This Documentary Reveals The Magic Of Early Sampling

A soon to be famous cast of musicians discuss the magic art of old-school sampling in this 1988 video.

Sample-based music was nothing short of a revolution. Who can even begin to imagine hip-hop without the textured layers of jazz and funk loops? Or house and breaks music without disco samples and epic diva acapellas?

The video segment above is a cool insight into early sampling techniques and the (now) rather passé debate about the ethics of the art form. It features interviews with some of sampling’s most accomplished proponents on both sides of the Atlantic, including Cold Cut and Ice T.

The documentary also has some memorable passages of De La Soul’s Prince Paul rifling through James Brown samples and a very fresh-faced Fresh Prince saying that sampling is the “sincerest form of flattery.”

At one point the documentary asks, “[is] sampling just an example of artistic laziness or is it a whole other art?” We’re going to go with option B on that one…

Like sampling? Watch another documentary on the subject here. Read about how Kraftwerk may have just unintentionally legalized sampling in Germany forever here.