Most modern music relies heavily on the use of samples, the art of taking a snippet of a pre-existing recording, and working it into a new song.
Over the years we’ve known music to be a highly collaborative effort and more times than not, thanks to technology, the two artists don’t even have to be in the same room.
While we’ve seen some of our favorite musicians dragged to court over improper sampling, in honor of Black Music Month we’re celebrating the top three most samples artists of all time.
Take a look at the two artists whose music you hear more than anybody’s.
James Brown – 3,773 times
The founding father of funk music took 20th century music to new heights with his popular and electrifying performances. So popular in fact, that Dr. Dre, Nas, Jay Z, Kanye, Biggie and The Isley Brothers are just some of the musicians who’ve sampled music from Brown.
In addition to being sampled by a staggering 3,773 times, he also holds the record as the artist to have charted the most singles on the Billboard Hot 100 which did not reach number-one on that chart.
In 2003 Rolling Stone named four of Brown’s albums on their list of 500 Greatest Albums of all Time.
He died on Christmas Day in 2006. He was 73.
Catch the biopic above starring Chadwick Boseman as James Brown, in theaters August 1st.
Public Enemy – 1,528 times
In 1982 Chuck D, Flava Flav, Professor Griff, DJ Lord, Khari Wynn and S1W Group shocked the world with their politically-charged lyrics and opinions of the Black community. Aside from the number of controversial headlines the Long Island group made, their music has lived on long past their early years.
James Brown, Marsha Ambrosius and Stevie Wonder are only a few artists that have dug into the group’s enormous catalog to help assist with their sound.
Proving to be wise beyond their years, both musically and culturally, Public Enemy was famous for being on of the firsts to release MP3-only albums, a feat that was unknown at the time.
They’ve has been sampled more than 1500 times and it’s no surprise that they were also one of the first hip hop groups to be very successful overseas.
What is your favorite James Brown and Public Enemy song? Do you remember where you were when you firs heard them?
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