3 Rappers and Hip-Hop Artists Who Sampled David Bowie (and It Worked Perfectly)

David Bowie made the kind of music that, with a bit of creativity, anyone could incorporate into a song via samples. The following three rappers and hip-hop artists managed to sample David Bowie like it was easy. And their songs were made even better because of it. Let’s take a look, shall we?

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Public Enemy

Public Enemy sampled David Bowie’s classic “Fame” from the 1975 album Young Americans in the song “Night Of The Living Baseheads”. This standout track from the 1988 album It Takes A Nation OF Millions To Hold Us Back is a poignant song that explores the crack cocaine epidemic. Specifically, the song examines the drug’s negative effects on the African-American community in the 1980s. Public Enemy were always masters at sampling and curating the right tunes for their songs. “Fame”, sped up, was the perfect choice for “Night Of The Living Baseheads”.

“David Bowie..daring as all hell,” Chuck D, Public Enemy’s frontman, said of Bowie in a tweet from 2016. “Rock…..punk….theatre…..funk..disco ….EDM-dude wasn’t afraid to wrestle any music or lyric ever.”

J Dilla

It’s unsurprising that J Dilla found a way to add a touch of Bowie to his music in the best way possible. The legendary late hip-hop artist used Bowie’s “Soul Love” from the 1972 album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars on the song “Take Notice”. J Dilla used samples from that same song in previous releases, but nothing beats “Take Notice”. Released on the posthumous 2007 reissue of Ruff Draft, this experimental hip-hop gem remains one of J Dilla’s best songs. It’s the gift that keeps on giving with each re-listen, too. That takes real artistry.

El-P

Run The Jewels rapper El-P used Bowie’s “Soul Love” in his music as J Dilla did, this time in the song “Innocent Leader”. This track can be found on the 2002 underground hip-hop album Fantastic Damage, El-P’s debut studio record. Interestingly enough, this entry on our list of rappers who sampled David Bowie was also heavily influenced by Public Enemy, particularly in terms of the album’s production style. You can definitely hear that influence, but El-P really stands out on “Innocent Leader”, specifically.

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