BlogSampling
By DannyVeekens
Work Hard, Play Nice
Times in lockdown put a group of like-minded artists far apart yet closer than ever. A blessing in disguise: they started off a collective called Play Nice, half a year before its initially planned kick-off. Accelerated by an urge to create and have fun together as ‘Home Buddies.’By DannyVeekens
The Honey-Drippin’ Backbone of Hip-Hop
Roy C. Hammond was the lead singer of The Genies, a 50s vocal doo-wop group later signed by acclaimed record producer Bob Shad. But his most iconic work was not done as a lead, but on the background: founding The Honey Drippers, who made one of the most sampled tracks in history: “Impeach The President.”By DannyVeekens
Songwriting for The King: Giant-Baum-Kaye
Bill Giant, Bernie Baum & Florence Kaye formed a well-oiled songwriting machine in the 60s. They wrote over 40 songs for Elvis Presley, the soundtrack of Kimba The White Lion, and a number #1 song from the 50s - later covered by jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal.By DannyVeekens
How Chillhop Producers Got Back to Sampling
In the vast world of lo-fi and chillhop, loops and moods reign supreme. Sampling had always been an important part of that, before a new wave of producers stepped away from it to stay in the clear. A new album in affiliation with Tracklib now brings them back to their roots of samples, chops & dusty samples.By DannyVeekens
The Weird World of Blowfly
The self-proclaimed maker of the very first rap song. The “original nasty rapper, porno freak and inventor of the Miami Sound.” The first black president. The “porno funk” by parodist and cultural icon Blowfly is full of wild claims, and even raunchier references. With a catalog full of sex, filth & fuckery.By DannyVeekens
Les Baxter's Tropical Trips & Space Escapades
Pianist and composer Les Baxter was a pioneer in exotica. The music genre brings together easy-listening with rhythms and styles from Africa, South America, and Polynesian islands such as Hawaii and Fiji. In the 50s, Les Baxter was one of the first to ever do it, further experimenting and developing the genre from there.By Tracklib
Guest post: A Guide to Tracklib
Aaron Turner is a producer/artist creating vaporwave, future funk and lofi hip hop who recently discovered Tracklib. Get his thoughts on being a sample based producer in today's era - and his experience licensing the samples for his new album through Tracklib. This guest post is filled with great advice, tips and perspectives for bedroom producers who'd like to license - and properly release - their sample-packed projects.By Tracklib
Sample Multitracks from Chords' new Beat Tape
A release on cassette is as old school as it gets. But the new ‘Poisson Noir_sans bars’ tape by Swedish hip-hop heavyweight Chords is actually the first in its kind: on top of the digital release, multitracks are made available right away for sampling. A groundbreaking way to flip the script for sampling: music made for everyone.By DannyVeekens
Funky Monkey Business
Layering loops was the foundation for Funky Monkey in the early 90s, resulting in twenty-four years of making 70s-influenced electronic music, funk & downtempo. Now their own music is made available for sampling. Passing on the groove to the next funky monkey in line.By fimpen
Can you guess the song from the sample?
Chopping samples is a true art form. Taking parts of an old song and rearranging the sounds like a puzzle to create something completely new is a craft that needs to be respected and honored. In this new video series, we're visualizing how some great songs were made.By DannyVeekens
Interview: J-Live
J-Live is a rare breed: rapper, producer, DJ, former teacher—and he has mastered all of them. A few times backed by greats like DJ Premier, Prince Paul, Pete Rock & DJ Spinna. And other times handling production duties himself, such as on his newest release, 'At The Date Of This Writing.'By Tracklib VIP
1.5 Years of Tracklib - Video Recap
Time flies when you’re having fun. It’s hard to believe it’s only been a year and a half since we launched Tracklib. And oh what a ride it’s been. Thanks to everyone one that has been a part of the journey so far. And we’re only just getting started.By DannyVeekens
'Keyboards Wild, DJ's Smile' by Weldon Irvine
Keyboardist Weldon Irvine was not only frequently sampled (Madlib, Jay-Z, A Tribe Called Quest, Drake, et al), the jazz-funk great also embraced hip-hop himself. On top of a string of albums, he continued working with Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and even giving piano lessons to Q-Tip and Common.By DannyVeekens
It's a Funk Family Affair
The Whole Darn Family is a seven-piece funk band out of Richmond, Virginia, whose short-lived career in the mid-70s made for a long-standing source for sampling. Take their most sampled track, ‘Seven Minutes of Funk’: new on Tracklib, but flipped before for music by Public Enemy, Jay-Z, Kool G Rap, Wu-Tang Clan, Kurtis Blow, and countless others.By DannyVeekens
Kanye West: Uncleared Samples and Trolling Drake
Earlier this year, Kanye West puzzled fans and haters alike with 'Lift Yourself'. It even sparked a feud with Drake, as Kanye offered him the beat first. An actual scoop (without the poop-diddy-whoop): both samples in “Lift Yourself” weren’t cleared–at all.By DannyVeekens
The Jazz of De La Soul's Buhloone Mindstate
De La Soul’s Buhloone Mindstate is hard to comprehend. The album is crammed with in-jokes, far-fetched references, unparalleled flows, and typical De La quirkiness. As cleverly predicted in the intro track, that’s why it did blow up but didn’t go pop. But listening to the album, one thing is easily comprehensible: the influence of jazz.By DannyVeekens
Put on your X: Who is Knowledge?
A drum break from "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss; a sax sampled from “Catch A Groove” by 70s funk band Juice; an unidentified piano loop. All together on a 12" by emcee Knowledge, who is shrouded in mystery–with "Put On Your X" being his only release.By DannyVeekens
ZZ Hill: From Nobody to Somebody
“You've been trippin' around, uptown / Wooin' some fancy clown.” DOOM wrote everything for Madvillain’s “Fancy Clown” around a ZZ Hill sample. In a similar vein, hip-hop/jazz outfit Hocus Pocus built their "Mr Tout Le Monde" around another hook by the 70s/80s blues singer.By DannyVeekens
From a Funk Jam to 'The 900 Number'
From the original funk track by ‘Soul Sister #1’ to a breakbeat track, and from Public Enemy raising fists with “Anti-Nigger Machine” to DJ Kool starting parties with “Let Me Clear My Throat”. The horn sampled for “The 900 Number” by New York producer The 45 King took on many shapes.By fimpen
Remembering Aretha Through Samples
Sadly, one of the greatest voices in history moved on yesterday. Aretha Franklin’s music has been sampled in hundreds of songs. Here are 10 of our favorite tracks that samples Aretha’s iconic voice. Rest in Peace to the Queen of Soul. Your voice and music will live on forever.By DannyVeekens