5 Rap Songs That Sampled Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin is responsible for some of rock history’s most epic guitar riffs and rhythms. The band transcended rock n’ roll and impacted other musical genres, including hip-hop. While the two seem like opposites, Led Zeppelin and hip-hop have come together to create excellent music. Here are five rap songs that sampled Led Zeppelin.
‘Life’s So Hard’ – 2pac
“Life’s So Hard” isn’t a track many of 2pac’s fans may be familiar with, as it was released posthumously and never made its way onto an album. The song was recorded for the 1997 movie Gang Related, the rapper’s final film performance. “Life’s So Hard” samples Led Zeppelin’s “Ten Years Gone” from 1971’s Physical Graffiti.
Led Zeppelin isn’t the only group sampled in the song as it also samples “Good Old Music” by Funkadelic and “Slaughtahouse” by Masta Ace Incorporated. It can be hard to discern Zeppelin in the instrumentals, but the song itself has a banging drum beat that keeps it going strong.
‘Doctor’s Advocate’ – The Game feat. Busta Rhymes
“Doctor’s Advocate” is the titular song from The Game’s album of the same name. The track was meant to pay homage to Dr. Dre after The Game left Aftermath Entertainment. The rap song uses Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” wisely as it turns the guitar line into an eerie piano melody. Both The Game and Busta Rhymes deliver some stellar bars on this track, and the piano gives it a remorseful feel, which The Game is trying to express to his mentor, Dr. Dre.
‘Kim’ – Eminem
While Eminem has many aggressive songs, like “Stan” and “The Way I Am”, “Kim” is perhaps his most violent. The song, from The Marshall Mathers LP, reflects the rage he felt toward his then-wife, Kim, who was preventing him from seeing his daughter, Hailie. In the track, Eminem imitates his wife’s voice as he murders her and puts her in the trunk of his car.
What makes the song even more disturbing is Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks.” The song’s guitar riff is turned up to 11, making the track sound even more brutal and deranged than it already is. Let’s just go back to the original version and let Eminem’s version remain separate.
‘Beastie Groove’ – Beastie Boys
“Beastie Groove” is an early release from the hip-hop crew from New York. Released in 1985 as the B-side to “Rock Hard”, the rap song samples Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog”, infusing the recognizable line “hey, hey mama” into the middle of the song. The Beastie Boys were known for their fusion of rock n’ roll with hip-hop and this is one of their earliest examples. It hits hard and is full of the entertaining rage the band was known for.
The A-side of this single, “Rock Hard”, had a more noticeable sample of AC/DC’s “Back in Black”, which got the group in trouble as they didn’t get permission to use it.
‘Come With Me’ – Diddy feat. Jimmy Page
“Come With Me” by Diddy famously samples Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir”, but what’s even moe impressive is that guitarist Jimmy Page worked on the rap song himself. The two recorded the track for 1998’s Godzilla. While the movie is subpar, at least it gave audiences this memorable collaboration. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Page said this experience made him appreciate hip-hop more.
“Hip-hop fascinated me, the whole culture of what it was and breakdancing and all this whole thing coming from the street. I thought it was great,” Page explained. “It was really good and some brave stuff. And I tell you, when Puff Daddy, as he was at the time, got in contact and said that he wanted to do this thing, I thought, ‘Wow. Yeah, yeah. We’ve been sampled enough. Why not do it for real?’ So I thought it was great. And it was an epic thing that he did.”
It can often be hard to hear when a song is being sampled. However, using a Led Zeppelin track is an excellent way to improve one’s music, even if it’s hard to hear.
