Dr. Dre — What's The Difference

I gotta admit, I was lowkey pretty pissed off at Dre when I found out this joint was a sample. This is one of my favorite Dre beats out of hundreds you can choose from. I'm always a big fan of big band brass instruments and strings — this song put them both together. Plus it's got that sinister sound because it's in the key of B minor, which isn't that popular of a key. Late 90s Dr. Dre used minor keys mostly and crafted his signature "dark" sound.

Gotta give Dre credit though. How many of y'all know who Charles Aznavour is? He dug WAY in the crates for this one. And what's dope about Dre is he will usually get live musicians to recreate the sample. He don't just rip it — he'll have his staff musicians replay it. Dope.

A Tribe Called Quest — Electric Relaxation

Hands down my favorite Tribe joint. This is just some smooth shit right here. Tribe's sound is built on jazz so this didn't surprise me that Q-Tip reached back to 1972 and grabbed a Ronnie Foster record. Ronnie Foster is a dope organist and an important figure in the acid-jazz world.

Q-Tip is probably one of the most slept on producers ever. Did y'all know he produced on Illmatic?

Future — Mask Off

Y'all know I gotta give this generation some love too. I thought this was a masterful use of this sample. I would have never thought to pull that loop and make a super hot millennial rap record out of it. It was genius.

"Prison Song" is a deep record though — actually a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. talking about oppression in the 60s. And crazy ass Future turned it into a song about Molly and Percocets. It's kinda funny though. These kids nowadays man.

Kanye West — Good Life

One of the best on this list to be honest. I make it no secret that I'm a Ye fan. If you sample Mike, you better come with it — and he did. He took that little piece, sped it up to fit the signature early Ye style, and laced that shit. Well done.

Special Ed — I Got It Made

This joint is hip-hop royalty right here. If somebody put a gun to my head and said I had to pick one song to know all the words without messing up or they would pull the trigger — this is the joint I'm picking.

I gotta be honest though, I never heard of the original artists. And I'm usually up on the 70s funk and jazz. Howie Tee produced the Ed joint and threw some drums on top of this loop and that was it. A classic was made. I even sampled Howie's drums a few times off that record too.

DMX — Slippin'

RIP to the great DMX in probably one of his deepest songs ever off his 2nd album. That song really personifies his life. That joint really got to me when he died.

They sampled one of my top two favorite jazz artists of all time — the late great Grover Washington, Jr. What makes that loop unique is I believe he used a soprano sax. He usually played alto and tenor. The soprano's got a unique sound that you don't hear that often.

Dr. Dre — Nuthin' But A G Thang

I'm a huge fan of Dre and he's my undisputed favorite hip-hop figure of all time. This joint is one of the more popular records on this list because the original song was pretty well known.

As much as I mess with Dre — this was a straight rip. The bassline, the melody, all of it. But the genius of this is hearing all of that and thinking "Imma take this and do some gangsta shit to it." Gotta hand it to the good doctor.

Big Daddy Kane — Ain't No Half Steppin'

Another forgotten hip-hop gem right here. Kane was a beast back in those days, but this joint was my all-time favorite from him.

The Emotions were a super talented trio of women from Chicago that had a lot of hits in the 70s. I feel like this loop was made for Kane though — I don't even think they used it right. To me, Marley Marl's use of the sample was better than the original. No shade to The Emotions. But Marley Marl was one of the illest producers of all time.

Rakim — It's Been A Long Time

As y'all get to know me, you'll know who my favorites are. And Rakim is near the top of that list — probably right behind Dre as my favorite hip-hop figure of all time. This joint is off his first solo album "The 18th Letter" which is actually my favorite album from the Rakim catalog, including the joints with Eric B.

DJ Premier produced this joint and it's hard as hell. I think this is one of the best finds ever in a sample. Premo is a master producer and an expert crate digger. They say he's got a hundred thousand or so vinyl records. That's crazy.

BDP — The Bridge Is Over

Lemme say this — this one confused me because it's such a simple track. Anybody can play it. All white keys on the piano. Start with B, go down to F, then up to B. Simple as hell.

When I found out this was a sample I was like get out of here. They basically took the bass line and played it with a piano sound. Not only that, they infused the whole song with a reggae vibe. And to think that "The Bridge Is Over" is one of the all-time greatest diss tracks too? That's artistry right there.

The Pharcyde — Passin' Me By

I believe this is one of the forgotten joints of the 90s. This is one of my favorite songs ever.

To me, Quincy Jones is the greatest producer of urban music of all time. Maybe music in general. I studied him when I was a producer. The album this sample came from won a Grammy back in '74 — the whole album was hot. I won't give a lot of points for creativity here cause you didn't need it. The loop was so dope all you had to do was loop it up, throw some drums on it, and you got a hit.

Eric B & Rakim — Microphone Fiend

This was a great find, but they didn't do much to this song. They basically looped the record and sped it up. Voila — a hit record in 5 minutes. The reason I put it on this list is because it became a cult classic in the hip-hop community. Sometimes success is staring you right in your face in the most obvious places.

Quick fun fact — how many of y'all knew that Rakim made most of the beats for Eric B & Rakim? He actually programmed the drum machine and made the beats. It was always assumed Eric B was the producer and Ra was the rapper, but Eric B was more of the DJ and Ra was the rapper/producer.

Scarface — Guess Who's Back

This was masterful. Lemme tell you what Ye did here. He took the opening loop, then grabbed the drums from "Xxplosive" off Chronic 2001, added a lo-fi filter on it, and boom — turned it into one of Kanye's top beats ever.

This just has a fun feel to it and is in the key of D-flat major. Anything in a major key sounds fun and lighthearted. I can listen to this all day.

Beastie Boys — Paul Revere

This is an amazing use of creative sampling by the great Rick Rubin. Lemme tell y'all what happened here. They took that basic T La Rock drum loop and spun it backwards. And boom — that was the beat. They threw in a few sound bites but that was pretty much the track.

I ain't got nothing else to say about that but genius.

Mobb Deep — Shook Ones, Pt. II

I know I said these weren't really in order — but if they were, this would still be #1. Shook Ones can make a legitimate argument for being the best beat in the history of hip-hop. You can argue that without anyone getting mad at you.

Anything from Herbie Hancock is a good start. And the surgery done to this track was phenomenal. Havoc grabbed the drums off "Dirty Feet" and looped it. Then took a sound bite from Quincy Jones' "Kitty With The Bent Frame." Then sliced up Herbie Hancock's "Jessica" and made a damn masterpiece.

And the intro — the way Havoc stalled the beat — is probably the best start of any hip-hop song ever. This is the reason I continue to do these videos. Hip-hop is inspiring.