Rap music, and in particular the practice of sampling in rap music, can be grounded within a larger context of African-American interest in imitation. Early examples of imitation in slave culture suggest interests similar to sampling, namely the desire to reconfigure aspects of dominant culture into strictly African-American forms. Sampling can be seen as a way to archive interactive historical material. Rap artists use new language to describe their use of samples, and acknowledge their sources to avoid legal trouble. EMPD, for example, thanks their sources and introduces their raps by indicating which pre-existing compositions the new rap embodies.

Index Classifications: 1900s, Jazz

Contributed by: Felicia Miyakawa