Sampling Machines
It’s impossible to discuss hip hop without exploring sampling, the process of taking a section of audio from one song and reworking it to fit in a new creation. This process of borrowing and reimagining music is fundamental to the development of modern hip hop, and really music generally, and it was largely made possible due to a variety of portable, relatively affordable handheld digital samplers coming to market in the early 80s.
Intrepid artists had found ways to manipulate audio to create samples in years prior, but the advent of the Akai MPC series and competitors led a new generation of artists to explore sounds that would eventually become foundational beats using very little equipment. It also brought about a new age of complicated copyright claims still being worked out to this day.
