Sample Like Madlib: Originals by Ashla Bhosle, The Gaturs, Z.Z. Hill & Frank Dukes

Asha Bhosle is a true Indian icon who held the world record as the most recorded artist in music history. No wonder the likes of J Dilla, Madlib, Flying Lotus, DJ Scratch, Erick Sermon, Black Eyed Peas, WondaGurl (for Travis Scott’s “Uptown” featuring A$AP Ferg), and GonjaSufi all sampled some of her vast catalog.

Madlib takes the crown when it comes to sampling Asha Bhosle’s music: with numerous samples for projects ranging from Madvillain (“Do Not Fire!”) and Blu & M.E.D. (“The Turn Up”), to several tracks on Beat Konducta Vol 3-4: Beat Konducta in India. The album cover of that record is a take on B. R. Chopra's Burning Train; one of the countless Bollywood films featuring Asha Bhosla in its soundtrack credits.

“I was surprised that Madlib even knew about the Kingsway library,” recalls Kingsway founder Frank Dukes. “But Egon was like, ‘Madlib f***s with you, bro. He loves the music library.’ So seeing someone like Madlib, who is one of the most revered crate-digging producers. For him to embrace the evolution of crate-digging by sampling Kingsway—that's super cool.”