Sampling

DJ Dahi Talks About Sampling for NPR's 'The Formula' Series

DJ Dahi discusses his three pillars of sampling and how he flipped samples for the likes of Pusha T and Kendrick Lamar.

DJ Dahi for NPR

Black American music has a rich history in the church but when it transitioned towards secular styles, it caused a stir. DJ Dahi sees the godliness in the music he makes and he discussed that as part of NPR’s latest video series, ‘The Formula’.

In the video, Dahi broke down tracks he’d worked on and sampled including:

  • Pusha T – Drug Dealers Anonymous (sampling Beach House’s ‘Silver Soul’)
  • Kendrick Lamar feat. Rihanna – Money Trees
  • Kendrick Lamar – (sampling Bruno Mars’s ’24K Magic’)

One of the opening gambits from DJ Dahi was his three “categories” of sampling, which he described as the loop, the chop, and reverse:

My understanding of sampling […] I put it in three categories: #1 is the perfect loop. You find that loop that is just incredible that doesn’t need to be changed. Another one is the chop. You move parts and melodies and grooves and drums to a certain kind of new interpretation of that. And the last one, I kind of like the reverse. Start spinning it backwards and see what it sounds like.

DJ Dahi on his three pillars of sampling.

It’s fascinating to see and hear how producers think about samples and their creative process and DJ Dahi is one of the best to do it right now so show some love and give the video a watch.

Stream the video on NPR.

About The Formula

The Formula is a video series by NPR that looks at the art of sampling as told by 5 iconic hip hop producers. They talk about how they find inspiration in different areas of music, both well-known and obscure, and how they culminated in the creation of their biggest hits. DJ Dahi, 9th Wonder, and Just Blaze have featured so far. Alongside those videos are essays about each artist from the best writers in the game including Marcus Moore, Jeff Weiss, and Questlove.

Hi, it's Luke, the editor of Sampleface! Why not subscribe to my Patreon and support the blog?

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