sample
/ˈsæmpəl/
Very CommonA piece of an existing song reused in a new track, or the act of lifting audio from one recording into another.
There is craft status in sampling well. A recognized sample from an obscure record signals producer credibility. A lazy or obvious sample can be a criticism.
Real-world examples5 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | I cannot believe they sampled that Donny Hathaway record. The flip is perfect. | The producer used audio from the Donny Hathaway song and transformed it brilliantly. | reddit, 2023 |
| 02 | That sample goes crazy. Which song is it from? | The lifted audio sounds great, and the commenter wants to know the original source. | youtube, 2024 |
| 03 | They did not clear the sample and now the album is off every platform. | The producer used the audio without legal clearance and the release was taken down. | x, 2022 |
| 04 | Kanye built his whole early career flipping soul samples. That era was something else. | His early production style centered on creatively transforming soul recordings. | reddit, 2023 |
| 05 | The original sample is better than the song they made from it honestly. | The source recording was more interesting than what the producer built around it. | x, 2024 |
Use it when
- Describing a piece of audio lifted from one song and placed into another.
- Identifying the original source of a musical element.
- Discussing music production technique.
- Praising or criticizing how a producer used a source recording.
Do not use it when
- You mean an interpolation, where the melody is re-recorded rather than directly lifted.Use “interpolation” instead.
Sample vs interpolation
sample
A sample uses the actual original audio recording directly.
VS
interpolation
An interpolation re-records the melody or hook rather than lifting the original.
Origin and context
Sampling as a production technique emerged from hip-hop and electronic music in the late 1970s and 1980s. The first widely recognized uses came from DJs looping breaks on turntables. Digital samplers in the 1980s expanded the technique into studio production.
- First seen
- 1970s
- Confidence
- high
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https://slang.fyi/sampleUpdated: 2026-08-28License: CC BY 4.0