Today marks 20 years since the release of Jay-Z’s third studio album, Vol 2… Hard Knock Life. While the album’s legacy is often overlooked in favor of other Jay classics, Hard Knock Life still remains Jay’s commercial peak to this day, and represents the beginning of hip hop’s invasion of the mainstream. On Pusha T’s […]
Sample Dives
Behind Drizzy’s Most Essential Album, “Nothing Was The Same”
The months before the release of Nothing Was The Same, the third studio album by Canadian hip hop titan Drake, were dominated by the emcee’s hit singles. The album’s first single, “Started From The Bottom,” was released in February, a whole seven months prior to the album. The simplistic rap banger hit #6 on the Billboard […]
Producing Doris: Every Sample from Earl Sweatshirt’s Debut Studio Album, Analyzed
Doris, the first of Earl Sweatshirt’s two studio albums, was released on August 20, 2013. In the five years since, the Los Angeles-based rapper has become one of hip hop’s most lauded young lyricists and, much like his Odd Future associate Frank Ocean, one of the culture’s most enigmatic figures. Earl’s long absence from the […]
Wyoming: Breaking Down Kanye West’s 42 Samples One-by-One
From the hook on Pusha T’s “Come Back Baby” to the quasi-unreleased Kurt Cobain demos on “Cudi Montage”, the five-chapter Wyoming series produced by Kanye West contains some of the most iconic samples of the year. We break them down one-by-one to gain a glimpse behind the creative process of one of the most talented […]
