https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-66497436

Heard this one before? If you're a music fan it's a question you might have been asking yourself recently.

More and more artists seem to be using samples - snippets of older tracks - to create new ones.

From Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice's Barbie World to Issey Cross' Bittersweet Goodbye, our summer playlists have been full of throwbacks.

And analysis shared with BBC Newsbeat shows that about one in four current UK Top 40 hits uses samples.

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Data from the Official Charts Company and website whosampled.com suggests as many as one in four tracks in the chart make use of retro tracks.

This week's number two, Doja Cat's Paint The Town Red, samples Walk on By, first released by Dionne Warwick in 1964.

Bou's Closer takes us back to the 90s, recycling dance anthem Children by Robert Miles.

And Charlie XCX wants to remind us of Toni Basil's 1981 hit Hey Mickey with Speed Drive, which also samples Robyn's Cobrastyle.

But one of summer's biggest songs based around a sample is Issey Cross's Bittersweet Goodbye, which entered the charts last week at number 31.

The dance track uses the hook from 1997 hit Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve, a track which, ironically, sampled Rolling Stones hit The Last Time.

American rapper Ice Spice performs onstage during day one of Rolling Loud Miami at Hard Rock Stadium on July 21, 2023 in Miami. Ice Spice wears a long orange wig down past her back, a cropped pink velvet bomber jacket and denim shorts over fish net tights, accessorised with a white studded belt, diamond necklace reading 'Princess' and a belly button ring. She holds a microphone with her right hand and points off stage with her left, following the direction with her face.

Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj dominated the charts with their track Barbie World, which sampled Aqua

You might assume that the sampling phenomenon is a result of our current fascination with the 90s and noughties.

Whether it's down to nostalgia or social media exposing a new generation to the era, it's inspiring trends in film, TV and fashion.

And it would be easy to assume the rise in musical throwbacks is simply down to young people rediscovering older music online.

While that's definitely played a part, US journalist Jayson Greene tells BBC Newsbeat the truth "is more interesting than that".

Jayson, who works for respected music website Pitchfork, looked into the issue of "making old hits new again".

 

These are the songs in the top 40 I could find with samples, not quite 1 in 4 but close:

 

02 04 04 Doja Cat ~ Paint the Town Red -> samples Dionne Warwick 'Walk On By' (1964)

08 20 03 Cassö with Raye and D-Block Europe ~ Prada -> samples D-Block Europe 'Ferrari Horses' (2021)

17 15 08 Charli XCX ~ Speed Drive -> samples Toni Basil 'Mickey' (1981), Robyn 'Cobrastyle' (2005) and Charli XCX 'Vroom Vroom' (2016)

28 31 05 Issey Cross ~ Bittersweet Goodbye -> samples The Verve 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' (1997) and Lyn Collins 'Think (About It)' (1972)

29 24 14 Bou ~ Closer (feat. Slay) -> samples Robert Miles 'Children' (1995)

30 09 10 Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice ~ Barbie World (feat. Aqua) -> samples Aqua 'Barbie Girl' (1997)

32 32 25 Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding ~ Miracle -> samples Jimmy McGriff 'The Worm' (1968)

34 34 23 Luke Combs ~ Fast Car -> covers Tracy Chapman 'Fast Car' (1988)

 

Do we think the sample trend is at an oversaturation point by now? Hopefully producers start to rely less on obvious samples in the not too distant future.

It seems like 90s samples dominate which is normal 20/25 years after the era, but yeh it’s a bit much!

I'm sure both Burna Boy songs in the t40 this week use samples,

actually I think there are lots of songs that use samples and interpolations, just not famous ones

sometimes it's just a little sample of like 3 seconds

especially in rap and dance songs

think Sprinter uses a lot of samples like 4 or 5 I think I read

What samples does ‘Sprinter’ use?

I'm sure both Burna Boy songs in the t40 this week use samples,

 

Yes they do!

Cheat On Me samples Cheating On Me by Kwabs

City Boys samples Birthday Sex by Jeremih

 

Also

adore you samples I Wish It Was Me by Obongjayar

 

What samples does ‘Sprinter’ use?

 

Boy Better Know - Too Many Man briefly in the lyrics is the only thing I've ever been able to spot

Giving Me by Jazzy sounded like it used samples from like 5 other songs. :lol: I know it probably doesn't really, but every part of the song sounds extremely familiar.

I mean I don't want to say 'it wasn't like this before' as I know dance music naturally uses samples from older songs to recreate them and always has since it's inception, but it does feel like samples in dance and most songs are just used as a crutch to not being able to come up with a good enough hook and sell it based on recognition. It feels very calculated and hit chasing rather than inspired or breathing new life into an old song.

 

Saying that, if it introduces younger people to the originals though, I can't really complain.

 

 

It’s always been done I guess but I do feel like it’s every other song these days and what’s worse is that the samples rarely improve the song let alone sound better than the original.

I agree, I mean sometimes samples can be ingenious and bring the song to the mainstream more than the original ever did but at other times they are lazy and boring!

Boy Better Know - Too Many Man briefly in the lyrics is the only thing I've ever been able to spot

 

I'd say that's more just a reference than a sample (I suppose it is technically a very brief interpolation but it feels like it would be nitpicking to include it on this list, you may as well include 'When I Was Your Man' for 'Flowers' by the same logic). No idea how you get to the song having '4 or 5' samples, the only other one listed on whosampled.com is just a baby cooing sound effect lol.

 

edit: Genius does list 5 songs (6 including 'Sprinter (Demo)' lmao) that 'Sprinter' "interpolates", including 'Too Many Man', but I think they must all just be brief lyrical references or possibly borrowed flows. The other 4 are just 1 past song each from Dave and Cench ('Titanium' and 'LA Leakers Freestyle') and then 2 other Skepta songs ('Rescue Me' and 'Simple Life'). Out of those the only one I can immediately identify is 'Rescue Me' which is mentioned just before the 'Too Many Man' line but it's even more of a stretch to call that an interpolation.

 

Nothing inherently wrong with samples but it does feel like a disproportionate number of hits of late lean far too heavily on them and put barely any effort into putting a spin on the original. David Guetta's last couple of hits being the absolute nadir of that.

Does the Becky Hill track "Disconnect" sample Bodyrox - "Yeah Yeah"? If not, they sound very similar

It would be interesting to choose random chart weeks from previous years to compare how many songs of those top 40s have samples too

I’d imagine the early 90s had a lot ESP 1993!

It is a bit much - but I do think in the world of streaming a familiar sound is a quick win

It's cyclical really. It's no different to when the charts of the 90s were littered with songs sampled from the 60s or 70s. Just slow news journalism.

Edited September 4, 20231 yr by ThePensmith