Samples are a dime a dozen in the modern music landscape. The now-common practice found its roots in the invention of the Fairlight CMI synthesizer in 1979 and the Akai MPC workstation nearly a decade later.
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Stevie Wonder is widely credited as the first artist to utilize extensive sampling on his 1979 album Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants. With the rise of hip-hop, the practice became even more popular as MCs would craft their rhymes over sampled beats and hooks from past songs.
It’s important to establish the distinction between the act of sampling and merely interpolating another artist’s song on a track. A sample takes a hook, vocal, or other snippet from a song and uses the original material in the new recording. While often referred to interchangeably with sampling, interpolation is the use of a song’s melody, lyrics, or another element without actually taking it from the original recording.
Nowadays, sampling is hardly confined to the sprawling world of rap and hip-hop, and the use of samples and interpolations is constantly getting more creative as time goes by. Below are six contemporary songs that sample classic hits ranging from pop and rap-rock to K-pop and disco.
1. “Paint the Town Red” by Doja Cat
Doja Cat’s indelible vocals aren’t the first you hear on her single “Paint the Town Red.” Instead, it’s the honeyed voice of Dionne Warwick delivering the hook of her 1963 ballad “Walk on By,” which quickly turns into a glitchy theme over which Doja brags:
Yeah, bitch, I said what I said
I’d rather be famous instead
I let all that get to my head
I don’t care, I paint the town red
While Warwick’s version of “Walk on By” topped out at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, the rapper otherwise known as Amala Diamini’s incorporation of the Burt Bacharach-composed classic struck gold when “Paint the Town Red” became her first solo No. 1 on the all-genre tally after the success of her “Say So” remix featuring Nicki Minaj.
[RELATED: Review: Doja Cat’s ‘Scarlet’ Is a Party on Fire]
2. “Pink Venom” by BLACKPINK
BLACKPINK injected “Pink Venom” into the world in the summer of 2022 as the lead single from their sophomore studio album, Born Pink.
Upon close listen, BLINKs around the world quickly realized the K-pop superstars interpolated three different smashes from the ‘90s and 2000s into their irresistibly catchy song, taking lyrical snippets from, of all places, The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Kick in the Door” in Jennie’s opening verse, and both Rihanna’s debut single, “Pon de Replay,” and 50 Cent’s “P.I.M.P.” once she tosses the mic to Lisa. Rosé’s unforgettable declaration that she’s “so rock ‘n’ roll,” however, was all her own.
And in case you didn’t know, “Pink Venom” isn’t the only track off Born Pink that ingeniously samples music from the past: the foundation for second single “Shut Down” is actually the beginning of the third movement of Paganini’s 1826 violin concerto “La Campanella.”
3. “Mother” by Meghan Trainor
Meghan Trainor emerged on the pop scene in 2014 with a self-confident message baked into a throwback brand courtesy of her breakout hit, “All About That Bass.” So it’s safe to call her single “Mother” a return to form in the purest sense of the phrase.
The entire anthem is built atop a sample of The Chordettes’ 1954 classic “Mr. Sandman,” with its a capella vocal line sped up into a perfectly Chipmunk-ish bass line. Trainor even cheekily turns The Chordettes’ peppy refrain of “bum, bum, bum” into both a dig at the man trying to interrupt her pop sermon with all kinds of mansplained opinions, and a cheeky invitation for the girls and gays listening to shake theirs—all with help from the mother of all showbiz moms, Kris Jenner, in the song’s campy and colorful music video.
4. “Butterflies” by GAYLE
GAYLE gave herself “Butterflies” for her contribution to Barbie The Album by not only sampling Crazy Town’s 2000 single “Butterfly” but basically reconfiguring it into a completely new song. The track kicks off with the original guitar line to CXT’s breakout No. 1 hit—instantly familiar to anyone who grew up around Y2K—before the 19-year-old newcomer butts in to announce, “No, no, no, like this” and cranks up the amp to turn the song into a punky banger.
Overcriticizin’, always villainizin’
Overanalyzin’, always overridin’, slither like a snake
Just a caterpillar and you won’t see me gettin’ bigger
‘Til I’m flyin’ in a figure-eight, circlin’ your face
The “abcdefu” singer vacillates between menacing and rocking out, but the voice of Crazy Town frontmen Seth “Shifty” Binzer and Brett “Epic” Mazur are always there just on the other side of the cocoon wall.
5. “Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored” by Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande had a major surprise up the sleeve of her oversized hoodie with “Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored,” the flirtatiously titled final track of her acclaimed 2018 album thank u, next. After spending two verses urging her already-taken crush to split with his girl, the ponytailed pop star breaks into a clever rewrite of *NSYNC’s beloved No Strings Attached-era album cut “Makes Me Ill” on the song’s bridge:
You can say I’m hatin’ if you want to
But I only hate on her ‘cause I want you
Say I’m trippin’ if you feel like
But you without me ain’t right
You could call me crazy ‘cause I want you
And I never even ever fuckin’ met you
Say I’m trippin’ and it ain’t right
But you without me ain’t nice
To make the moment even more iconic, Grande reunited four-fifths of the millennial boy band (sans Justin Timberlake) for her headlining set at Coachella the following summer and they all performed the No. 2 single together.
6. “Hold Me Closer” by Elton John & Britney Spears
When you’ve been a living legend for as long as Elton John, sometimes the best samples are the ones found in your own back catalog. For “Hold Me Closer,” his hit 2022 collab with Britney Spears, the Rocket Man mashed up not one, not two, but three of his past smashes for the occasion.
The disco-laced dreamscape obviously takes its central hook (and title) from Sir Elton’s 1971 classic “Tiny Dancer,” while his and Britney’s verses take a cue from 1992’s “The One.” But if you listen closely, elements of “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” his 1976 duet with Kiki Dee, can be heard as the third sample on the single.
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