WhoSampled, a music website that showcases rap songs and the songs which they sampled, launched its app on Android today (September 23) as a free download. The product provides information on more than 270,000 songs, including what other cuts have sampled them, what artists have covered music from other artists and what remixes were made for a track.
WhoSampled features tracks from more than 95,000 artists and owner Nadav Poraz says that a few artists are among his favorites.
“I’m a big fan of Kanye [West] as an artist, and I think his sampling is often genius – examples like ‘Jesus Walks,’ ‘Stronger’ and pretty much all of the sampling in Yeezus,” Poraz says during an exclusive interview with HipHopDX. “It’s the type of sampling that infers the narrative of the song. It’s got meaning. And his sample sources are quite diverse as well.
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“So many potential G.O.A.T.s in there, but if I had to choose the one that really drew me into Hip Hop, it was the Bomb Squad sound for Public Enemy,” Poraz continues. “Such a hectic, beautifully noisy collage of samples that was perfect for their messaging. I really hope to see this sort of sound coming back – detailed and multi-layered, there’s always a surprise in there.”
Poraz says he launched the site in 2008 because of his own music preferences.
“For me personally, exploring the origins of samples was always the best way to discover music,” Poraz says. “As I was listening to new music, I started to realize that the music I love the most was always based on samples. Through samples in Hip Hop and Electronic Music, I’ve discovered the great Funk, Soul and Jazz greats of the past, and beyond. I became a collector of original sampled records and that has really broadened my musical horizons. When you discover the origin of a good sample, you experience this magical ‘wow’ moment. I guess I really wanted a website like WhoSampled to exist, so I just went ahead and made one. I didn’t know how many other people would be interested, but I wanted everyone to be able to experience these ‘wow’ moments with the music they love.”
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