How to Sample Soul Music

This guide provides an introduction to sampling soul music, including tips on how to find and select samples, and how to create your own soul tracks.

Defining Soul Music

Soul music is a genre that arose out of the African-American experience. It is a blend of rhythm and blues and gospel music. Soul music has a distinctive sound that is often described as “heartfelt,” “emotional,” or “passionate.” The lyrics of soul songs often deal with personal or social issues.

The Funk Brothers

The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based musicians who served as the house band for Motown Records during thelabel’s peak years in the 1960s and early 1970s. The Funk Brothers played on more hit records than any other session musicians in history, including 110 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The group was made up of bassist James Jamerson, guitarists Robert White and Eddie Willis, keyboardists Earl Van Dyke and Joe Hunter, percussionist Jack Ashford, and drummer Richard “Pistol” Allen. The Funk Brothers were inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2013.

James Brown

James Brown was an American musician who played a central role in the development of soul music and funk. He was nicknamed “The Godfather of Soul”, and his style influenced many other artists. Brown began his career as a gospel singer in the 1940s, before moving to secular R&B in the 1950s. He then had a string of hits with his backing band, The Famous Flames, including “Please, Please, Please” and “I Got You (I Feel Good)”. After split from The Famous Flames, he released several more hit songs, including “Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine” and “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”. His success continued in the 1970s with the release of albums such as “Sex Machine” and “Black Caesar”. During this period he also worked with other members of the black power movement such as Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. In the 1980s he experimented with rap music, releasing the album “King of Rap”. In later life he returned to gospel music.

Brown died on Christmas Day 2006 at the age of 73. His death was preceded by a series of hospitalizations due to pneumonia.

The Birth of Motown

Sampling is a process in music production whereby a producer takes a section of one song and uses it in a different song or piece. It is a key element of hip hop and electronic music. In the 1970s, disco music emerged and with it, a new style of sampling. This new style would come to be known as Motown.

Berry Gordy

Berry Gordy, the legendary founder of Motown Records, built his record label on a visionary combination of talent, business acumen, and manufacturing know-how. Gordy’s biggest challenge in launching Motown was developing a sound that would appeal to both black and white audiences. To that end, he drew on the music of both his native Detroit and the Memphis sounds of Stax Records to create a new sound that would become known as “soul.”

Gordy’s approach to songwriting and production emphasized melody and emotion over virtuosity or experimentalism. He also believed in the power of simple, direct lyrics that would speak to the experiences of everyday people. These aesthetic choices helped make Motown’s music some of the most accessible and immediately appealing soul music of its time.

While Gordy was certainly the mastermind behind Motown’s success, he was far from the only talented musician or producer working for the label. Chief among Motown’s many gifted employees were smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. Together, these artists created some of the most timeless soul music ever recorded.

Smokey Robinson

Smokey Robinson is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and former record executive. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he also served as the group’s chief songwriter and producer. Robinson led the Miracles from 1955 until 1972 when he announced his retirement from the group to focus on his role as Motown’s vice president. However, he returned to the music industry in later years. Following Smokey Robinson’s departure from the Miracles in 1972, Obie Benson took over as the group’s main lead singer.

The Stax Sound

The Stax sound is a signature of the Memphis soul music that was produced by Stax Records from 1957 to 1968. The sound was a mixture of gospel, R&B, and blues. It was characterized by a funky backbeat, Memphis Horns, and a hard-driving bass. The Stax sound was most popularized by Otis Redding, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, and Isaac Hayes.

Otis Redding

Otis Redding is one of the most important soul singers of all time. He is often considered the greatest singer of the 1960s, and his influence can still be heard today in contemporary soul and R&B. Redding’s voice was warm and rich, with a raspy edge that gave his music an emotional power that was unmatched by any of his peers. He was a master of conveying emotion through his singing, and he had a huge impact on the development of soul music.

Redding began his career as a member of the famed Soul Stirrers, a gospel group that also featured Sam Cooke. He left the group in 1961 to pursue a solo career, and he quickly became one of the most popular singers on the R&B charts. His early hits included “Respect” (which would later be made famous by Aretha Franklin), “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now),” and “Satisfaction.” In 1965, he released the seminal album Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul, which featured some of his most iconic tracks, including “I Can’t Turn You Loose,” “Anyway You Want Me (To Love You),” and ” Pain in My Heart.” This album cemented Redding’s reputation as one of the premier soul singers of his generation, and it remains one of the greatest soul albums ever recorded.

Redding continued to release successful albums throughout the late 1960s, including 1966’s Memphis Soul Stew and 1967’s The Dock of the Bay. Tragically, Redding was killed in a plane crash in December 1967, just as he was on the verge of achieving even greater success. He was only 26 years old. In spite of his short career, Redding left behind a tremendous musical legacy, and he is rightfully considered one of the greatest soul singers of all time.

Isaac Hayes

Isaac Hayes was an American singer-songwriter, actor, voice actor and producer. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the Southern soul music genre, participating as a songwriter, arranger, session musician, record producer and recording artist. He is best known for his work as lead vocalist on the theme song for the 1972 film Shaft. For his work in film and television, Isaac Hayes was awarded two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Golden Globe Award. He was also inducted into both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005

The Philly Sound

Soul music is a genre that originated in the African-American community in the 1950s. It has a strong emphasis on vocals and lyrics, and is often associated with the Civil Rights movement. The Philly sound is a style of soul music that was popularized in the 1970s by artists such as The O’Jays and Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes.

Gamble and Huff

Almost every sound that came out of Philadelphia in the 1970s had the unmistakable stamp of Leon Huff and Kenneth Gamble. The duo wrote and produced some of the biggest hits of the decade for artists like the O’Jays, Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes, Billy Paul, Jerry Butler, Dee Dee Sharp, the Delfonics and Archie Bell & the Drells. They also ran their own label, Philadelphia International Records, which released albums by all of these artists as well as MFSB, Teddy Pendergrass and Lou Rawls.

The O’Jays

The O’Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert (born June 16, 1942), Walter Williams (born August 25, 1943), Bill Isles, Bobby Massey and William Powell (January 20, 1942 – May 26, 1977). Initially formed as a doo-wop group named the Triumphs, they began singing gospel music in churches in their hometown. When Powell died in 1977 from cancer at the age of 35, the group dropped the “The” from their name and continued on as simply The O’Jays.

Contemporary Soul

Soul music is a genre that has its foundations in African American gospel music and rhythm and blues. The term ‘soul’ was first used in the 1950s to describe a new style of African American popular music. Soul music is a genre of rhythm and blues that originated in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

D’Angelo

D’Angelo, full name Michael Eugene Archer, is an American R&B and neo soul singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is known for his production and songwriting abilities, as well as his sexually provocative stage performances and music videos. After several delayed release dates, D’Angelo’s highly anticipated third studio album, Black Messiah, was released on December 15, 2014 to critical acclaim. The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 chart and received rave reviews from music critics.

Lauryn Hill

To understand the Lauryn Hill phenomenon, it is important to understand the contemporary soul landscape from which she emerged in the late 1990s. By the time Ms. Hill’s debut album was released in 1998, soul music was in a state of flux. Although the genre had experienced a commercial renaissance in the early 1990s with hitmakers like Boyz II Men, TLC and SWV, by the middle of the decade, sales were slumping and fans were losing interest. Along comes Lauryn Hill to save the day.

Ms. Hill’s style of soul was steeped in classicism but also contemporary and fresh. She was heavily influenced by 1970s-era Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley, as well as 1980s urban contemporary acts likePrince and Janet Jackson, but her sound was very much her own. With her smooth, contralto vocals and jazzy phrasing, Ms. Hill breathed new life into soul music and helped usher in a new era of artists like Alicia Keys, India Arie and Amy Winehouse.