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As part of , which is celebrating every aspect of the genre, Craig Charles shines a spotlight on hip hop's foundations: its samples.

Thanks to passionate crate digging, rap tracks have not only been built around some of the best grooves and beats ever created, but new audiences have been turned on to a series of stone cold classics.

Showcasing the sounds behind the rhymes, Craig Charles presents an A to Z rundown of hip hop's best samples on his .

"We’re playing the original tunes, where all those great hip hop samples come from," Craig explains. "Sometimes when songs were sampled they were slowed down or sped up a bit, or there’s electronic things that were done to make it difficult to find the source – but don’t worry we’ve found them!"

As a, er, sample for his 26 samples, below Craig spells out the names and stories behind five of the original tracks that feature in the rundown.

Chic – ‘Good Times’

Sampled on: Sugarhill Gang – 'Rapper's Delight'; LL Cool J – 'Rock The Bells'; De La Soul – 'A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturdays"'

Craig says: C is for Chic. In some senses this is one of the most important samples in the history of hip hop. It laid the foundations for ‘Rapper’s Delight’ which itself introduced so many people across the world to the phenomenon that was rap. Understandably Nile Rodgers was quite cautious about how his music was used without his say so, but over time he’s said ‘Rapper’s Delight’, is his favourite song that samples Chic.

Also, now when he plays ‘Good Times’ live he does ‘Rapper’s Delight’ in the middle of it, so it's come full circle. The fact that hip hop fully embraced the sound of Chic, particularly when there was all that 'Disco Sucks' nonsense going on, has helped them achieve longevity. It’s why Chic can still pack places out all over the world. Both sides – Chic and hip hop – have got a lot to be thankful for.

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Babe Ruth – ‘The Mexican’

Sampled on: Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force – 'Planet Rock'; Funky 4 + 1 – 'Feel It (The Mexican)'; Jungle Brothers – 'On The Run'

Craig Says: R is for Ruth, Babe Ruth. This is a real underground tune. The rare groove movement revived it back in the late '80s – you couldn’t go to places like The Wag Club in London without hearing it. It’s good time party music, which is what my show is all about. This tune fell through the cracks originally but was saved by the crate diggers and then the samplers.

It’s got an odd background for its status in hip hop, it was actually recorded by the British band Babe Ruth in '72 at Abbey Road, and it only got over the Atlantic courtesy of [New York DJ] David Mancuso who played it a lot at The Loft, which was a legendary underground dance party in New York, where it gained a hallowed place amongst Funky 4 + 1 and Afrika Bambaataa who sampled it. They turned it into a massive underground club tune. There can be a lot of snobbery with this stuff, people want to hear the stuff that’s properly rare – DJs would take their labels off their records back in the day, to stop rivals from copying what they were playing – but this one eventually found the audience it deserves.

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The Soul Searchers – ‘Ashley’s Roachclip’

Sampled on: Eric B. & Rakim – 'Paid in Full'; Slick Rick – 'Hey Young World'; 2Pac – 'Strugglin'; Public Enemy – 'What What'; Run–D.M.C. – 'Run's House'; LL Cool J – 'Jack the Ripper'; Burial – 'Rival Dealer';

Craig Says: A is for Ashley’s Roachclip. It’s been sampled by Eric B and Rakim, LL Cool J, Run DMC… they’ve all made really good use of it. It’s one of the all time great samples, by one of the all time great funk artists. He’s the man who would go on to become the Godfather of Go-Go, Mr Chuck Brown! Absolutely brilliant, it springs up everywhere. It’s interesting how these hip hop acts go to the same sources for samples a lot of the time.

Now it’s legally been sorted, and people do get paid – which they didn’t when it all started out back in the day – people must be chuffed that artists keep coming back to them. The track itself has just got a really cool groove to it. The Soul Searchers were very underrated and this groove is right in the pocket. It just draws you in. It’s got a proper wiggle on it, so when you hear it you have to dance!

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Ike Turner & The Kings Of Rhythm – ‘Getting Nasty’

Sampled on: Jurassic 5 – 'Concrete Schoolyard'; Main Source – 'Snake Eyes'

Craig says: I is for Ike… Ah! Ike Turner has such a chequered history but man he could lay a groove down. There was something about his stuff that stands the test of time. It sounds just as fresh today as it did when it first recorded. He had a great way with rhythms and words. His personal life ruined his legacy in a lot of ways, particularly the way he treated Tina, but you can hear why this sound has been sampled.

The title just sums it up, what a tune! He was one of the baddest men in funk and soul – in every way, unfortunately, but if you drop this now people will still just start dancing.

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The Third Guitar – ‘Baby Don’t Cry featuring Eddie Holloway’

Sampled on: DJ Shadow – 'The Number Song'; Main Source – 'Looking at the Front Door'

Craig says: G is for Third Eye Guitar… we really had to get it in there so go with it! What a tune! I don’t think guys like Eddie Holloway got their dues, they should have been a lot more successful then they actually were. It’s brilliant that he and this track got a second life through sampling. The song lives again, it’s getting to a fresh generation who you hope will be keen to discover the original – and it really is worth going back to the source in this case. Great tune!”

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