Hits 32/Dear Ibiza 20: Sample Addicts

Sampling other songs, while not entirely recent, was arguably an innovation of the hip-hop genre. Today, while hip-hop and rap songs continue to sample heavily from older tracks, the dance genre has become increasingly reliant on bits and pieces grabbed from past tunes. While some new tracks use samples as the base of their melody, others more subtly incorporate the snippets into entirely new creations. Here I've picked out eight great tracks with prominently-featured samples. Kicking off with sample queen Rihanna, whose career kicked into overdrive with the Soft Cell-dependent "SOS," her recent mega-hit "Don't Stop The Music" brings back the classic chants from Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" to great effect. Its insistent bassline and hook-laden structure will have you stomping your feet and singing "mama say mama sa mama cu sa" in no time, if it hasn't already convinced you to in its domination of the clubs and airwaves across the globe. Jamelia earned her one of her biggest hits ever with the whip-sharp "Beware Of The Dog," built around a hook from Depeche Mode's classic "Personal Jesus." Madonna, not often one to rely on covers or lifted elements from other tracks for her own success, had her biggest European hit of her career with the ABBA-sampling "Hung Up" from a few years back, included here in an extended instrumental version. Following these pop-based tracks are a handful of club tracks, kicking off with another Michael Jackson admirer. Beatfreakz lit up the dancefloor with their great "Somebody's Watching Me," proving yet again that despite his oddities, Jackson will always remain the true king of pop music. Audio Bullys mined an entirely different pop soundscape for their hard-hitting club single "Shot You Down," taking Nancy Sinatra's famous "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" and tearing it to pieces in a heavy monster of a track. Things get a bit lighter with the next two tracks, Cabin Crew's "Star To Fall" (featuring a re-recorded sample of Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes," much like contemporaneous tracks by Mylo and others) and Uniting Nations' straightforward dance remake of "Out Of Touch." To top off your day with a slice of amazingness, I've included a rough demo of the untouchable Róisín Murphy's "Let Me Know." You may not realize it (as I didn't until recently), but the track is heavily based on a sample of Tracy Weber's "Sure Shot." By no means does sampling mean the end of originality, though, as tracks such as these clearly prove.

Rihanna, "Don't Stop The Music" [YSI] (from Good Girl Gone Bad)
Jamelia, "Beware Of The Dog" [YSI] (from Walk With Me)
Madonna, "Hung Up" (SDP Extended Dub) [YSI]
Beatfreakz, "Somebody's Watching Me" (Hi_Tack Radio Edit) [YSI]
Audio Bullys ft. Nancy Sinatra, "Shot You Down" (Radio Edit) [YSI] (from Generation)
Cabin Crew, "Star To Fall" (Radio Edit) [YSI]
Uniting Nations, "Out Of Touch" (Radio Edit) [YSI]

Bonus:
Róisín Murphy, "Let Me Know" (Demo Version) [YSI] (original on Overpowered)

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