The SP-1200 sampler changes everything

August 1987: Number 14 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of hip-hopThe ability to create an entire song on a single piece of kit is now standard practice. In 1987, the release of the E-mu SP 1200 made it possible for the first time. And portable, too. Decades on, those beats can sound choppy and limited. But they're also immediately reminiscent of classic albums such as EPMD's Strictly Business and Critical Beatdown by the Ultramagnetic MCs, which were born from the SP's chunky b...

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