SAMPLED examines the skeletal production of a contemporary rap, R&B, hip-hop or pop song — Where did the loop, sample, or chopped up vocal providing the backbone originate? SAMPLED gives you the history, the context, and the insight.

This is the first time I’ve seen a hip-hop artist sample a sappy instrumental post-rock band. I’m not saying that this is gospel — hip-hop heads can feel free to school me in the comments section below. But for me, this is a pretty interesting sample flip.

Now, I have to qualify with “instrumental,” because Kendrick Lamar sampled Sigur Rós “Ný Batterí” on a track (“I Hate You“) from his third mixtape.” I’ll also have to qualify that statement with “sappy,” because A$AP Rocky’s “Purple Swag” samples a Mogwai track, but I’d probably call them more doomy and dirgey than sappy.

This week, we’re tackling definitely sappy and definitely instrumental Texas guitar-arsenal Explosions In The Sky, and their self-described cathartic mini-symphony “Your Hand In Mine”:

After Explosions In The Sky wrote the soundtrack for Friday Night Lights, it became clear that any source visual material was made instantly epic by scoring it with one of their sprawling, instrumental odysseys. It’s a bit of an inescapable punchline when you mention the band now (one that we were not too proud to capitalize on, naturally) but honestly, the music supervisor on FNL deserves a medal for recognizing that fact before anyone else. Oh, and also for that incredible “New Noise” placement, even if it feels a bit weird knowing that the football players at my high school probably called me a fag for listening to Refused back then. ~*MeMorIEs*~, right?

“Your Hand In Mine” was recently sampled by Maybach Music Group upstart Rockie Fresh’s “Lights Glow,” produced by his in-house beatmaker The Gift:

21-year-old Chicago rapper Rockie Fresh drummed up a lot of label interest last year with his mixtape Driving 88. Fresh found himself in the middle of a bidding war between Diddy and Rick Ross, and ultimately decided to side with Maybach instead of Bad Boy, based on being able to relate more to Rick Ross. Diddy, sitting pretty near the top of the Forbes Cash Kings List, is less relatable than Ross? Shocking.

Electric Highway is Rockie Fresh’s first offering, a mixtape, under the Maybach Music Empire brand. Siding with Ross ensured Rockie would get some choice features for Electric Highway (Curren$y, Nipsey Hustle, Lunice, Boi-1da, and Rozay himself), but it’s safe to assume that Ross and Rockie Fresh won’t call in any major favours until Rockie’s ready to drop his first official album.

Production for nine out of seventeen tracks on Electric Highway was handled by The Gift, Rockie Fresh’s in-house producer. On “Lights Glow,” The Gift chops a section about half-way through “Your Hand In Mine” (around 2:41 in the Explosions In The Sky clip), speeds up the tempo and increases the pitch of the sample. Sampling Explosions In The Sky in a hip-hop song has a similar effect as when you use their original music to soundtrack something visual — both are made instantly epic and emotional.

Rockie Fresh’s laid-back, introspective verses and autotune-assisted choruses put him somewhere inbetween Kid Cudi and Wiz Khalifa. Now you know why there was a bidding war.