Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop

241 Pages·2004·2.1 MB·English

by  Joseph G. Schloss

Making Beats
MUSIC/CULTURE
A series from Wesleyan University Press
Edited by George Lipsitz, Susan McClary,
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Phat Beats, Dope Rhymes:
edited by Tony Mitchell
Hip Hop Down Under Comin’ Upper
The ’Hood Comes First: by Ian Maxwell
Race, Space, and Place in Rap
Locating East Asia in Western Art Music
and Hip-Hop
edited by Yayoi Uno Everett
by Murray Forman
and Frederick Lau

Joseph G. Schloss
Making
Beats
The Art of
Sample-Based Hip-Hop
Wesleyan University Press
Middletown, Connecticut
Published by Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT 06459
www.wesleyan.edu/wespress
Copyright ©2004 by Joseph G. Schloss
All rights reserved
Cover illustrations by Shawn Roberts
Text design by Julie Allred, BW&A Books, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America
isbnfor the paperback edition: 978-0-8195-6696-6
Wesleyan University Press is a member of the Green Press
Initiative. The paper used in this book meets their minimum
requirement for recycled paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Schloss, Joseph Glenn.
Making beats : the art of sample-based hip-hop /
Joseph G. Schloss.
p. cm. — (Music/culture)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ),
discography (p. ), and index.
isbn0-8195-6695-0 (cloth : alk. paper) —
isbn0-8195-6696-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Rap (Music)—History and criticism. 2. Hip-hop.
3. Turntablism. 4. Sound recording executives
and producers—United States. 5. Turntablists.
I. Title. II. Series.
ml3531.s35 2004
781.64'9149—dc22 2004043013
5 4
To my parents,
John and Suzanne Schloss,
and to our ancestors

Contents
Acknowledgments xi
1 Introduction 1
2 “It’s about Playing Records”: History 25
3 “It Just Doesn’t Sound Authentic”: Live Instrumentation
versus Hip-Hop Purism 63
4 Materials and Inspiration: Digging in the Crates 79
5 Sampling Ethics 101
6 Elements of Style: Aesthetics of Hip-Hop Composition 135
7 The Outer Circle: From Samplers to Ears 169
8 Conclusions 195
Endnotes 199
Bibliography 209
Interviews by Author 217
Discography 221
Index 222
About the Author 226