Author
Amir Said
Amir Said (aka Sa’id), is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Art of Sampling and the creator and series editor of the Best Damn Hip Hop Writing book anthology. A writer, publisher, and beatmaker/rapper from New York (now living in Paris, France), Said is also the founder of BeatTips and the co-founder of the publishing company Superchamp Books. He is an author with a number of books to his credit, including ‘The Art of Sampling,’ ‘The BeatTips Manual,’ ‘Ghetto Brother,’ and ‘The Truth About New York.’ He is also a recording artist with a number of music projects, including the albums 'Soul Review' and 'The Best of Times.' Follow him on Twitter at: @amirsaid and @Art_of_Sampling.
Very few people can be the leader of the creative production behind the music on a given album and the marketing force behind said album at the same time. Normally, these roles are given to multiple people because it’s best to split…
Check This: Saga & Thelonious Martin – “Mongolian Cashmere” (Prod. by Thelonious…
Brooklyn MC Saga and Chicago producer Thelonious Martin's collaborative LP, Molotov. features most of Martin’s traditional sample-based beat style and Saga’s smooth rhyme approach. I think they've found a winning formula on this project.…
Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers Taught Me How To Shuffle
The Jazz Messengers are one of the richest sources of musical knowledge that we still have available to us. Initially Co-fronted by drummer Art Blakey and pianist Horace Silver, Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers (the moniker that was…
Pete Rock & CL Smooth Discuss the Making of “They Reminisce Over You” (T.R.O.Y.)
Pete Rock & CL Smooth's "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" is was one of the rare rap songs (and sampling gems) that everyone likes. It's an undisputed classic that makes you emotional just as much as makes you knod your head and…
Soul Control: Isaac Hayes – “Soulsville”
"Soulsville," from the movie Shaft. This is my favorite Isaac Hayes joint. The scene in Shaft where this song plays is so appropriate. The images — which are certainly no Hollywood props, but instead real glimpses of early 1970s…
Sample Flips: Jay-Z – “Imaginary Players” (Prod. by Prestige)
A sampling gem from Jay-Z's In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
After the release of 4:44 I had a newfound interest in revisiting Jay-Z's catalog, especially because of the sampling. I started with In My Lifetime, Vol.1 because it was the…
The Old New: Bronze Nazareth’s ‘School for the Blindman’
BeatTips Rating: 5/5
"Roll dice in old piss" —Bronze Nazareth
We often like and celebrate an album because of its power to take us somewhere. The vivid images that it calls up; the memories that it inspires; the emotions that it…
Marco Polo: The Journey of a Sampling Pioneer
Editor’s note: This is an epic long read! But worth it. This interview contains a combination of a series of interviews I conducted with Marco Polo (on several dates) over the past four years, the lengthiest and most recent being in…
John King and the Story of Chung King Studios
Chung King Studios is quite possibly the most important commercial recording studio in rap’s history. Indeed, before D&D or Unique, or any other top flight New York City recording facility, it was the Mighty Chung King that mostly…
Kendrick Lamar Sued for Bill Withers Sample
A rapper uses a sample from a song of another artist to create a new song — said rapper places new song on their free mixtape, then gets sued for copyright infringement by the copyright owners of the song that the rapper sampled. We’ve been…