Sample Archaeology

Workflow

1. WhoSampled search_whosampled — find the track on WhoSampled
2. WhoSampled get_track_samples — retrieve full sample graph (samples_used + sampled_by)
3. For each sample found, use get_track_samples on the source to trace deeper chains
4. Genius get_song — retrieve song relationships, lyrics context, production annotations
5. MusicBrainz get_recording_credits — production credits, engineer credits
6. Discogs get_release_full — original release details, pressing info, production notes
7. Wikipedia context on the original sample source artist/recording
8. WhoSampled get_artist_connections — artist-level sampling overview for broader context

Chain Building

• Build the chain backward: start from the known track, find what it sampled
• Then check what the source track sampled (and so on)
• Also build forward: find who else sampled the same source
• Note whether samples are direct (audio lifted), interpolations (re-recorded), or references