A word to the wise (and this will probably rub a lot of people the wrong way... BUT... I need to get this off my chest).
Now, just a quick background... and I don't know how many people on this forum give the slightest shit about Hip Hop music, but, I come from the old school of Hip Hop (before its hyper-commercialisation, and before trap and drill) and back then, people just used samples without a care in the world, because they were enjoying themselves, and creating art (and because a lot of people were piss broke, and couldn't afford actual synthesizers, a studio, and the like, so they used samplers like the SP1200, or MPC 2000 instead, and expressed themselves rather astutely!).
Hip Hop was birthed in the streets. And to me, it's very unfortunate that it never stayed there (for, it was far more interesting)... but that's another matter.
But back to Hip Hop and samples. And not just any samples, I'm talking about samples circa 50s-80s. Shit with a lot of depth, and a tonne of character. People think that shit is easy. HAHA. A laughable notion at best.
Sampling old music, and making something completely new, that works, and is relevant, is an extremely intricate art form. And a lot of people can't do it, despite their hubris (like 90% of beatmakers/producers today). That's why you have veteran Hip Hop producers (The Alchemist, Pete Rock, DJ Premier etc.), and you have wannabes. People with soul, and bounce, and skill, and imagination... and people with nothing but a collage of sounds that don't fit (again, 90% of beatmakers today).
But back on topic, nowadays, far too many people try to run before they can walk, worrying endlessly about this or that legal aspect of sampling. Maaaan, I say JUST enjoy yourself, and if you ever get to a point where someone wants to sue you, rejoice! It means you're doing something right.
Don't get bogged down by bureaucracy. Music should always be an art form first. If you're making music with money in mind -- whether it be the acquisition of money, or how much you stand to lose -- you're not making art. You're making business, and business is sterile, and lacks imagination, and will limit you far more than it will make you flourish.
I feel that society is completely awash with this notion of profits, and money above all else, and all these people trying to make something beautiful, while carefully treading the lines of what's 'normal'... and to me it's very bizarre.
Let me tell you something, friends... success is a natural gravitation. If you set out to make money in any artistic endeavour, you're setting yourself up for failure, because if you set out to make money, you're tailoring your art to make money. In other words you're washing it down to fit the dubious criterion of whatever it is that the vast majority enjoy. You're making art to tickle the fancy of bog standard consumers that waste time watching weird reality TV shows, to give but one example... lol
Start with a little madness, and be raw! Everything else will fall in to place. Hey, if you want to be the next Bill Gates, be my guest. But I'd argue that being the next Einstein (metaphorically speaking) is a far more noble pursuit!
Peace out
