Interviews with hip-hop deejays, including Mr. Supreme, Domino, Prince Paul, Samson S., and King Otto, reveal that the practice of sampling relies on the practitioner?s ability to "flip a beat," that is, to recast sound material and its meaning. The new juxtaposition of a sample, the internal characteristics of sampled materials, and the relationship between samples within the structure all contribute to the interpretive context for a new recording. Most hip-hop producers interviewed agree that the quality of manipulation is the most important, rather than the quality of the final sound product. A hip-hop producer must preserve, master, and celebrate the ambiguities inherent in sample-based hip-hop.

Works: De La Soul: Say No Go (147-48); Alicia Keys, Jermaine Dupri, and Joshua Thompson (songwriters), Alicia Keys (performer): Girlfriend (151); Guy Berryman, Jon Buckland, Will Champion, and Chris Martin (songwriters), Yesterday's New Quintet (performers): Daylight (158-59); A Tribe Called Quest: Bonita Applebum (158-59).

Sources: Darly Hall, John Oates, and Janna Allen (songwriters), Hall and Oates (performers): I Can't Go For That (147-48); Ol' Dirty Bastard: Brooklyn Zoo (151); Guy Berryman, Jon Buckland, Will Champion, and Chris Martin (songwriters), RAMP (performers): Daylight (158-59).

Index Classifications: 1900s, 2000s, Popular

Contributed by: Amanda Sewell