The Science Behind Hip Hop

Mad Scientist at Work

In my English class, we have been studying the world of hip hop this whole semester. Through in-depth research and studying, I have been able to broaden my prospective of hip hop and began thinking of the music in a completely different way then I had before. I have discovered the many complexities intertwined into what makes hip hop the music it is. It’s brilliant how complicated and diverse hip hip music is. I’ve learned a big part of hip hop music is created through the science of sampling. Not only was sampling the foundation of the beginning of hip hop music, its still very relevant in hip hop/rap music today.

Sampling for hip hop began at the start of its movement. Since the 70s, DJs had taken samples from all genres of music like rock, jazz, reggae, etc. to incorporate and reconfigure to create a exclusive and rare sound. This helped:

  1. Set a foundation to promote the building of a new and unique sound
  2. Sampling integrated the best of each genre to create one unified sound to attract people from all walks of life.

Sampling took on a life of its own. From it, more advanced techniques were created like scratching and backspinning, which is all credited to one of the founding DJs or should I say one of the founding scientist of hip hop, DJ Grandmaster Flash.

The Method To the Madness

What makes sampling a science is the ability to take music (one art form) apart and put it back together to design a completely different structure. It’s genius! Sampling, I believe, is what makes hip hop/rap music so diverse. When you think about the studying method behind sampling music from rearranging certain chords, beats, breaks, or even words and add to ones own originality, it morphs into something fresh and new which sets the bar for more complex creativity. Many decades of using the science of sampling, has been proven to be a staple for hip hop/ rap music.

The video below gives you a clear understanding of the beginning of sampling in hip hop music. This video breaks down the science of sampling and provide some wonderful examples of hip hop/rap songs that used sampling. It exhibits cases like: Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin’,” sampling from Baligh Hamdi’s 1957 hit “Khosara, Khosara” (@ 5:28), Dr. Dre’s “The Next Episode” sampling from David McCallum’s 1967 song “The Edge” (@ 6:11), and Kanye West’s “Good Life” sampling from Michael Jackson’s 1982 hit “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” (@ 6:52).

The scientific practice of sampling is still very much alive and well. But instead of DJs mixing these musical concoctions, producers of today are the masterminds behind constructing new melodies from sampling music.

Here are a few songs from today you may not have known were created through the method of sampling:

Drake’s “Hotline Bling” samples Timmy Thomas’ 1972 song “Why Can’t We Live Together”

Future’s “Where Ya At” samples Stan Getz’s 1961 song “Goodbye”

And lastly, Rae Sremmurd’s “This Could Be Us” samples Black Grass’ 1973 song “Burnin’ Love”