This was an experimental project dealing with sampling and audio manipulation techniques. In this project I used advanced software skills to resample Use Me by Bill Withers, a 1972 Soul song, along with Almost Blue, a 1982 Jazz song by Chet Baker. 

Sampling is an art that has been used in many genres of music, particularly electronic music and pop. However, for this track I wanted to create a Hip Hop beat as a nod to the origins of sampling, because sampling is a foundation of Hip Hop culture. 

Many Hip Hop tracks today sample blues and soul music from the 80’s which was the reason for my choice of sampling tracks. I tried to manipulate and resample the tracks as much as possible to take them far beyond the original sound and into more experimental outcomes.The end result is an atmospheric beat, with subtle background vocals by Chet Baker and a light piano. 

My inspiration for creating this track has been early 90’s Hip Hop songs that contained smooth music as a backdrop for the rough scenarios that rappers convey in their lyrics. The title of this track is “City Blues”.

Sampling without permission can be an infringement copyright. To legally use a sample, legal permission must be acquired from the copyright holder. This process is known as clearance and it is a complex and costly process. To avoid breaching moral rights of the original artists, I only created this track for educational purposes and all sampled artists have been credited in my description.