Sampling since it’s inception has changed the sounds of the Hip-Hop culture making beats more versatile to spit on. Furthermore, sampling tracks expands the audio sound and enhances the flavour of the instrumental. In this article we’ll be counting down 5 projects which used Indian sounds perfectly and created an amazing song.
1) Mos Def – Auditorium
Mos Def is a Hip-Hop legend along with the smooth Slick Rick. This track is produced by Madlib and the instrumental samples Shankar Jaikishan’s production from ‘Do Jhoot Jiye Ek Sach Ke Liye’ which featured Lata Mangeshkar’s vocals.
2) Erick Sermon – React Ft Redman
This is a legit old school banger which sampled production from the 1963 Bollywood movie Taj Mahal. The original track features India’s great Asha Bhosle and Mohammed Rafi. React produced by Just Blaze dominated the charts back in the day and the music video is crazy.
3) Necro – Licinpusee (NSFW)
The underground hardcore legend Necro has been using crazy beats for a long time but the instrumental for ‘Licinpusee’ definitely takes the cake and the dark style of Necro perfectly fits the music. The track samples a 1966 Lata Mangeshkar project, ‘Nacho Gao Nacho Dhoom Machao’. Also the music video is not safe for work but hey if you want to see what twerking looks like on Bollywood beats click the video below.
4) Method Man – What’s Happenin’ Ft Busta Rhymes
This one is a personal favourite as both Busta Rhymes and Method Man go ham and are the smoothest ever. This track is energetic! Vintage Busta Rhymes and smooth Wu-Tang killer is the perfect combination for this instrumental. The track samples the Bollywood classic ‘Dum Maro Dum’ produced by India’s late legend R.D. Burman
5) Truth Hurts feat. Rakim – Addictive
The 2002 single by Truth Hurt went gold in several companies and became the only track by Truth Hurt which peaked to the Billboards. DJ Quick did the production on this project and he sampled Thoda Resham Lagta Hai”, a 1981 song by the great Lata Mangeshkar. The track faced controversy when in came to clearances, DJ Quick did not get a clearance for the sample and the copyright holders Saregama filed a $500 million lawsuit against Aftermath, the label through which the song was released.