Sampling can turn music history into a conversation.

A drum break recorded decades ago becomes the backbone of a hip-hop hit. A tiny vocal fragment becomes the hook of a dance track. A forgotten soul record suddenly reaches millions of people because a producer hears something inside it that nobody else noticed.

Some samples are obvious. Others are buried so deeply in the production that you can hear the song hundreds of times without realising another recording is hiding inside it.

Here are 25 famous examples.

A quick note: sampling and interpolation are not exactly the same thing. A sample uses part of an existing recording. An interpolation recreates part of an earlier composition. Pop records can also combine both techniques, so the relationships below are described in practical listening terms rather than pretending every connection works identically.

1. Avicii – Levels

Source: Etta James – Something’s Got a Hold on Me

The soulful vocal that bursts through Levels comes from Etta James. Avicii places that older blues-and-R&B performance inside a completely different electronic world.

2. Kanye West – Stronger

Source: Daft Punk – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

One of the most obvious and effective sample relationships in modern pop. Kanye turns Daft Punk’s robotic vocal into the central hook of a hip-hop record.

3. Eminem – Stan

Source: Dido – Thank You

The opening of Dido’s Thank You becomes the haunting foundation for one of Eminem’s most famous storytelling tracks.

4. Beyoncé feat. Jay-Z – Crazy in Love

Source: The Chi-Lites – Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So)

The explosive horn figure that announces Crazy in Love comes from a 1970s soul recording by The Chi-Lites.

5. M.I.A. – Paper Planes

Source: The Clash – Straight to Hell

Paper Planes builds its hypnotic musical foundation around a sample from The Clash, creating a connection between punk, hip-hop and global pop.

6. Flo Rida – Good Feeling

Source connection: Etta James – Something’s Got a Hold on Me

The same Etta James performance associated with Avicii’s Levels also became central to Good Feeling, although the production contexts are completely different.

7. Madonna – Hung Up

Source: ABBA – Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)

ABBA have historically been selective about sampling permissions, which makes the instantly recognisable musical connection in Hung Up especially notable.

8. MC Hammer – U Can’t Touch This

Source: Rick James – Super Freak

The groove of Super Freak is so central to U Can’t Touch This that hearing one song almost automatically makes you think of the other.

9. The Notorious B.I.G. – Juicy

Source: Mtume – Juicy Fruit

Juicy turns Mtume’s smooth 1980s groove into the backdrop for one of hip-hop’s best-known success stories.

10. Mariah Carey – Fantasy

Source: Tom Tom Club – Genius of Love

The playful groove from Genius of Love fits Mariah Carey’s Fantasy so naturally that the two records now feel permanently connected.

11. Drake – Hotline Bling

Source: Timmy Thomas – Why Can’t We Live Together

The sparse rhythm and organ of Timmy Thomas’ recording provide much of Hotline Bling’s distinctive atmosphere.

12. Fatboy Slim – Praise You

Source: Camille Yarbrough – Take Yo’ Praise

A brilliant example of a producer hearing possibility inside an older vocal and rebuilding it into something completely different.

13. Jay-Z & Kanye West – Otis

Source: Otis Redding – Try a Little Tenderness

Rather than hiding the source, Otis celebrates it. The chopped Redding vocal is the entire personality of the beat.

14. The Verve – Bitter Sweet Symphony

Source recording: The Andrew Oldham Orchestra – The Last Time

The famous string loop comes from an orchestral recording connected to The Rolling Stones’ The Last Time. The rights history around the song became almost as famous as the track itself.

15. Coolio feat. L.V. – Gangsta’s Paradise

Source composition: Stevie Wonder – Pastime Paradise

Gangsta’s Paradise reworks the musical idea of Stevie Wonder’s Pastime Paradise into something darker and more cinematic.

16. Will Smith – Men in Black

Source: Patrice Rushen – Forget Me Nots

The bassline and groove of Forget Me Nots give Men in Black much of its instantly familiar feel.

17. The Notorious B.I.G. feat. Mase & Puff Daddy – Mo Money Mo Problems

Source: Diana Ross – I’m Coming Out

One of disco’s great grooves becomes the musical backbone of a glossy late-1990s hip-hop hit.

18. Kanye West – Gold Digger

Source: Ray Charles – I Got a Woman

Gold Digger draws directly on the musical identity of Ray Charles’ classic, reframing it within a modern hip-hop production.

19. 2Pac feat. Dr. Dre – California Love

Source: Joe Cocker – Woman to Woman

The record combines multiple musical influences, but the Joe Cocker connection forms an important piece of its sample-based construction.

20. Vanilla Ice – Ice Ice Baby

Source: Queen & David Bowie – Under Pressure

The famous bassline relationship became the subject of years of discussion, but to listeners the connection is immediate.

21. Lil Nas X – Old Town Road

Source: Nine Inch Nails – 34 Ghosts IV

One of the biggest crossover hits of the streaming era began with a sample from an atmospheric Nine Inch Nails instrumental.

22. A Tribe Called Quest – Can I Kick It?

Source: Lou Reed – Walk on the Wild Side

Lou Reed’s bassline provides the relaxed musical foundation for one of A Tribe Called Quest’s most recognisable tracks.

23. Kanye West – POWER

Source: King Crimson – 21st Century Schizoid Man

POWER uses a striking vocal fragment from King Crimson’s progressive-rock classic, placing a piece of 1969 inside a huge modern hip-hop production.

24. Kanye West – Through the Wire

Source: Chaka Khan – Through the Fire

Kanye speeds up Chaka Khan’s vocal and turns it into both the musical hook and a clever part of the song’s title.

25. Daft Punk – One More Time

Source: Eddie Johns – More Spell on You

The source material is heavily processed, making this a great example of sampling that can be difficult to identify even when the final record is extremely familiar.

Why do producers sample older songs?

Sometimes the answer is musical. An old record contains a drum sound, chord, vocal or texture that would be difficult to reproduce in exactly the same way.

Sometimes it is cultural. Sampling lets a producer reference another era or deliberately connect a new song with an older one.

And sometimes a tiny piece of music simply inspires a completely new idea.

That is why exploring samples can be such an addictive way to discover music. Start with a track you know, find the record underneath it, then investigate the artist behind that record.

One song can lead backwards through decades of music.

Sample or interpolation: what is the difference?

A sample normally uses audio from an existing recording.

An interpolation recreates a melody, lyric or musical element without necessarily using the original master recording itself.

For listeners, both techniques can create the same moment of recognition: the sudden feeling that you have heard part of the song somewhere before.

And once you start listening for those connections, popular music begins to sound like one enormous family tree.