Digging in the Crates: Sampling as Archival Practice and Pedagogical Method

Session Type: Demonstration/Performance

Abstract

This article explores crate digging as an archival, creative, and pedagogical practice in Hip Hop. Framing the producer as both artist and archivist, it highlights how sampling functions as historical storytelling through embodied, intuitive listening. Drawing from autoethnography and archival theory, the piece examines how producers preserve and reinterpret overlooked sonic histories, challenging traditional archives by centering community-based, vernacular collections. The producer’s ear becomes a methodological tool for cultural inquiry, transforming sound into memory and meaning. Crate digging is positioned as a living archive and a form of research that bridges history, innovation, and pedagogy, offering educators new ways to engage students in critical listening, cultural reflection, and creative practice rooted in Hip Hop’s epistemologies.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Hip Hop Theories, Praxis & Pedagogies

Chair

• Stevie D. Johnson, The Ohio State University

Papers

• “Buying Old Records is a Habit”: Digging in the Crates as Archival Practice - Jason D. Rawls, The Ohio State University

Session Organizer

• Jason D. Rawls, The Ohio State University