I think a good artist will use what works best. With sampling a beat you have an opportunity to add another layer to a song, but that layer really needs to play a part or it will detract from the song overall. Great topic.

I love sampled beats. It keeps the older music alive and I get to learn about more history of music. I like to hunt for the original sampled beat.

That's a point I forgot to make! Word man, I feel the same lol

Yep! So true!

i honestly can't pick one. I would like to learn how to sample and shit that would be rad, plus i actually like some of that older music. But i did wanna try my hand at making an origional beat and see how tolerable it would be.

I'm trying to incorporate more sampling, little by little. I'm fascinated by the ways some artists can blend them together.

That said, I like making all the samples for my own beats. When it comes to other people's music, I like a mixture of both, as in half-sampled, half-original. I wanna say Aesop Rock does this a lot, but I could be mistaken; they could all be samples :P

Sampled beats can have a lot of soul to them. Kanye West introduced me to the usage of sampling with beats, and I've been a huge fan of the style ever since. I think I like sampled beats more. I rarely work with samples anymore, though. Unfortunate, since it's such a cool effect.

Reminds me of a very similar question in the dj community. Vinyl or digital?

Vinyl sounds better and it has more soul. Having a record is a more rewarding and tactile experience than having just a file. But, with digital you don't have to carry a crate of records and can load and scratch songs and samples as fast as you can push a button. You also have a toolbox of effects. It seems like the same thing with synths and samples if you're a beatmaker.

I think I'll stick with vinyl until I feel like I really know how to use it, but I want to grow into digital. DJ Rob Swift compared it doing math, "You might be able to do it faster and easier with a calculator, but I'll always respect someone who can do it with nothing but a pen and paper more."

Today , I'd say sampled from nostalgic beats.

Something that you haven't heard for awhile comes back to life and...

It's the most awesome thing ever.

I have an appreciation for original beats.

Tomorrow, I'd prefer something original. x3

music moods, I can dig it.

personally i prefer working with heavy a sample based steez when i produce beats. Thick chops, crunchy boom bap style drums, treble boosted strings, that sorta thing! Cant escape the 90s influence.
But many beatmakers fucking burn when they combine sample and synth like Pretty Lights, DJ Krush, Gramatik etc...

I gotta give it to the old sample style. While some synthy club banga style beats are ok, nothing beats a good grimey sampled beat. Statik Selectah, Stoupe, DJ Premier. I also prefer to rap over those style beats, but that's just me :3