“Do you know what this samples” is probably in the top 3 of my most said phrases. And usually peoples answer to that is a no but that doesn’t matter to me because I am going to tell them about it whether they want to listen to me. Anyways, something I know only because of my random trivia is how much Soul is used in hip hop, and I mean it really is a lot. Some of them are a lot more discreet being just a drum loop but other times it can be the entire beat, but there is seriously a ton of soul in hip hop… but why? Well that is what I am going to be writing about so just keep on reading and you will find out.

First thing I think it is important to know what Soul is, well that in itself could be an entire lesson so I am going to give you a mini lesson. Soul as a genre really started to merge mid 1950’s out of the south. The primary influence was gospel music, we eventually saw that mix with a jazzy instrumentals and around 1940 and that gave us Rythym and Blues or R&B not to be confused with today’s R&B aka. Contempory R&B. This gave us artists like Sam Cooke and Ray Charles. Well eventually the music became more instrumental and gave way to artists like Muddy Waters (watch Cadillac Records if you haven’t). Well as the genre became more instrumental it became a lot more secular, as artists focused more on themes of love, relationships, and social issues. The music becoming more instrumental does not mean it lost its sound though, the genre was extremely vocally focused and often had a lot of belts, this is why a majority of the artists we consider to be the best vocalists all dabbled in soul.

Now that we’ve got some background on soul, let’s get into how it fits into hip hop. Because it’s everywhere. Like, seriously, once you notice it, you start hearing it in almost everything. But it’s more than just old records being chopped up and looped. It’s deeper than that. You can look at the connection between soul and hip hop in a few different ways artistically, thematically, and culturally. I promise, it all ties together.

Artistically, soul is one of the most sampled genres in hip hop, hands down. Producers aren’t just digging through crates for fun; they’re hunting for feeling. A dusty vocal run, a piano chord, a horn riff; It’s like mining for emotion. Soul gives hip hop its texture. You hear a Donny Hathaway loop, and suddenly the beat just feels warm. Or someone flips a Gladys Knight hook and now you’ve got a whole chorus that hits straight in the chest. Even the imperfections, the vinyl crackle, the way the voice breaks, they all add to the rawness. It’s like soul gives hip hop a kind of humanity, you know?

Then there’s the thematic connection. Soul music talks about love, pain, heartbreak, family, faith, struggle, real life. And that’s what hip hop does too. It’s just coming from a different generation. But the stories? They rhyme. A soul song might be about a broken heart and a hip hop track might be about a broken home, but the emotion underneath is the same. Both genres are just people trying to make sense of their lives out loud. It’s music that doesn’t flinch, and that’s why they work so well together. That shared vulnerability.

Now culturally, I want to be clear, I’m not Black, so I’m not going to act like I have that connection to soul through family history or community. But I do know that for a lot of Black artists, soul isn’t just music it’s memory, it’s lineage, it’s the soundtrack to life. And when hip hop artists sample it, it’s not just about sound, it’s about honoring where they come from. For me, as an outsider to that specific cultural tie, I see soul’s presence in hip hop as something to appreciate and respect, not something to claim. It’s a window into a history I didn’t live, but one I can listen to and learn from.

So yeah, soul lives in hip hop in all these layered, powerful ways. And whether it’s a full hook lifted from a 70s record or just a chopped vocal tucked behind the drums, that connection is always doing something. It brings warmth, meaning, and memory into the music and for a genre like hip hop, which is always evolving but always rooted? That kind of foundation matters.

Now that we’ve talked about sampling, I want to go over some of my favorite examples. There’s a playlist linked at the top of this blog that pairs the original sample with the hip hop track it shows up in, so feel free to listen along. When it comes to sampling in hip hop, you have to talk about Kanye West. He’s infamous for a lot of reasons, but his use of soul samples is undeniable. On his debut album, The College Dropout, 16 out of 18 tracks (not counting the skits) include a sample. That’s 89% of the album if you include the Lauryn Hill interpolation, with 21 samples in total. My personal favorite is Spaceship featuring GLC and Consequence. It chops up Distant Lover by Marvin Gaye, and the way that vocal floats over the beat just makes the whole track feel heavy and soulful. Another artist who deserves credit when it comes to thoughtful sampling is Kendrick Lamar. I want to highlight two tracks from him. First, Untitled 06. He’s basically rapping straight over Questions by Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge featuring Cee-Lo Green. The beat is basically intact, which lets the groove carry the whole vibe of the song. Then there’s Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst. The first half of that track is built from two layers a sped-up version of Maybe Tomorrow by Grant Green and the drum loop from Use Me by Bill Withers. It’s subtle, but if you know the originals, it hits differently. And for the last one, ARE WE STILL FRIENDS? by Tyler, The Creator. This one flips Dream by Al Green. It’s sped up and paired with some synths, creating this kind of bittersweet, almost haunting feel. Simple, but powerful.

While I was writing this, I kept wondering how I was going to talk about this part about how soul didn’t just influence hip hop’s sound, but sort of helped shape the whole thing. And not in a loud, obvious way. More like one of those quiet things that sits underneath everything. Like a foundation you don’t really notice until you look for it. I obviously can’t speak to the cultural weight soul music holds for Black communities that’s not my story. But even from the outside, you can feel that it means something. It’s not just about pulling a cool vocal line or a smooth bass riff. There’s memory in those sounds. There's history. And hip hop, being this genre that’s so much about place and past and perspective, was always going to be drawn to that. I don’t think producers are just sampling soul because it sounds good, though, to be fair, it really does. I think they’re sampling it because it feels good. Because it gives the music a pulse. Sometimes when I listen to a beat that’s built around a soul sample, it’s almost like the beat already knows how to feel before the rapper even says anything. And I guess that’s what I mean by soul shaping hip hop. It’s not just in the production or the lyrics or even the aesthetics, it’s in the emotional tone of the genre. That thing where a song can be sad and beautiful and still hit hard. That’s a soul thing. Hip hop took that and made it its own. So yeah, the connection is more than just musical. It’s emotional. Maybe even spiritual, if I want to get dramatic with it. But mostly, it’s just there. Constantly. Quietly. Doing work in the background.

That’s really all I’ve got to say about that. But there’s one point I want to let sit for a minute, something I hope lingers after you close this tab or switch to another song. Soul might not be dominating the charts anymore. It’s not front and center the way it used to be. But that doesn’t mean it’s gone. Far from it. Because as long as hip hop exists sampling, storytelling, digging through crates and memories; soul is going to keep showing up. It’s tucked into the beats, in the harmonies, in those little loops that make a song hit harder than it should. It’s part of the emotional blueprint of the genre. And even if a new generation doesn’t recognize the sample or know the name behind the voice, the feeling is still there. That warmth, that ache, that grit it’s all still working behind the scenes. So yeah, soul lives on. Not always in the spotlight, but always in the sound. And I think that’s kind of beautiful.