Upon Watching Sample This

This critical review discusses Dan Forrer’s 2012 documentary Sample This. In addition to chronicling the making of The Incredible Bongo Band, their two albums and the single ‘Apache’, the documentary traces the careers of producer Michael Viner, the musicians who made ‘Apache’ and the song’s eventual discovery by DJ Kool Herc and deejays from the early days of hip-hop. The review also traces connections between the economic conditions that led to sampling, finding songs like ‘Apache’ and how hip-hop uses live musicianship in the present day, especially in relationship to points made by the film’s interview subjects.