The Fader blog on The Clash and its lack of being sampled by hip-hop (so far), excerpted:

As the rap world’s fascination with MIA’s “Paper Planes” and the parade of “remixes” featuring the likes of 50 Cent, Jim Jones and Freeway (possibly) starts to subside, we’ve been thinking about why more hip-hop producer’s haven’t sampled The Clash, whose “Straight To Hell” is the basis of Diplo’s beat. After the jump, FADER editors Eric Ducker and Eddie “Stats” Houghton discuss over instant messenger what the beatmakers have been missing, who probably blew it and whether you’ll be hearing the harmonica from “(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais” on Myrtle Ave. any time soon.

Eric Ducker: Let me just fire up the iTunes and put The Clash on shuffle.

Eddie Stats: Word. Let me get my Clash coffee table book, so I can drop random facts.

ED: Okay, my first question is: why haven’t more people sampled The Clash?

ES: Good question. I have no fucking clue, except that maybe it’s hard to clear? Or at least that’s what I assumed until “Paper Planes” came out. I would think Simonon and Jones would be easy sells

ED: I can’t imagine they would take a Rolling Stones/Beatles/Barry White anti-rap stance.

ES: Maybe you have to get clearance from CBS or some kind of Bernie Rhodes/ Joe Strummer estate combine. That’s the only good excuse I can think of.

ED: Yeah, I don’t think they would not clear things from an artistic standpoint, money could be the only issue, because the only people who really have sampled them before “Paper Planes” were Will Smith and Ice Cube & Mack 10.

ES: Will Smith! I forgot about that. It must be a money thing. I always got the feeling The Clash didn’t make too much money when they were “alive.” They basically took a loss with Sandinista and London Calling by doing double and triple LPs for the price of one.

ED: But isn’t that like the opposite thinking of the Tom Tom Club who will basically let anyone sample “Genius of Love” as long as it’s not super offensive, because that way they can make money on it?

ES: I think it’s like if you want to sample “Guns of Brixton” you probably have to pay off all their debts to CBS, including hotel rooms Topper Headon trashed in 1980 that still aren’t paid for.

So wait, let’s review the short list: Ice Cube & Mack 10, Will Smith and MIA?

More.