What is you guys' opinion on sampling old hit songs? Is it clever and refreshing, or is it a cheap way to get a hit?

Some examples....
Nicki Minaj - Anaconda (Baby Got Back)
Kid Rock - All Summer Long (Sweet Home Alabama and Werewolves In London)
Aloe Blacc - The Man (Your Song)
Flo Rida - Good Feeling (Something's Got A Hold On Me)



Personally I think it depends. Some songs do it in a way to which its still fresh and creative, and it sounds like a new song.
Other songs though, like Good Feeling, it feels cheap. The Something's Got A Hold On Me hook is the most (if not only) memorable part of the song, its like its re-using a song to get a hit.

It doesn't always guarantee the song will be a hit tho..

As long as the new song / sample it used is good then I don't care

It's lazy

I personally like it. But only if it's done well.

If you're going to do it, do it right.

This one bothered me so much. It was the same instrumental with different lyrics.

As long as there's a noticeable difference and change, I don't mind.

None of them are memorable, it's rare that they will be good for a throwback 15 years from now.

i like it if its done nicely like anaconda

It's not lazy. When done right it can be amazing, a la Kanye.

Like others have said, it's amazing when it's done right. And some songs that get sampled are awesome and sound like the sort of music that would smash today, like 'A Little Bit Of Love' by Brenda Russell,



That's the instrumental and it slays. But most young people would have never heard of it had it not been sampled in Ariana Grande's 'The Way' - why let a lot of awesome samples gather dust on a shelf without people knowing how great a relatively unknown piece of music is. Like -brian said, Kanye West is phenomenal at finding great samples. Most rappers are. Mac Miller too.

But that song is horrible. Nothing about the song is as memorable as the original. Her lines are weak. She could have done so much better.

Only when it's used right like ala Right There (Crush On You sample).

Just don't make it cliché.

As long as it doesn't really ruin it then yeah. Go ahead.

I'll Be Missing You was the perfect example of a sample of a previous hit done right

It's sometimes lazy and not done right. But songs like The Man do it well.

If it's done right, like everyone else said, although I disagree that Kanye does it well. 95% of his album is a sample. How can one be called a musical genius when most of your discography is someone else's song? But anyway, sometimes a sample is unnecessary, like Gabrielle sampling Fast Car for her Dreams song. The released version is, imo, superior to the rejected demo.




Fast Car Sample:




Hip-Hop/R&B musicians tend to sample the heaviest, but most of the samples are unneeded, since they rely to heavily on the original song. That being said, I think Nicki is one of the few Hip-Hop musicians who actually samples well. I liked the Annie Lennox "No More I Love You's" sample in "Your Love."

I agree, it felt so lazy.