{"id":10944,"date":"2019-09-16T09:34:05","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T08:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/?p=10944"},"modified":"2024-02-06T10:50:40","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T10:50:40","slug":"who-are-the-most-sampled-artists-in-hip-hop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/2019\/09\/16\/who-are-the-most-sampled-artists-in-hip-hop\/","title":{"rendered":"Who are the most sampled artists in hip hop?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sampling in hip hop is an age old tradition that takes a piece of music and elevates it to something completely different. It\u2019s super common &#8211; it would be a surprise if your favourite rap tracks didn\u2019t have some hook or beat that\u2019s been taken from elsewhere to make it what it is.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, which artists are most sampled? Who sampled who? Thanks to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whosampled.com\/\">whosampled.com<\/a>, we looked into the most covered artists in the genre and the tracks that make them tick.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AoQ4AtsFWVM\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">James Brown<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Godfather of Soul takes the crown by a serious stretch for most sampled artist. With almost 7,500 samples to his name, he\u2019s a go to guy for other musicians out there. However, it isn\u2019t a smash hit like <em>Sex Machine<\/em> or <em>Papa\u2019s Got a Brand New Bag<\/em> that musicians are scrambling to take inspiration from. It\u2019s <em>Funky Drummer<\/em>, which didn\u2019t exactly set the charts alight.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The track is from a jam session in 1969 and is only 2 minutes 36 seconds long &#8211; for Part 1. It has transcended into hip hop and stayed there for decades, being sampled over 1,500 times. It\u2019s helped to create huge hits like <em>Fight the Power<\/em> by Public Enemy, <em>Run\u2019s House<\/em> by Run DMC and <em>F**k Tha Police<\/em> by N.W.A.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/l_Jeyif7bB4\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Public Enemy<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hip hop group Public Enemy sit behind James Brown when it comes to samples, with close to 3,000 under their belt. Public Enemy have been on the scene for more than 30 years, famed for their politically charged works and their criticism of the media in the United States. One track alone is responsible for more than 800 samples &#8211; <em>Bring the Noise<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The song itself contains nine samples, one of which is <em>Funky Drummer<\/em> by James Brown. <em>Bring the Noise<\/em> has been used by some of the biggest names in the game including Kanye West, Eminem and Ice-T.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZqauvQkC6VQ\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Beside<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rather than a number of songs making up an accumulated score to put them in third place, Beside\u2019s <em>Change The Beat (Female Version)<\/em> is one of the most sampled songs in history alone. The track is in French, but its power translated into hip hop pretty easily.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Macklemore and Ryan Lewis sampled this huge song for their catchy single <em>Thrift Shop<\/em>, Eazy-E sampled it for <em>Boyz in the Hood<\/em> and it was used to enhance <em>The Show<\/em> by Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick and the Get Fresh Crew.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KcoxQOeQRHw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Run-DMC<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hip hop group Run-DMC, made up of Joseph \u201cRun\u201d\u009d Simmons, Daryl \u201cD.M.C\u201d\u009d McDaniels and Jason \u201cJam Master Jay\u201d\u009d Mizell, have had huge influence since the early 1980s. Their music has lead to 2,046 samples, spanning outside of the genre and their most sampled song is <em>Here We Go (Live at the Funhouse)<\/em> amassing 763 of those samples.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The track has been sampled by the likes of De La Soul, Junior M.A.F.I.A with Biggie on <em>Player\u2019s Anthem<\/em>, Big Daddy Kane and LL Cool J. However, it\u2019s probably best known for the track <em>It\u2019s Like That<\/em> by Jason Nevins &#8211; you\u2019ll recognise the \u201cAnd it goes a little something like this\u201d\u009d from this track &#8211; that went on to become one of the best selling singles of all time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_JZom_gVfuw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">The Notorious B.I.G.<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s unsurprising that Christopher Wallace is one of the most sampled artists in history &#8211; more than 20 years since his untimely passing, rappers are still taking inspiration from Biggie in their rhymes and their beats. To date, there have been 1,718 samples of Notorious B.I.G\u2019s work but the most popular has proven to be <em>Juicy<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is arguably one of his most recognisable hits, from the first note, and it has given inspiration to artists like J. Cole on <em>Villuminati<\/em>, The Game on <em>Do It B.I.G<\/em> featuring Yung Joc and Common on <em>No Fear<\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-83Zkvt6vsM\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Kool &amp; The Gang<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New Jersey outfit Kool &amp; The Gang are best known for funk and disco classics like <em>Ladies&#8217; Night<\/em>, <em>Celebration<\/em> and <em>Jungle Boogie<\/em>. The group enjoyed commercial success in the 1970s and 1980s, but their legacy has trickled through to sampling stardom. Kool &amp; The Gang have been sampled more than 1,500 times with their most notable body of work being <em>N.T<\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It has been used 311 times, notably on Q-Tip\u2019s 1999 hit <em>Breathe and Stop<\/em> as well as N.W.A\u2019s <em>Gangsta Gangsta<\/em> over a decade earlier and Nas\u2019s <em>N.Y. State of Mind<\/em>, from his seminal debut <em>Illmatic<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6uikJTnmtgw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Jay Z<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shawn Carter has taken samples to elevate his own music &#8211; see <em>Lucifer<\/em>, <em>Big Pimpin\u2019<\/em> and <em>The Story of O.J<\/em> for a whistle stop tour of some of the things HOVA has done with sampling &#8211; yet he is also a heavily sampled artist in his own right. His songs have been utilised 1,484 times by a range of musicians.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most popular piece of work among them is <em>99 Problems<\/em>, taken from the hugely successful <em>The Black Album<\/em>. The Rick Rubin-produced piece has been sampled 57 times, by Kid Cudi, T.I. and Wale.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fvAAETHrXv0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Eric B. &amp; Rakim<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hip hop duo Eric B. &amp; Rakim were formed in 1986 in Long Island, New York. Their debut album <em>Paid in Full<\/em> is considered a benchmark within the golden era of hip hop, and it spawned a number of sample-able tracks but none as big as <em>I Know You Got Soul<\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The track has been referenced 352 times. It was used on Aaliyah\u2019s smash hit <em>Try Again<\/em> as well as Jay-Z\u2019s <em>Can\u2019t Knock the Hustle<\/em>, taken from his debut album <em>Reasonable Doubt<\/em>. <em>I Know You Got Soul<\/em> has also been sampled by big time producer Timbaland, Mos Def and Busta Rhymes.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zM0KAh5w7Rs\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Slick Rick &amp; Doug E. Fresh<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rapper Slick Rick holds huge influence, but his most sampled track isn\u2019t one that he has done alone. <em>La Di Da Di<\/em>, with Doug E. Fresh has been sampled close to 1,000 times across a number of genres, including of course, hip hop.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The biggest nod to <em>La Di Da Di<\/em> is Biggie\u2019s <em>Hypnotize<\/em>. It\u2019s also inspired Beyonc\u00c3\u00a9\u2019s <em>Party<\/em>, Miley Cyrus\u2019s <em>We Can\u2019t Stop<\/em>, Color Me Badd\u2019s <em>I Wanna Sex You Up<\/em> and Naughty By Nature\u2019s <em>O.P.P.<\/em> &#8211; a strong list by anyone\u2019s standards!<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DI-DRbf_AZk\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Nas<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was only a matter of time before Nasir Jones would grace this list. A keen connoisseur of samples himself, having used 703 of them in his own tracks, he has lent his expertise to his peers and those who followed after. Which did they enjoy the most? <em>It Ain\u2019t Hard to Tell<\/em>, amounting to 127 samples.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>It Ain\u2019t Hard to Tell<\/em> brought inspiration to Big L, ScHoolboy Q, MF DOOM and Rakim to name but a few. Its most recent use was this year, on <em>Algebra<\/em> by DJ Swet and N-Wise Allah ft. Milano Constantine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gaoCsmFDLcY\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Bob James<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jazz keyboardist and music producer Bob James has been hugely influential for hip hop. James was discovered by Quincy Jones when his band won a competition that Jones was judging at the Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival. His body of work has been sampled extensively but the favourite piece is <em>Take Me to the Mardi Gras<\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The song was originally recorded by Paul Simon, with Bob James creating an instrumental cover in 1975 for his album <em>Two<\/em>. The track has been utilised by Run-DMC, A$AP Rocky, N.W.A, Heavy D &amp; The Boyz and Ice Cube.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TMZi25Pq3T8\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">N.W.A.<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Compton\u2019s finest N.W.A. are widely considered to be one of the most influential groups in hip hop history. In spite of being banned from a number of mainstream US radio stations for their lyrical content, the group managed to sell more than 10 million copies of their debut album. Its title track, <em>Straight Outta Compton<\/em>, is their most sampled piece of work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nipsey Hussle has used the track, as has Killer Mike, Vince Staples and Public Enemy. Unsurprisingly, Eazy E and Ice Cube have utilised the track elsewhere &#8211; most famously on <em>No Vaseline<\/em> by Ice Cube, one of the most scathing diss tracks of all time, taking aim at his former group upon his departure.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DI3yXg-sX5c\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Snoop Dogg<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another West Coast rapping superstar, Snoop Dogg\u2019s career has spanned close to 30 years. He\u2019s known for his work with Dr. Dre &#8211; as depicted on the biopic <em>Straight Outta Compton<\/em> &#8211; as he was discovered by Dre, but after departing Death Row Records, Snoop shone in his own right. So much so, he even has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Snoop\u2019s most sampled track is a song with Dr Dre &#8211; 1992\u2019s <em>Nuthin But a G Thang<\/em> that has been worked into <em>This is Why I\u2019m Hot<\/em> by MIMS, <em>Livin\u2019 It Up<\/em> by Ja Rule as well as Vic Mensa\u2019s <em>Like the Way<\/em>. When it comes to Snoop\u2019s solo work, his most popular is <em>Gin and Juice<\/em>, used by 50 Cent, Notorious B.I.G and Young Buck.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1DS5D6cYQhA\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Isaac Hayes<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some people may know Hayes as Chef in <em>South Park<\/em> whereas some others may know him for the theme from <em>Shaft<\/em>. No matter what, he\u2019s an artist to lean on with more than 1,000 samples over the years. The one track musicians use more than any other is <em>Ike\u2019s Mood I<\/em> from 1970 with 153.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The song was taken from Ike\u2019s fourth studio album, <em>&#8230;To Be Continued<\/em> which peaked at #11 on the Billboard 200 chart. It\u2019s been sampled by Mary J Blige, DMX, Massive Attack, Foxy Brown, Fat Joe and Warren G.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gG_dA32oH44\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Kanye West<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The last spot on our list goes to none other than Kanye Omari West. Renowned for his sample work that made his name both as an artist and as a producer, he\u2019s no stranger to taking bits and pieces from other musicians, whether they are within his genre or not. He\u2019s sampled nearly 1,000 songs in his time &#8211; and 989 tracks have sampled him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His most prominent work is <em>N****s in Paris<\/em> from 2011\u2019s <em>Watch the Throne<\/em>, Ye\u2019s collaborative effort with Jay Z. Kanye has used it in his subsequent work like <em>All Day<\/em>, but ScHoolboy Q has found use for the track, as has Papoose.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>According to whosampled.com, the most influential artists in hip hop are:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>James Brown \u201d\u201c Sampled 7,451 times<\/li>\n<li>Public Enemy \u201d\u201c Sampled 2,912 times<\/li>\n<li>Beside \u201d\u201c Sampled 2,329 times<\/li>\n<li>Run-DMC \u201d\u201c Sampled 2,046 times<\/li>\n<li>The Notorious B.I.G \u201d\u201c Sampled 1,718 times<\/li>\n<li>Kool &amp; The Gang \u201d\u201c Sampled 1,564 times<\/li>\n<li>Jay Z \u201d\u201c Sampled 1,484 times<\/li>\n<li>Eric B. &amp; Rakim \u201d\u201c Sampled 1,428 times<\/li>\n<li>Slick Rick &amp; Doug E. Fresh \u201d\u201c Sampled 1,401 times<\/li>\n<li>Nas \u201d\u201c Sampled 1,333 times<\/li>\n<li>Bob James \u201d\u201c Sampled 1,277 times<\/li>\n<li>N.W.A. \u201d\u201c Sampled 1,160 times<\/li>\n<li>Snoop Dogg \u201d\u201c Sampled 1,100 times<\/li>\n<li>Isaac Hayes \u201d\u201c Sampled 1,092 times<\/li>\n<li>Kanye West \u201d\u201c Sampled 989 times<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Need to update your hip hop collection? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/store\/category\/music\/cd\/\">Buy cheap CDs<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/store\/music\/vinyl\">cheap vinyl records<\/a> from musicMagpie Store! Get your hands on the classics for as little as \u00a31.09 plus FREE delivery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sampling in hip hop is an age old tradition that takes a piece of music and elevates it to something completely different. It\u2019s super common &#8211; it would be a surprise if your favourite rap tracks didn\u2019t have some hook or beat that\u2019s been taken from elsewhere to make it &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":10947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[2108,1692,1653,2111,1686,2110,2109,2112],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10944"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10944"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16788,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10944\/revisions\/16788"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}