The Second Track

The Drum Break That Ate Hip-Hop (And Why Your Spotify Royalty Check Is Smaller Because of It)

Episode Summary

A six-second drum solo from a 1969 funk B-side became the most sampled break in music history, spawning entire genres while its creators saw almost nothing. We dive into the Amen Break's journey from obscurity to ubiquity, and how copyright law failed to keep up with the art of sampling.