By Andrea Caccese

If you are a fan of rap music and if you are from New York, there’s a good chance you might have heard of Biggie Smalls, also known as “The Notorious BIG”. The influential Brooklyn rapper passed away in the 90s following a (still-unresolved) shooting, but his music lives on and touches generations of artists and fans alike. Notorious also brought the art of sampling to the next level: some of his most famous tracks, including “Big Poppa”, are anthems of a generation, but not a lot of people actually know that the main beat and melody come from earlier recordings.

Sampling is about borrowing bits and pieces of earlier songs to create something new: in this case, the rapper borrowed a part of The Isley Brothers’ classic “Between the sheets”. Hear the similarities:

Biggie was known to use the sampling method a lot, even on other tracks such as “Respect”. This time, the groove’s tempo and pitch were lowered and slowed down to fit Notorious’ rhyming style. Hear for yourself.

You can now also learn how to play around with your favorite tracks: join The Foxgrove for an introductory lesson to electronic music production and start sampling.

This gem is brought to you by The Hunt, The Foxgrove's blog that looks into the electronic music and DJ world in the lenses of fashion, lifestyle, art and culture. If you'd like to contribute, find us at info@thefoxgrove.com.