the album? Well, after listening to it twice we can safely say that it’s fantastic. If you weren’t totally disgusted by “Love Lockdown” and “Heartless” (after really giving them a chance that is), you’re gonna love this. It’s the perfect soundtrack for this gloomy winter – we just hope you won’t be as heartbroken as Kanye sounds on this one.

Our beloved office 808

Kanye West: Glow in the Dark Tour

We went to see Kanye West’s Glow in the Dark show at the o2 arena in London last night, and we weren’t disappointed! To those of you who haven’t had the chance to see or read about the show, it tries to push the boundaries of what a hip-hop gig (or any gig in fact) can be by combining an incredible, super-high-techy, ever-morphing stage set with a sci-fi narrative and, well, incredible music featuring an extended live band. It’s all a bit Spinal Tap but the end result is actually very, very good.

So the story revolves around Kanye crash landing his spaceship on a distant planet, which is simply an effective and engaging way to set the scene for some extremely vivid, impressive stage settings involving a giant video screen, hydraulic platforms, massive lighting rigs, projections and thrusts of smoke. The great thing for us, as avid sample-spotters, was to see, hear and think about how all those great records from the past, so masterfully re-used in Kanye’s productions, provide the building blocks for the show’s sonic landscape. For example, when Gold Digger was dropped, Ray Charles’s soulful vocals from 1954 were accompanied by a sensual she-robot dancing on the giant screen. Shirley Bassey’s amazing 1971 vocals sampled in Diamonds from Sierra Leone thundered through a misty blue planet landscape and Curtis Mayfield’s soulful orchestrations from the 70’s, as used in Flashing Lights and Touch the Sky, provided a majestic atmosphere to accompany the high-techy visual extravaganza. Other favourites, all featuring prominent samples, included I Wonder, Champion, Spaceship, All Falls Down and Jesus Walks. The set climaxed with Stronger and the encore included a surprise performance of American Boy with Estelle, yet another sample of course!

The gig ended on a forward-looking note with Love Lockdown from Kanye’s forthcoming new album, 808’s and Heartbreak. The song is available as a free download on Kanye’s blog, by the way. We anticipate less (if any) samples on this new album, but nevertheless admit to growing more and more fond of the new musical direction Mr. West has taken and look forward to checking it out on some LOUD speakers when it’s released later on in the month.