Sample This (2013) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

In the summer of 1973, DJ Kool Herc was browsing a record store in the Bronx when he came across The Incredible Bongo Band's album languishing on the shelves. He was immediately struck by the album's long percussion breaks, recognizing their potential for manipulation and reuse in his DJ sets.

• dj kool herc
• incredible bongo band
• bronx
• record store
• discovery

DJ Kool Herc developed a groundbreaking method of extending the percussion breaks by playing two copies of the same record back-to-back, creating a continuous loop. This technique isolated the breakbeat section of songs, allowing dancers to showcase their moves and laying the foundation for hip hop production.

• breakbeats
• back to back technique
• dj kool herc
• looping
• hip hop origins

Despite being released by MGM in May 1973 and followed by a second album in 1974, Bongo Rock failed to gain mainstream traction with American audiences. The album's experimental percussion-heavy sound and lack of traditional song structures made it difficult to market, though these same qualities would later make it perfect for sampling.

• bongo rock
• commercial failure
• m album
• sales
• 1973

Michael Viner was an aide to Bobby Kennedy and was present at his assassination in June 1968, watching his roommate Rosey Grier (Kennedy's bodyguard) wrestle the gun away from Sirhan Sirhan. Devastated by the tragedy, Viner left politics and later channeled his urgency into music, eventually creating The Incredible Bongo Band at MGM.

• robert kennedy assassination
• michael viner
• rosey grier
• 1968
• origin story

The Incredible Bongo Band's tracks have been sampled by hundreds of artists across decades, including Grandmaster Flash, The Sugarhill Gang, Melle Mel, LL Cool J, Nas, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Missy Elliott, Will Smith, Moby, Busta Rhymes, and many more. These samples helped bridge the original percussion breaks to modern hip hop and electronic music.

• sampling
• hip hop artists
• moby
• jay-z
• kanye west
• missy elliott
• legacy

The album featured extended instrumental sections where percussion took center stage, particularly on tracks like Bongo Rock and Apache. These long, uninterrupted drum breaks provided the rhythmic foundation that DJs could loop and build upon, essentially creating the template for hip hop's signature sound.

• percussion breaks
• bongo rock
• apache
• drum break
• hip hop foundation

After witnessing the Kennedy assassination and leaving political work, Viner took a job at MGM studios. He produced the soundtrack for the film The Thing With Two Heads starring Rosey Grier, and created The Incredible Bongo Band as a side project to fill out the soundtrack with original percussion-driven tracks.

• michael viner
• perry botkin jr
• producer
• origin
• incredible bongo band creation

Rosey Grier was a former NFL star who served as Bobby Kennedy's bodyguard and was Michael Viner's roommate. He was present at Kennedy's assassination in 1968 and physically prevented Sirhan Sirhan from firing additional shots. Grier later starred in The Thing With Two Heads, which led Viner to create the soundtrack and ultimately The Incredible Bongo Band.

• rosey grier
• nfl
• bodyguard
• kennedy
• bobby kennedy

While Bongo Rock itself was not a hip hop record, its tracks became foundational to the genre when DJs began looping the percussion breaks. Songs like Apache and Bongo Rock provided the breakbeats that launched hip hop, though the genre itself emerged from DJ Kool Herc's Bronx parties in 1973 using these very recordings.

• first hip hop
• breakbeat
• origins
• bronx
• bongo rock
• apache

Gene Simmons, known as the bassist of KISS, provides narration for the documentary. His involvement adds star power and credibility to the project, and his distinctive voice guides viewers through the historical narrative of how a little-known album became a cultural phenomenon.

• gene simmons
• narrator
• kiss
• documentary voice