Fine Brothers Entertainment To Dissect Hit Songs In New ‘Sample School’ Series

Fine Brothers Entertainment (FBE), the media company spearheaded by brothers Benny and Rafi Fine, has launched this week its latest original series titled Sample School, which breaks down how popular songs were composed by delving into the tracks that they sample.

In the first episode, for instance, Drake’s Hotline Bling is revealed to include a sample of Timothy Thomas’ 1972 hit Why Can’t We Live Together. The show doesn’t feature any live actors. Narrator Alex Wechsler describes music composition and history in a funny, fast-paced tone as quirky graphics illustrate each song’s backstory.

Six total episodes of Sample School will be released every other Wednesday on the FBE flagship YouTube channel, which counts 14.4 million subscribers. FBE also owns and operates a separate React channel, which houses reaction-themed shows across a wide class of categories including video games, food, music, and game shows. The company said Sample School is “part of an active effort to expand programming frequency and shows,” according to a release.

“We wanted to create a show that explores the connection between musicians of today and the artists of the past they’re sampling,” writer/host Wechsler said in a statement. “We’re excited to share our passion for music with our fans and uncover how influential these sampled songs are, not just in hip hop, but in many other genres as well.” Adds producer JP Quicquaro, who leads FBE’s scripted short form content team: “We wanted to bring more music content to our global audience. We are excited to merge history and pop culture and entertain audiences with this new series.”

FBE’s slate of original programming includes the animated series Emo Dad and the half-hour YouTube Red series Sing It. The company is also currently in post-production on its first feature film, F*&% The Prom, which is slated to arrive in coming weeks.