This past week, Roy Ayers passed away at the age of 84. Born in 1940 Ayers was a cornerstone of the soul and jazz combo genre, and who I believe to be one of the most influential artists of the past 100 years.

It’s easy to overlook an artist like Roy Ayers, whose albums ranged from “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” to “Coffy”, but his legacy has already been set in stone through the lens of modern Hip Hop. 

His soulful jazz ballads and hits from across the 1970’s were some of the most influential of their era, and their effects are still being felt today.

Sampling is a term used in Hip Hop to describe the making of a beat using already made, or sampled, music/sounds. Many times this includes messing with speed, pitch or other audio features and incorporating the sample into what will later become a beat.

Roy Ayers is arguably one of the most important artists not just of his generation, but of the modern one as well due to his lasting legacy through sampling.

Dr. Dre, Pharrell Williams, A Tribe Called Quest, Mary J. Blige, Tyler The Creator, Common, Joey Bada$$ and many more rap artists from the 90s to now have used Roy Ayers music as a cornerstone of sampling in modern rap music.

The influence of his sound will live on not only through those who listen to his original tracks, but through the newer generations who listen to his music through the lens of modern Hip Hop.