# Where does this sample from an old rap song come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 19, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-sample-from-an-old-rap-song-come-from/772442 "2016-11-19T17:19:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-sample-from-an-old-rap-song-come-from/772442/1 "2016-11-19T17:19:30Z")
Kurtis Blow’s [The Breaks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZDUEilS5M4) has a percussion break (of course) at about 1:27. Does anyone know what song it comes from? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-sample-from-an-old-rap-song-come-from/772442/2 "2016-11-19T17:28:25Z")
Nothing about that on [http://www.whosampled.com/Kurtis-Blow/The-Breaks](http://www.whosampled.com/Kurtis-Blow/The-Breaks) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-sample-from-an-old-rap-song-come-from/772442/3 "2016-11-19T17:34:25Z")
That isn’t a sample. It’s a live drummer; no idea who. AFAIK, the only sample in that song comes from Sugarhill Gang’s _Rapper’s Delight_. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-sample-from-an-old-rap-song-come-from/772442/4 "2016-11-19T17:36:49Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Nothing about that on [http://www.whosampled.com/Kurtis-Blow/The-Breaks](http://www.whosampled.com/Kurtis-Blow/The-Breaks) Does that mean it’s not a sample and there are actual musicians playing on this early rap song? Or just that this site doesn’t know where it’s sampled from? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-sample-from-an-old-rap-song-come-from/772442/5 "2016-11-19T17:52:09Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Does that mean it’s not a sample and there are actual musicians playing on this early rap song? Or just that this site doesn’t know where it’s sampled from? I think Bo is right, and for such a popular song, I would certainly expect whosampled to be right, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-sample-from-an-old-rap-song-come-from/772442/6 "2016-11-19T18:03:22Z")
Shame. Sounds like it would have been a great song. If it had been a song. Besides the song it’s actually in. You know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-sample-from-an-old-rap-song-come-from/772442/7 "2016-11-19T18:06:17Z")
I’m a huge fan of old school rap; I grew up with it. I’d be willing to make a bet that that is a live drummer. ---
**Author:** ![Huvudtvatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Huvudtvatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huvudtvatt)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-sample-from-an-old-rap-song-come-from/772442/8 "2016-11-19T18:35:22Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > That isn’t a sample. It’s a live drummer; no idea who. AFAIK, the only sample in that song comes from Sugarhill Gang’s _Rapper’s Delight_. I can’t hear any samples from “Rapper’s delight”. Are you sure that is right? Sure, the groove is kind of similar but it’s not the same. It sounds like a totally original recording to me. But the Sugarhill Gang clearly sampled Chic’s _Good Times_ in their song. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-sample-from-an-old-rap-song-come-from/772442/9 "2016-11-19T18:47:43Z")
Aye, I’m sure. If you click on [this link](http://www.whosampled.com/sample/166689/Kurtis-Blow-The-Breaks-Sugarhill-Gang-Rapper's-Delight/) you can hear the sample and hear how it was used in The Breaks. Kurtis Blow has long acknowledged this sample. AFAIK, everything else in the song was live musicians.