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January 2, 2014 Andy Cush

Each week in Sample Wars, we’ll pit two songs which sample the same source material head-to-head against each other, to determine which one rocked the sample better. Vampire Weekend’s “Step,” one of the best songs of 2013, just got a pretty great rap remix featuring Danny Brown, Heems, and Despot. On the heels of that track, […]

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September 19, 2013 Andy Cush

Each week in Sample Wars, we’ll pit two songs which sample the same source material head-to-head against each other, to determine which one rocked the sample better. This week we’re looking at “Bound 2” from Yeezus. It was recently released as that polarizing album’s second single (here’s ‘Ye and Charlie Wilson performing it on Jools Holland earlier this […]

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September 12, 2013 Andy Cush

Each week in Sample Wars, we’ll pit two songs which sample the same source material head-to-head against each other, to determine which one rocked the sample better. “Montara,” Bobby Hutcherson, 1975, samples appear at :21 and :53: Bobby Hutcherson’s “Montara” is one of those ’70s jazz cuts that sounds like it was created just so some […]

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August 29, 2013 Andy Cush

Each week in Sample Wars, we’ll pit two songs which sample the same source material head-to-head against each other, to determine which one rocked the sample better. Between a new music streaming service and file format, a Stereogum list, a book, and a new-ish Crazy Horse album, Neil Young seems to be having a late-career moment. […]

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August 22, 2013 Andy Cush

Each week in Sample Wars, we’ll pit two songs which sample the same source material head-to-head against each other, to determine which one rocked the sample better. This week saw the release of Earl Sweatshirt’s long-awaited debut album Doris. We’re looking at early highlight “Centurion,” which shares a sample with the 1995 Kool G Rap track “Take […]

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August 8, 2013 Andy Cush

Each week in Sample Wars, we’ll pit two songs which sample the same source material head-to-head against each other, to determine which one rocked the sample better. This week we’re looking at Yellowman’s “Zungguzungguguzungguzeng,” a stone-cold classic dancehall tune that spawned a thousand sing-songy hip hop hooks, as well as the beats for Black Star’s […]

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August 1, 2013 Andy Cush

Each week in Sample Wars, we’ll pit two songs which sample the same source material head-to-head against each other, to determine which one rocked the sample better. This week’s Sample Wars looks at two of our era’s most titanic musicians: J Dilla and Flying Lotus. “Pie Face,” from FlyLo’s 2010 Pattern + Grid World EP, and “What […]

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July 18, 2013 Andy Cush

Each week in Sample Wars, we’ll pit two songs which sample the same source material head-to-head against each other, to determine which one rocked the sample better. In some ways, Joey Bada$$ and Rick Ross couldn’t be more different. One is a teenager from Flatbush who, despite high-profile cosigns, still feels like an anachronistic underdog, spitting […]

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July 11, 2013 Andy Cush

As the art world goes crazy and the rap world goes “meh” for Magna Carta Holy Grail, here’s a very special Jay-Z edition of Sample Wars. “Crown,” one of that album’s standouts, was produced by a 16-year-old girl named Wondagurl, and used a sample from Sizzla’s 2006 dancehall classic “Solid as a Rock” –also reworked for 50 […]

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June 27, 2013 Andy Cush

Each week in Sample Wars, we’ll pit two songs which sample the same source material head-to-head against each other, to determine which one rocked the sample better. This week’s Sample Wars concerns what might be called a cult classic of sampling: “Countdown at 6,” by OG electronic music duo Perrey and Kingsley. The track, a synthy, […]

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