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WOW! The WhoSampled Database Crosses 100,000 Songs!

July 6, 2011

Music DNA Brain of the Universe

Music DNA Brain of the Universe by My Doodle a Day

We’re extremely pleased to announce that the WhoSampled database has crossed the 100,000 songs mark! This incredible accomplishment is the result of a huge collective effort of nearly 4,500 contributors and more than 100 moderators (past and present) over the last two and a half years. The WhoSampled database is now by far the largest, most detailed and most accurate resource for sample-based music ever created, and it keeps on growing at an ever-increasing speed on a daily basis. We also currently have:

  • Nearly 40,000 artists from across the entire musical spectrum
  • Over 52,000 samples spotted
  • Over 31,000 cover songs identified
  • Nearly 10,000 remixes listed
Given that each and every song was manually identified, described and submitted by a contributor and carefully checked by a moderator, this really is an incredible accomplishment. We would like to use this opportunity to say a massive THANK YOU to our moderators (past and present), our contributors and the millions of awesome music fans who have visited the site to date and keep on enjoying it on a regular basis. And of course, a huge THANK YOU all the artists and labels whose music appears on the site, including the ones who have written to us to show their support.
Now that the database has grown so much, we are developing more ways to discover and explore its contents. First of all, it’s important to keep track of our growth so we’ve just added a live Site Stats section to our About Us page. We’ve also just added “Hot Samples” and “Popular Artists” sections to our front page. These sections allow you to see the most viewed samples and artists in the last 24 hours at any time. And let’s not forget we’ve also recently added artist aliases and group membership information to artist pages (for example, see 2Pac‘s page).
If you like WhoSampled, please remember you can Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter to get exclusive updates. If you have friends who would enjoy WhoSampled but may not know it yet, don’t forget to tell them about it! We’re 100,000 songs strong, but we’re just getting started!

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Bollywood Strikes Back: Top 10 Indian Remakes of Western Hits

June 1, 2011

Last week we went on a hunt to find the best ever samples of Bollywood music, and came up with a Top 10 that included mainstream artists like Britney Spears and Black Eyed Peas alongside hip-hop giants like Jay-Z, Timbaland and Method Man, and electronic artists like M.I.A., Chase & Status and Tricky. We’ve demonstrated the great influence that Bollywood (and generally Indian) music has on western music. But this influence goes both ways. Indian film composers certainly had and still have their ears open to the world, and it is common for them to remake western songs in their productions. The results are uniquely creative, sometimes quirky, but always entertaining. We’ve dug into the WhoSampled database once more to dig up the best ones – take a deep breath, and enjoy the ride!

1. Karle Gunaah by Anu Malik feat. Ishq Bector (2008) sample of Gasolina by Daddy Yankee (2004)

We start off with this unlikely remake of Daddy Yankee‘s reggaetón superhit ‘Gasolina’. You wouldn’t think that an urban Latin track by a Puerto Rican artist would cross over very well to a Bollywood style, but this actually works very well: Indian flavors are added to the Latin mix, creating a surprisingly tasty version of the staple reggaetón dish.

2. Auva Auva: Koi Yahan Nache by Usha Uthup and Bappi Lahiri (1982) sample of Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles (1979)

Last week we featured Jimmy, M.I.A.‘s remake of ‘Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja’ from the 1982 Bollywood cult classic Disco Dancer. The film follows the story of a street performer rising to disco superstardom, showing that while in 1982 Disco music was pretty much dead in other parts of the world, in India it was still very much alive. In this brilliant cut from the film, Usha Uthup and Bappi Lahiri remake the Buggles‘ classic ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ in true 1980′s Bollywood style.

3. Teri Aankhon Ke Bina by Bappi Lahiri and Salma Agha (1984) cover of Billie Jean by Michael Jackson (1982)

Staying with Bappi Lahiri, who is considered the pioneer of the disco sound in Bollywood. Here he presents us with a great take on Michael Jackson‘s huge single ‘Billie Jean’. The song is a loose rendition of the original, done in fantastic Bollywood style, while the video takes its inspiration from MJ’s groundbreaking music video for ‘Thriller’.

4. Goli Mar by Chiranjeevi (1990) sample of Thriller by Michael Jackson (1982)

The Indian fascination with ‘Thriller’ doesn’t end there. In the 1990 film Kondaveeti Donga, Telugu cinema superstar Chiranjeevi (aka Chiru) decided to take on the impossible and step into Michael Jackson‘s shoes in song, dance and costume. He grabs an Indian beauty, grabs the bassline from ‘Thriller’, gets himself surrounded by zombies and then blasts into a frantic routine that just has to be seen to be believed. An absolute classic.

5. Amma Dekh Tera Munda Bigda by Bali Brahmabhatt and Alka Yagnik (1994) sample of On a Ragga Tip by SL2 (1992)

If the last remake wasn’t crazy enough for you, here’s another one. In the 1994 film Stunttman, Bali Brahmabhatt and Alka Yagnik took on none other than SL2‘s classic rave anthem ‘On a Ragga Tip’. While the vocals in ‘On a Ragga Tip’ were originally lifted from Jah Screechy‘s brilliant 1984 single ‘Walk and Skank‘, the breakbeat-rave styling of ‘Amma Dekh Tera Munda’ leave no room for mistake – the inspiration here comes directly from rave culture. Oh yes, and there’s a Michael Jackson reference (via Manu Dibango) here as well.

6. Ankhiyan Teriya Ve by Kailash Kher and Caralisa Monteiro (2005) sampled Eye of the Tiger by Survivor (1982)

2005′s Kaal (‘The Time of Doom’) is a Bollywood horror film set in a wildlife park where the tigers are believed to be killing humans. Fittingly enough, title track ‘Ankhiyan Teriya Ve’ replays Survivor‘s classic ‘Eye of the Tiger’ into an up-to-date Bhangra monster.

7. One Two Cha Cha Cha by Usha Uthup (1978) sampled That’s the Way (I Like It) by KC & the Sunshine Band (1975)

We picked this one for its pure sense of fun and randomness. Here, the wonderful Usha Uthup, who is also behind the ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ remake above, goes into a casual, fun-fuelled ‘One Two Cha Cha Cha’ routine before she can’t contain herself any longer, and at 1:06 just goes for KC & the Sunshine Band‘s classic line with sheer enthusiasm, opening the track up to some euphoric singing in Hindi interspersed with English. Good times!

8. Pretty Woman by Shankar Mahadevan and Ravi “Rags” Khote (2003) sampled Oh, Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison (1964)

Kal Ho Naa Ho was a huge hit in India when it was released in 2003, and featured none other than Bollywood uber-superstar Shahrukh Khan in the lead. Its soundtrack was without a doubt one of the biggest Bollywood successes in recent years, and one of its standout tracks was this electronic Bhangra remake of Roy Orbison‘s golden oldie ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’.

9. Daddy Cool by Raghav Sachar and Paroma P. Das Gupta (2009) sampled Daddy Cool by Boney M. (1976)

2009 film Daddy Cool was a remake of British comedy Death at a Funeral, lifting its name as well as title song from Boney M.‘s disco classic ‘Daddy Cool’. Raghav Sachar and Paroma P. Das Gupta cook up an up-to-date, masala spiced version of the original and serve it with some flashing lights and funny dancing, enough to make sure the party gets going right from the start.

10. Gori Thera by Silambarasan and Sunitha Sarathy (2006) sampled Don’t Phunk With My Heart by Black Eyed Peas (2005)

Last on our list is a great example of the cyclical nature of music, a topic we love so much here at WhoSampled! Last week we highlighted Black Eyed Peas‘s 2005 hit ‘Don’t Phunk with My Heart‘ as one of our Top 10 Bollywood samples, showing how it was conjured up out of two brilliant samples from 1970′s Bollywood action flicks. A year later, film composer Srikanth Deva decided to nod back to the song’s Bollywood roots by remaking it in the soundtrack to the Tamil film Saravana. What goes around comes around!

Last but not least, we leave you with this incredible anecdote. Did you know that Acid House, a pivotal electronic subgenre believed to have emerged from Chicago in the mid-1980′s, was actually first recorded and performed in Mumbai in 1982? Don’t believe us? See for yourself.

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R.I.P. Gil Scott-Heron, a Trailblazing American Poet

May 28, 2011

Gil Scott-Heron
Gil Scott-Heron, the influential American poet and musician who greatly contributed to the formation of rap music, has passed away on Friday, aged 62. While soul and funk musicians such as James Brown and George Clinton are often credited with having the greatest influence on the music in hip-hop, there’s no doubt that one of the greatest influencers on the art of rap – its poetry, ideas, politics and flow, is Gil Scott-Heron.

Scott-Heron was born in Chicago and grew up in Jackson, Tennessee before moving to the Bronx and eventually settling in Manhattan in the late 1960′s. After writing two novels, he focused on performing and recording spoken word. His debut album, 1970′s Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, is a powerful example of his raw oratory style: hard-hitting, politically charged spoken word fired to a minimal backdrop of congas and percussion. His most widely known work is The Revolution will not be Televised, initially released on his debut album and later re-recorded for the album Pieces of a Man released in 1971. The track is a powerful political call-to-arms and has been referenced, sampled and covered numerous times, for example on Common‘s single The 6th Sense.

During the 1970′s, while collaborating with musical partner Brian Jackson, his style evolved to include singing as well as spoken word, to a backdrop of incredibly soulful, funky rhythms. The influence of the landmark albums released during that period is immense, and naturally they were sampled in many hip-hop tracks. Notable examples include:

Unfortunately Scott-Heron spent much of the last 20 years dealing with drug addiction. After a 16 year hiatus, Scott-Heron’s career enjoyed a revival in 2010. He released a new album, I’m New Here, on XL Recordings – a well-received album that matched his deep voice with downtempo electronica. The album included the single Me and the Devil, a mesmerising cover of Robert Johnson‘s 1938 blues classic. And in that year, he was probably sampled in the most prominent way yet: the entire ending of Kanye West‘s latest album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, comprised of the tracks Lost in the World and Who Will Survive in America, feature lengthy samples of Comment #1 off Scott-Heron’s debut album, exposing a new generation of listeners to his timeless words.

Whilst he was sampled and covered by many, Gil Scott-Heron’s influence stretches far beyond just that. His message and style can be widely recognized in the voices of many of today’s conscious rappers. Scott-Heron is sadly no longer with us, but his legacy lives on.

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Top 10 Bollywood Samples

May 23, 2011

India’s Hindi language film industry, also known as Bollywood, is arguably the world’s largest film production centre. Bollywood films are famed for their spectacular mix of dance, flamboyant sets and costumes, and most notably the unique music that combines Indian orchestral instrumentation with (typically) high-pitched female singing. Behind these extravagant soundtracks often lies truly magnificent musicianship that is gaining ever increasing respect and popularity outside India and throughout the world. Bollywood’s rich soundtrack catalog has only started to be heard outside of India in recent years, in perfect timing to grab the attention of western producers who are forever looking for fresh sounds to sample. It’s therefore no surprise to see Bollywood samples cropping up in more and more global chart hits as well as underground hip-hop and electronic music. We’ve sifted through the list of Bollywood samples on the site to bring you the top 10 most notable ones. Ready? Chello!

1. Truth Hurts feat. Rakim – Addictive

This massive hit produced by DJ Quik and released in 2002 on Dr. Dre‘s Aftermath label is almost overshadowed by the massive $500 million copyright infringement lawsuit that followed (and was eventually settled out of court). The origin of the sample is a song called ‘Thoda Resham Lagta Hai’, performed by one of Bollywood’s most prolific singers, Lata Mangeshkar, in the 1981 film Jyoti. Quik looped the vocals along with the song’s original percussion and groove to create a sensual, mysterious and psychedelic beat that has stood the test of time.

2. Britney Spears – Toxic

This entry isn’t on the list just because it was a massive hit and a Grammy award winning song. What’s important here is that even though we’re talking Britney, a super-mainstream artist, this song is a piece of sampling genius. No, seriously. The way Swedish producers Bloodshy and Avant flipped this snippet off ‘Tere Mere Beech Mein’ by Lata Mangeshkar and S. P. Balasubramaniam from the 1981 film Ek Duuje Ke Liye is epic, and makes for an insanely effective pop hook. In order to understand how it was chopped up, check out this YouTube clip.

3. Black Eyed Peas – Don’t Phunk with My Heart

The Black Eyed Peas are no strangers to sampling (we currently list 91 tracks that they’ve sampled) and they sure like to sample Bollywood. They’ve done it several times, including in the opening to quirky single ‘My Humps‘, but the most memorable example is on Grammy award winning single ‘Don’t Phunk with My Heart’. The song is based around a sample of iconic Bollywood singer Asha Bhosle (yes, she of Brimful of Asha fame) from 1972 film Apradh. The BEP went a step further and sampled the intro for this track from another Bollywood soundtrack, Don. Interestingly, both soundtracks sampled here were composed by the Kalyanji Anandji brothers – seems like Will.i.am & co really wanted to get that vintage 70′s Bollywood action flick sound.

4. M.I.A. – Jimmy

British artist M.I.A., who was born to parents of Sri-Lankan Tamil and Hindu descent, is an artist who can credibly claim to have grown up listening to Bollywood soundtracks. On her sophomore album Kala, released in 2007, she has built on her connection and passion for that music by incorporating Indian music samples into no less than 4 songs on the album, including opening track Bamboo Banga, single Bird Flu, and Timbaland-produced Come Around. Most notably, she has shown her love for Bollywood on the single ‘Jimmy’, a remake of Parvati Khan’s ‘Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja’ from the 1982 film Disco Dancer.

5. Jay-Z feat. Kanye West - The Bounce

On this joint from 2002′s The Blueprint 2, producer Timbaland employs the vocal talents of Raje Shwari (who he worked with again on ‘Indian Flute‘ with Magoo the following year – incidentally, not a sample from an Indian track even though the lyrics suggest so). Shwari re-sings the vocal hook from ‘Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai’ (which appropriately translates to ‘What’s Behind the Blouse?’) by Alka Yagnik and Ila Arun from the 1993 film Khal Nayak. Her rendition is more understated than the vocal performance on the original recording and, coupled with a bit of clever studio trickery, creates the perfect haunting vocal hook to accompany the chorus. Notably this track also includes the first verse Kanye West ever released as a rapper.

6. Chase & Status – Eastern Jam

British Drum & Bass/Dubstep production duo Chase & Status love their sampling, and for this 2008 track they mixed elements from the soundtrack to critically-acclaimed 2002 film Devdas with an earth-shattering monster of a bassline, to devastating effect. Now three years after release, the track has established itself as an electronic classic and still gets heavy airplay and club rotation.

7. Tricky – Ponderosa

The beats on Tricky‘s debut album Maxinquaye almost sounded like they were from another planet when the album came out in 1994, and while that wasn’t entirely true, they did come from some unexpected sources that were forward-thinking for the time. This beat from the soundtrack to 1993′s Khal Nayak forms the perfect background to Tricky’s trademark rasping voice and Martina Topley-Bird‘s stoned singing. Tricky tapped into Indian cinema once more on this album by sampling the beat for Public Enemy cover ‘Black Steel’ from A. R. Rahman‘s soundtrack to Roja. Interestingly, Roja was Rahman’s first soundtrack, launching an illustrious career that took him from his Tamil roots to the top of international cinema, scoring films such as Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours while winning two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe along the way.

8. Method Man feat. Busta Rhymes - What’s Happenin’

Moving back across the Atlantic now to this Method Man single released on Def Jam in 2004. The beat was put together by DJ Scratch, who slowed down a psychy sample of Asha Bhosle and Usha Iyer‘s ‘Dum Maro Dum’ (‘puff, take a puff!’), taken from the soundtrack to Hare Rama Hare Krishna and released in 1971. The film, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, follows an unusual (and hard to follow) plot that criticises the decadence and drug-taking of western hippies in India in the late 60′s. ‘Dum Maro Dum’ was a huge hit in India in the 70′s, and gained cult status to the extent that a new film released in 2011 is named after it, and features an up-to-date remake of the original.

9. Erick Sermon feat. Redman – React

The title track off Erick Sermon‘s 2002 album featured Redman and was produced by Just Blaze, who reworked Asha Bhosle‘s voice in ‘Chandi Ka Badan’ from the 1963 film Taj Mahal into a a hard-hitting hip-hop beat. The verses are as strong as you’d expect from these two legendary MCs, and a creative use of interplay between the raps and the sampled voice makes for a memorable chorus.

10. Mobb Deep feat. Young Buck - Give It to Me

Rounding up our list is Mobb Deep‘s 2006 single from the album Blood Money. The track was produced by Profile and is built around a sample from ‘Tujhe Yaad Na Meri Aaye’ by Alka Yagnik, Manpreet Akhathar and Udit Narayan, taken from the soundtrack to 1998′s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Instead of choosing a vocal hook from one of the main characters, Profile chops up a choral sequence with parts of the original instrumentation and percussive Bhangra rhythm, resulting in a tough, rolling beat, perfect for Havoc, Prodigy and Young Buck‘s hard gangsta raps.

We hope you’ve enjoyed the list! Stay tuned for next week’s post, where we’ll highlight the other side of the equation: Indian remakes of western hits!

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Interview with DJ Ready Red of the Geto Boys

March 25, 2011

DJ Ready Red

Collins Leysath, aka DJ Ready Red, was the producer of legendary rap group the Geto Boys. Red has produced the majority of tracks on the group’s iconic and controversial second and third albums, Grip It! On That Other Level and The Geto Boys. His productions had a raw, hard-hitting, sample-heavy sound that was forward-thinking at the time and paved the way for many producers to follow. After many years of absence from the scene, Red is back behind the wheels of steel and in the studio. We were lucky enough to get the man to do an interview for the WhoSampled Blog, and here it is!

WhoSampled: What have you been up to since you parted with the Geto Boys?

DJ Ready Red: Where do I start! Well, that was 20 years ago and I’m not looking back. I did retire, only to have found the love again after moving to the Bay Area in California a little more than a year after the World Trade Center horror in NYC. That was around spring of 2002. I’m back touring, making beats again and helping raise a family now!

Do you still keep in touch with members of the group?

Yes, we’re still in touch when we can, get to talk or chill out.

Where are the other original members now?

Well, Thelton Pope aka K-9 I have no clue. Raheem and Jukebox are on Facebook and we talk a whole lot, and Prince Johnny C is from my hometown of Trenton, NJ and we have been working on some tracks.

Have there been any discussions or thoughts of a reunion?

All the time but it never happens.

How did you get into the music business?

I was trying to break in back in NJ when rap was first catching on, but at the time the labels were not checking for groups from NJ. That was in the early 80’s til like ’86, then around ’87 many groups from North Jersey were signed: Queen Latifah, Naughty By Nature etc… and even PRT (Poor Righteous Teachers) from Trenton NJ, my home town! By winter of 1987 I was in Houston, Texas. I went up to Rap-A-Lot Records and the rest is history as they say!

What artists do you count as your influences?

The pioneers: Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, a very long list of many crews that I admired. But my mother is the first - she was a piano teacher and played in the church services all the time, but I preferred to beat the tambourine!

What is your favorite Geto Boys song/album?

I actually like my whole catalogue lol! Maybe Do It Like a G.O., Gangster of Love and Scarface.

What do you think about state of Hip-Hop today in general, and the Houston/Southern Rap scene in particular? What do you think of Chopped & Screwed music?

Hip-Hop music is far and few now and underground, where Rap is mainstream! There was a time when Texas had the most exciting new rappers out and my homie DJ Screw RIP is a legend, I wish he was still here to see what he did and so many people copy!

What equipment did you use in making the Geto Boys albums?

I used Roland TR-808, 909 and 606, SP-1200 and Studio 440, and many Ensoniq samplers: EPS, 16+ and ASR.

Do you have any new material we can listen to?

It’s coming, you be the first to have some new tracks from me!

Do you have any advice for aspiring artists and producers out there?

Yes – never be scared to set your own trend and be innovative and original in your beats or musical journey!

DJ Ready Red is a member of the WhoSampled community and can be contacted via his user profile page. Thanks to ja_la for helping out with the questions.

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The WhoSampled Forums are Now Open!

February 28, 2011

We’re happy to announce that we’ve just launched a new forums section on the site. Since launch, the site has seen some healthy discussions and debate on the comments sections of its sample, remix, cover and artist pages, but we felt a growing need for a place where members of our community can hold general discussions, ask and answer questions and generally get to know each other more. And hence we’ve added the forums section, along with private messaging features.

So what do we have in the forums? Apart from a General Discussion forum and one dedicated to talking about the site itself, we have the all important Sample ID Requests / Consultation forum, where you can ask about all those nagging samples you can’t find in our database yet and just have to know what they are…! We’ve got a Crate Digging forum to highlight your latest finds and gems from the archive, a Music Production section for all you producers out there, and a section dedicated to promoting your own music. Finally, we’ve got discussion forums for the various genres represented on the site, from Hip-Hop, via Modern R&B and other Urban Music, through to Electronic Music, Rock and Pop, Soul, Funk, Disco, Jazz and Blues and beyond.

We’re already seeing some great discussions coming up, so why not introduce yourself to the community right now and start some interesting topics?

We look forward to seeing you all at the forums!

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John Barry, 1933 – 2011: Soundtrack Genius

February 1, 2011

Renowned film composer John Barry has died of a sudden heart attack on Sunday, aged 77. While his most famous works are the 11 soundtracks he composed for the early James Bond films, Barry’s complete resume includes well over 100 film soundtracks, musicals and TV series themes. Barry composed and arranged iconic music with an unmistakable lush orchestral sound infused with jazzy vibes, masterfully navigating scenes from epic suspense to sensual bliss. It’s little wonder that his remarkable arrangements, with their heavy brass and strings use, were sampled and covered by many musicians, often very successfully in huge hits. Let’s have a look at some of the most notable examples.

As a start, there is no need to look further than Barry’s first film soundtrack – 1960′s Beat Girl (interestingly also the first soundtrack to be released on vinyl in the UK). Fatboy Slim cleverly used Barry’s trademark twangy guitar sound to create a great hook in The Rockafeller Skank, his smash breakthrough single.

Unquestionably Barry’s most famous work is the James Bond theme, which originally featured in the first Bond film, 1962′s Dr. No. Interestingly, the writing credits for the theme remain with Monty Norman, who was originally commissioned by the producers of the film to compose the soundtrack but was subsequently replaced by Barry. It is widely acknowledged that while Norman may have written the basic notes of the theme, it is Barry’s arrangement and additional composition that turned it into an iconic masterpiece. Sampled by many including Public Enemy and Wu-Tang Clan, and covered by Art of Noise, Moby and Paul Oakenfold, it’s a piece of music that stands out in any context it is used in.

But this is just the beginning. In the mid- to late-90′s, many new artists found fame by sampling Barry’s golden sounds in genres such as Trip-Hop, Big Beat and even crossing over to Pop. Sneaker Pimps had a large hit in 1996 with 6 Underground, sampled from Barry’s Golden Girl off 1964′s Goldfinger soundtrack. One-time Big Beat darlings Propellerheads released a pulsating version of the theme from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1997. But it was Robbie Williams who took the sound to a much wider audience in the UK #1 single Millenium, based on the iconic strings from the 1967 Bond film You Only Live Twice. In 2009, Williams made similar use of Barry’s music again by interpolating the theme from 1969′s Midnight Cowboy score in the single You Know Me. Interestingly, the same theme was also covered in 1992 by Faith No More on their seminal album Angel Dust.

Barry’s influence on modern music stretches to Hip-Hop too, of course. The highest-profile example is probably Kanye West‘s sample of Shirley Bassey‘s Diamonds are Forever (composed and arranged by Barry) in 2005′s epic single Diamonds from Sierra Leone. Other notable examples include Dr. Dre‘s awesome interpolation of the theme from “The Persuaders!” on the track Big Ego’s off the 2001 album and Gang Starr‘s masterful use of the main title from The Ipcress File on their last album The Ownerz.

Given Barry’s massive influence over a new generation of composers, it is only fitting that his successor in composing the Bond film series emerged as a result of a tribute project. In 1997, 35-year-old British composer David Arnold put out a cover/remix album of Barry’s James Bond soundtracks called Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project, and received Barry’s blessing. Arnold’s work impressed Barry so much, that he recommended the producers of the next Bond movie to hire Arnold as its composer. And the rest is history – David Arnold has composed all Bond films since.

John Barry leaves such an extraordinary body of work behind, that it feels like his catalog has only just started to be tapped into by current artists and producers. It seems obvious that his exceptional compositions will carry on fuelling and inspiring a lot of new music in the future. May he rest in peace.

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2010 Roundup: The Samples Behind the Big Hits

January 12, 2011

2010 was another great year for sample-based music – we currently have no less than 1,840 samples listed for 2010 alone (that’s more than 5 samples released on each day of the year, including weekends!), and that number still keep on rising. Sample-based music is as popular as ever, with some of the year’s biggest hits incorporating samples or interpolations into the mix:

Usher – OMG

Far East Movement – Like a G6

Shakira feat. Freshlyground – Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)

Yolanda B Cool and DCUP – We No Speak Americano

Black Eyed Peas – The Time (Dirty Bit)

Ke$ha – Take it Off

Enrique Iglesias feat. Pitbull – I Like It

Auburn feat. Iyaz – La La La

Nicki Minaj – Your Love

Kanye West – Power

Diddy / Dirty Money feat. T.I. – Hello Good Morning

JLS – The Club is Alive

Duck Sauce – Barbra Streisand

Bruno Mars – Just the Way You Are

And yes, even Katy Perry – California Gurls (well, kinda…)

And that’s only the beginning, so make sure you check out our complete listings for sample-based tracks released in 2010, alongside 893 covers and 391 remixes for the year (there must be many more, so if you know of any that aren’t listed yet, please submit them to our database!)

2011 is already shaping up to be a very promising year, and we’ve got some exciting new features in the works. Our database has just crossed 80,000 tracks and the submissions are rolling in faster than ever before. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of our moderators, contributors, supporters and visitors, and wish you all a (belated) Happy New Year!

What were your favorite samples and covers of 2010? Please share them in the comments below.

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Kanye’s Beautiful Dark Sampled Fantasy

November 22, 2010

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

The unstoppable force that is Kanye West returns with his fifth studio album ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’, which goes on sale today. In this album, Mr. West ditches the emotional auto-tuned singing of his last album in favor of a return to hard-hitting beats and rhymes. As always, Kanye places sampling at the heart of his production technique, and this time his choices for inspiration are more diverse and surprising than ever. All tracks on this album were co-produced with other notable names such as RZA, No I.D. and Mike Dean. Let’s take a look at the original gems behind the new work – with a big thank you to all WhoSampled contributors who identified those samples!

The album kicks off nicely with uplifting opener ‘Dark Fantasy’. Kanye uses a vocal hook from Mike Oldfield’s ‘In High Places’ from his 1983 ‘Crisis’ LP and builds around it with newly recorded vocal parts. On the second track, ‘Gorgeous’, Kanye lifts the coveted guitar stabs from the Turtles‘ 1968 classic, ‘You Showed Me‘.  Next up is hard-hitting lead single ‘Power’, built around a break from a tough late 70s disco number by obscure group Continent Number 6 laid over the drums from Cold Grits’ heavy funk cover of the Isley Brothers’ ‘It’s Your Thing’. These exact drums were previously used by Kanye in ‘Crack Music‘ off 2005′s ‘Late Registration’ album. Distorted vocal elements are also added courtesy of progressive rockers King Crimson.

Kanye then reels in an all-star cast including Swizz Beatz, Jay-Z and RZA on ‘So Appalled’, using loops from ‘You Are – I Am’ by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, released in 1979. Following this is the sublime ‘Devil in a New Dress’. A pitched-up loop taken from Smokey Robinson’s ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’ from his ’73 ‘Smokey’ LP provides a heartfelt groove for what is perhaps the album’s strongest track. Next up Kanye chops up another classic funk break, ‘Expo ‘83’ by The Backyard Heavies, creating a chunky, dark groove for ‘Runaway’, featuring Pusha T. ‘Hell of a Life’ opens with a fuzzy organ sample taken from the intro to 60s group Mojo Men’s ‘She’s My Baby’, pitched down to create a dirty bassline. This is then coupled with a beat and vocals lifted from Tony Joe White’s ‘Stud-Spider’, which leads us into the chorus, the auto-tuned interpolation of Black Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man’.

Perhaps the most unexpected sample on the album is on ‘Blame Game’ which centres around a piano loop taken from ‘Avril 14th’, off the ‘Drukqs’ LP from none other than IDM legend Aphex Twin. The epic ‘Lost in the World’ opens with an extended autotune acapella introduction, interpolated from American folk group (and featured artists on this track) Bon Iver’s ‘Woods’. This then breaks into a Baltimore Club style beat including elements from Lyn Collins’ oft-sampled ‘Think (About It)’, peppered with snippets of spoken word from the unmistakeably Gil Scott-Heron. This leads us seamlessly into the final track, ‘Who Will Survive in America’, extending the idea with extensive sampling from the same track.

An album that throws such a diverse and unconventional choice of samples into one musical melting pot is bound to be an interesting listen, and this is certainly the case here. Kanye keeps expanding the musical palette of mainstream Hip-Hop, and it seems like his fans are welcoming his return to the rapping style that made him into the megastar he is today. We can’t wait to see where Kanye will go next.

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Good Night, Lonely Lover: Gregory Isaacs, 1951 – 2010

October 27, 2010

Earlier this week we’ve learned the sad news that one of the reggae world’s biggest stars passed away. Gregory Isaacs lost a long battle with lung cancer, aged 59. With a career spanning over four decades, Isaacs left behind a rich and extensive musical legacy, complete with timeless reggae classics such as ‘Night Nurse’, ‘Border’ and ‘My Only Lover’. We’ve selected some of our favourite Gregory Isaacs songs from the WhoSampled database to discover both the music that inspired him as well as the influence his unique brand of reggae has had on musicians up to the present day.

Nobody can deny the influential role American funk and soul plays in reggae history. This is no more evident than in the countless covers of soul (and especially Detroit/Motown) records which can be found in boxes of Jamaican 45rpm singles in record shops worldwide. Isaacs was no exception, his deep rendition of The Temptations’ ‘Get Ready’, released in 1982, is as melancholic as it is uplifting, a tastefully paced midtempo reggae revision of Smokey Robinson’s original driving Detroit soul arrangement. His cover of Billy Bera and Judy Clay’s ‘Storybook Children’ from the same year is another great example, this time with a dub reggae twist. But it wasn’t just the sound of young black America which inspired him. His 1992 cover of The Animals’ signature 1964 track ‘House of the Rising Sun’ is definitely worth a listen.

Isaacs was far more than just a cover artist, however. As a songwriter in his own right, he wrote and produced a string of hits which in turn have been covered by many other notable artists. He is perhaps best known for his ’82 classic ‘Night Nurse’, released on his own label African Museum, covered by Simply Red and Sinéad O’Connor.

A true reggae star, Gregory Isaacs’ discography certainly speaks for itself. His distinctive and emotive voice is etched into reggae history, and will continue to strike a chord with music lovers for decades to come.

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