Top Ten Samples in Rap Music

Sampling is essential to rap music. I’ve always liked the idea of DJs and producers pouring over crates of records. I imagine that our current generation of rappers are as informed by YouTube searches as they are by what’s available at record stores. The following are my favorite ten samples in rap music.

10. Donald Byrd: Flight Time/Nas: NY State of Mind

9. Dennis Edwards: Don’t Look Any Further/Eric B. & Rakim: Paid In Full

8. Grand Funk Railroad: Nothing is the Same/The Roots: Rising Down

7. Billy Brooks: Forty Days/A Tribe Called Quest: Luck of Lucien

6. Wendy Rene: After Laughter (Comes Tears)/Wu-Tang Clan: Tearz

5. Cris Williamson: Shine On Straight Arrow/JayLib (J Dilla and MadLib): The Red

4. The Jackson Five: Maybe Tomorrow/Ghostface Killah: All That I Got Is You

3. Prague Orchestra: Maria Religiosa/Nas and Jay-Z: Black Republicans

2. Ann Peebles: Trouble, Heartbreak & Sadness/Gza featuring Method Man: Shadowboxin


1. Marvin Gaye: Make Me Wanna Holler/Papoose: Flashback

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3 Responses

  1. Ma Bla says:

    love the article! Dennis Edwards’ Don’t Look Any Further is a really great video as well as a great song. I also was quite moved by Wendy Rene’s After Laughter, which though familiar as hell, I’d never actually heard before – what a great organ sound! Good work…

  2. Jess says:

    well done, Funk Doc, well done. 🙂

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