Crate Digging: The art of finding samples for Hip Hop beats. In the begining "crate digging" consisted of searching through record crates. Today it also includes CDs, mp3s and sample websites. Most producers probably don't sample from mp3s but they might hear a track on a mp3 and then find a CD or vinyl version of it. Another way of acquiring samples is to buy them from sample sites. There are a lot out there:
modernbeats, abstractbeats, p5audio, joemadsamples etc. I don't like paying a lot but sometimes in a pinch the sites come in handy. I've bought from the 4 I mentioned above and I'll review them soon. Finding the right sample is an important part of making Hip Hop beats. It can be the difference between a making that track hott.
