Sampling is a crucial part of understanding hip-hop as a culture and an art form. The ability to reimagine a piece of another song and transform it into something distinctly your own is beautiful as a form of expression and a way to preserve history. The best samples stick in your head for years, sometimes becoming bigger than the original record itself. The worst ones feel like just another slice of easy nostalgia bait.
In the spirit of honoring great sampling, Noisey selects ten classic hip-hop songs with samples that will stick with you forever.
Ten Timeless Hip-hop Songs With Samples That Are Always Stuck in My Head
“They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y)” by Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth
Hip-hop fans and gamers alike hold a strong affinity for this Pete Rock classic to this day. Whenever I fire up an old PS2 to play NBA Street Vol. 2, I immediately beam with joy hearing the gorgeous saxophone. Stitching “Today” by Tom Scott and The California Dreamers and drums from “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud” by James Brown makes for one of the greatest beats of all time.
“The World is Yours” by Nas
Smack in the middle of The Ahmad Jamal Trio’s classic “I Love Music”, you’ll hear the backbone of “The World is Yours”. Beautiful piano chords set the scene for the New York classic from Nas.
“Selfish” by Slum Village, Kanye West, and John Legend
Sometimes, samples don’t need to go above and beyond. For Kanye West, he found that leaving Aretha Franklin’s “Call Me” largely untouched made for the best possible outcome. He was right, “Selfish” remaining one of hip-hop’s coziest songs of all time.
“Harlem Streets” by Cam’ron
Cam’ron is the only rapper who could pull off sampling an old 80s police procedural theme. By some miracle, “Harlem Streets” doesn’t feel cheesy with its chords coming from the Hill Street Blues theme song. Instead, there’s an uncanny warmth in Cam’s street tales, bolstered by the straightforward sample.
“Wanna Be a Baller” by Lil’ Troy
Prince used to hate sampling. He believed an artist needed to create their own music rather than curb from another’s work. But he was so impressed by how Lil’ Troy and co. interpolated “Little Red Corvette”, he cleared the record for free!
“Paris, Tokyo” by Lupe Fiasco
The best samples will make you feel like you discovered something brand new. Best-case scenario, it feels like nothing was sampled at all. This was the case for years, listening to “Paris, Tokyo”, where I had no clue producer Soundtrakk lifted Deodato’s “San Juan Sunset” as the backdrop for Lupe’s classic love song.
“Choose U” by Project Pat
Southern rappers love a classic soul record. Three 6 Mafia and Memphis rappers specifically adored old Willie Hutch records in particular, famously using “I Choose You” for UGK’s “Int’l Players Anthem”. However, that flip belonged to Project Pat’s limber, acrobatic rhyming first on “Choose U”.
“Hey Lover” by LL Cool J and Boyz II Men
Trackmasters were experts at putting a fresh coat of paint on a recognizable sample. Instead of overthinking the best way to flip a record, they’d let the source material do the bulk of the work. “Hey Lover” pulled this gambit off effortlessly, relying on the stunning composition on Michael Jackson’s “The Lady in My Life” do the heavy lifting.
“Always” by LNDN DRGS and Larry June
Jay Worthy made his career resurrecting old 80s R&B classics for his own flavor of West Coast anthems. “Always” was the best, flowing over the robust drums on James Ingram’s hit of the same name.
“Dreams” by The Game
Another impressive Kanye West production, this time chopping up the Jerry Butler’s “No Money Down” to dazzling effect.