The 10 most sampled beats in history

Get ready for a funky ride as the Who Sampled blog explores the 10 most sampled breakbeats in history:

You can’t mention sample-based music and not talk about drum breaks. In the early 1970′s, years before producers had begun chopping up old records on samplers, Jamaican-born and Bronx-based DJ Kool Herc introduced a new approach to mixing records, paving the way for the development of Hip-Hop beatmaking. At the time, when playing extended disco mixes and heavy funk, Herc noticed that it was the instrumental versions, and often the percussion-only breaks in the middle of those records, which sent the crowds wild. He began extending these instrumental passages by hand, switching from one record to the next, chopping from break to break. Bedroom producers soon began looping drum breaks on cassettes, and eventually, the arrival of dedicated digital samplers and drum machines made the job easier, allowing far greater control and manipulation.

Here’s number 10 – ‘Ashley’s Roachclip’ by The Soul Searchers (breakbeat appears at 3:31)

The break from ‘Ashley’s Roachclip’ was made famous by its use on ‘Paid In Full‘ by Eric B. & Rakim. It became a late 80′s / early 90′s chart music staple, famously used on ‘Set Adrift on Memory Bliss‘ by P.M. Dawn, ‘Unbelievable‘ by EMF and even Duran Duran‘s 1993 single ‘Come Undone‘. In 2008, Lloyd and Lil Wayne paid tribute by using it again on ‘Girls Around the World‘.

Hop on over to the site for the remaining nine, and for the full lowdown on these classic beats and their origins.