Instagram Story Save

This week’s “Guess The Sample” answer…

Is This Love by Whitesnake

Released in 1987 on the self-titled Whitesnake album, “Is This Love” was originally written with Tina Turner in mind before Whitesnake decided to keep it themselves. The song went on to become one of the biggest power ballads of the entire 80s era and helped push the album into multi-platinum territory worldwide.

What’s wild is how smooth and emotional the record feels compared to how hard Whitesnake usually came. Those warm keys, gigantic drums, glossy guitars, and that melody line are basically a blueprint for late 80s arena emotion. Producers have been quietly pulling textures and moments from records like this for YEARS because the emotion is already built into the music before you even touch the sampler.

The crazy part about sampling records like this is most people only hear “classic rock”…

Producers hear tension.
Space.
Texture.
Mood.
The feeling between the notes.

That intro alone feels like it belongs in a late night movie scene driving through the city in the rain.

A lot of y’all were CLOSE in the comments…

Leave a 🔥 if you caught it early.

What should next week’s difficulty be?
Casual Listener?
Real One?
Crate Digger?
Producer Mode?
Impossible Mode?

#makingbeats #akaipro #akaimpc #boombapbeats #choppingsamples

This is what a “Real Ones” level should really be…

Not impossible.
Not some ultra rare Turkish psych record pressed 14 times in 1977.

But if you know music… REALLY know music… this one should hit almost immediately.

This week’s “Guess The Sample” feels like driving too fast at night with problems you absolutely should’ve dealt with already.
Pure late 80s emotion.
The kind of record that sounds gigantic before the vocals even start.

Rain on windows.
Neon reflections.
Leather jackets.
Parking lot arguments that turn into life decisions.

And there’s a very specific keyboard section in this record that producers have probably wanted to loop for decades. I finally gave in.

This one crossed generations for a reason.
Rock fans know it.
Movie fans know it.
People who grew up hearing radio domination know it instantly.

No crate digging required this week… just taste.

Leave your guess in the comments.
No cheating. No Shazam detectives.

🔥 if you already caught it.

#makingbeats #akaipro #akaimpc #boombapbeats #choppingsamples

Sometimes you just have to switch it up.

I’ve been locked in on every Akai MPC under the sun for weeks, but Koala Sampler just dropped an update that changed everything.

I tried to ignore it, but I can’t. Koala’s workflow is too crazy.

I have an entire album with Daniel Son dropping soon, and every beat on that project was made in Koala. So for this RAW Flip, I’m back on the iPad with Koala Sampler, using the Akai MPD as the controller for that pad feel.

No direct audio. No polished edit. Just the raw beat making process in real time.

Koala Sampler. iPad beat making. Akai MPD workflow. RAW Flips.

Leave me a fire emoji if you’re rocking with this one.

@akai_pro / @koalasampler

#makingbeats #akaipro #akaimpc #choppingsamples #boombapbeats

🚨 OUT NOW 🚨

The brand new “AIR Tape Effect Collection” from @Akai_Pro & @airmusicplugins is officially LIVE.

If you’re into:
📼 tape saturation
🌊 vintage delay textures
🔥 analog warmth
⚠️ wow/flutter
🎛️ unstable character
🎚️ dirty movement

…this collection was built for you.

Included in the collection:

▪️ Tape Double Track
Vintage-style double tracking with width, modulation, varispeed movement, and classic analog instability.

▪️ Tape Saturator
Multiple saturation models with tape aging, dropouts, wow/flutter, tone shaping, and serious character for drums, samples, and mixes.

▪️ Tape Echo
Classic tape echo textures with spring reverb, multi-head modes, chorus movement, motor drift, and deep analog-style space.

What I love about these is they don’t just “simulate tape” — they actually introduce movement and imperfections that make samples and drums feel alive.

Perfect for:
🎵 boom bap
🎬 cinematic production
🎹 sample-based music
🥁 dirty drums
📼 vintage textures
🌫️ analog-style sound design

The launch pricing is wild too:
💰 Bundle Intro Price: $99
💰 Individual Plugins: $59

Definitely gonna be putting these through serious work.

Leave me a fire emoji if you’re rocking with this one. 🔥

#akaipro #akaimpc #choppingsamples #boombapbeats #airmusictech

Join the exclusive and you will be getting a brand new only available for exclusive members folder of kick drums…. Lots of kick drums lol …. For free as long as you are a member

“Shit You Shouldn’t Sample” returns……

This week we’re walking into fluorescent lights, impossible Christmas lists, and one of the most dangerous melodies of an entire generation.

If you grew up hearing this… your parents probably lost money immediately after.

A jingle so powerful it convinced millions of kids they absolutely NEEDED something before even knowing what it was.

Geoffrey knew what he was doing.

This one lives somewhere between childhood nostalgia and psychological warfare. The second it comes on, your brain turns back into a 9-year-old standing in a toy aisle staring at something your family definitely couldn’t afford.

And somehow… it still knocks.

“Shit You Shouldn’t Sample”
Toys “R” Us Edition.

Leave me a fire emoji if you’re rocking with this one.

#makingbeats #akaipro #akaimpc #boombapbeats #choppingsamples

This weeks “Guess The Sample” answer was…
Everything She Wants by Wham!

Released in December of 1984 as the double A-side to “Last Christmas,” this record became one of the biggest records of the entire 1980s. Written and produced entirely by George Michael, the song showed a much darker and more mature direction for Wham! compared to their earlier pop records. 

A few wild facts about this record:

• Hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May of 1985
• Became Wham!’s THIRD consecutive #1 record in the United States
• Released originally alongside “Last Christmas” as a double A-side single
• “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid actually kept it from reaching #1 in the UK charts
• George Michael reportedly considered this one of the first songs where he truly felt like a serious songwriter and producer 

The production on this record is INSANE for 1984. The bassline, Linn drum programming, synth textures, and arrangement are still getting sampled and referenced today. According to WhoSampled, the record has been sampled and referenced in dozens of songs across hip hop and R&B. 

The song has also appeared across pop culture for decades through movies, television, radio throwbacks, GTA playlists, and countless 80s compilations. A lot of producers especially point to the extended mix as the definitive version because of the arrangement and extra breakdown sections. 

Honestly… if you’re a producer and you DON’T hear the sample potential in this record immediately, go back and listen to that bassline again.

The game continues next week.
Let’s see who’s really paying attention 👀

Leave me a 🔥 if you guessed it correctly.

#makingbeats #akaipro akaimpc boombapbeats choppingsamples

This is what a Casual Listener level should really be…
This is one everybody should know. 🎧

But sometimes the biggest records hide the darkest stories.

This week’s flip came from a song that sounds bright on the surface… until you actually listen to what’s being said. Neon lights, perfect smiles, expensive living, relationship pressure, emotional exhaustion… all hidden inside one of the smoothest grooves of the decade.

This wasn’t just pop music.
This was anxiety in a designer suit.

A legendary duo.
One voice instantly recognizable.
A bassline that quietly carries the entire emotional weight of the record.

This song lived on MTV.
Lived on the radio.
Lived in shopping malls, cars, dance floors and late-night drives.

But underneath all the polish is somebody realizing love, money, success and pressure are all colliding at once.

The hook sounds massive.
The lyrics feel trapped.

And once you hear the meaning… you can never unhear it.

If you grew up in the 80s or 90s, this record was unavoidable.
If you’re really paying attention… the clues are everywhere already.

Leave your guess in the comments 👀🔥

#makingbeats #akaipro #akaimpc #boombapbeats #choppingsamples

RAW Flips.

No direct audio.
No fancy edits.
No studio magic hiding the mistakes.

Just me sitting in front of a machine figuring it out in real time.

This one was interesting because the sample I fed into the MKSREC1 had WAY too much high end in it, and this machine immediately started exposing every harsh frequency hiding inside the sample. Real quick I realized… you have to approach this thing differently.

That’s honestly why I love doing these RAW Flips videos. You’re not seeing a polished “content creator” version of beat making. You’re seeing the actual process. The good decisions, the bad decisions, the moments where things fall apart, and the moments where the machine suddenly comes alive.

A lot of people have been asking for deeper breakdowns, more camera angles, more explanations, more workflow details, and longer sessions showing exactly HOW I build these beats from scratch.

That’s coming.

The YouTube channel is where I’m really starting to open the doors to the full process, longer sessions, deeper workflow content, sampling decisions, machine behavior, mistakes, adjustments, and all the little details you don’t really get to see in short form clips.

If you’ve been rocking with RAW Flips here on IG, go subscribe on YouTube because the deeper dive content is about to get serious.

Link in bio.

🔥 Leave me a fire emoji if you’re rocking with this one.

#makingbeats #akaipro #akaimpc #boombapbeats #choppingsamples

This is true friendship….. @vansleazy and I have opposing thoughts about this Death Riders / Jon Moxley shtick on AEW.

Somewhere in an alternate 1980s America… three elderly women didn’t just wander into an Arby’s looking for a bigger hamburger.

They were running an operation.

Nobody knew their real names.
Only whispers.

One handled the money.
One handled logistics.
One handled enforcement.

The “Where’s the beef?” line?
That wasn’t about burgers.

It was code.

A signal sent across diner counters, bowling alleys, bingo halls, and roadside motels from Miami to Atlantic City.

Because the beef was never missing.

The shipment was.

Every Thursday night they’d roll through town in a faded brown sedan that smelled like cigarettes, Aqua Net, and danger. Waitresses would stop talking. Fry cooks would suddenly remember they had somewhere else to be.

Then the shortest one would step forward…

“Where’s the beef?”

If the manager answered wrong?
Somebody was getting folded into a deep freezer behind the walk-in.

Rumor was they controlled half the roast beef distribution on the eastern seaboard by 1987.

One retired hitman claimed they once ran an underground card game out of an abandoned Arby’s after closing hours. Another swore the ladies used bingo tournaments to launder money for a Midwest crime family.

Nobody could prove any of it.

Because witnesses kept disappearing.

Now decades later… all that remains are grainy VHS tapes, flickering CRT televisions, and one phrase burned permanently into American culture:

“Where’s the beef?”

But maybe the better question was…

Who took it?

🎥🥩

Leave me a fire emoji if you’re rocking with this one.

#makingbeats #akaipro #akaimpc #boombapbeats #choppingsamples

🚨 ANSWER TIME 🚨

Only a small number of y’all caught this one… this week’s “Guess The Sample” was built from a legendary piece of music history:

🎶 “Get Up, Stand Up” — Get Up, Stand Up by Bob Marley

Released in 1973 on the album Burnin’ through Island Records and later in his popular Legend album, this record became one of the most important protest songs ever created. The track was inspired by the poverty and inequality Marley witnessed while touring Haiti, and over the decades it became a worldwide anthem for resistance, freedom, and standing your ground.

The crazy part? Even stripped down and flipped into something completely different… that soul still survives inside the sample.

Salute to everybody who got it right this week 🫡
The game continues next week…

Think you’re ready for the next one? 👀

Leave me a fire emoji if you’re rocking with this one. 🔥

#makingbeats #akaipro #akaimpc #boombapbeats #choppingsamples