Producer sample breakdown
RZA Samples
Staten Island, NY -- Active 1992-present -- Born Robert Fitzgerald Diggs
RZA is the principal producer of Wu-Tang Clan and the architect of Staten Island gritty soul -- a production style built on slowed-down, dusty soul and jazz loops layered over horror movie audio samples, kung-fu dialogue, and hard drums. He produced the entire Wu-Tang Clan catalog through 1997 and has influenced nearly every producer who came after him.
RZA pitches samples way down, adds deliberate grit, and layers film dialogue and ambient sound over music loops. He finds the darkest, most damaged-sounding loops in a record and treats them as the emotional core of a beat.
Primary sample sources
Notable albums produced
- Wu-Tang Clan -- Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
- Raekwon -- Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (1995)
- GZA -- Liquid Swords (1995)
- Ghostface Killah -- Ironman (1996)
- Wu-Tang Clan -- Wu-Tang Forever (1997)
Sample breakdowns
C.R.E.A.M.
Wu-Tang Clan -- Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
What was sampled
Organ loop
Criminology
Raekwon -- Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (1995)
What was sampled
Guitar break
Shadowboxin'
GZA feat. Method Man -- Liquid Swords (1995)
What was sampled
Bass line
Liquid Swords
GZA -- Liquid Swords (1995)
What was sampled
Drum break
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See RZA samples in action
Goat Music's Sample Tree videos show the source and derivative side by side so you can hear exactly how each producer transformed the original.