Sam Sever portrayed the Beastie Boys DJ in the 1988 film Tougher Than Leather, which was directed by Rick Rubin. In the film, Sever is seen on the turntables during the Beastie Boys' live performance of "Desperado." Sever was needed for the role because the Beastie Boys real DJ, DJ Hurricane, portrayed another character in the film.

Sever has been an influential producer in the world of hip hop. His first major contribution was remixing and creating beats on the 1986 album No. 10 Upping Street by Big Audio Dynamite. He followed up the work with Big Audio Dynamite by producing two lesser-known releases, Jamie J. Morgan's Shotgun (1987) and Ms. Melodie's Diva (1989). Sever also worked with Run-DMC, co-writing the song "Is It Live" and doing the drum programming on the recording of the song.

After the Licensed to Ill lawsuits between Def Jam and Beastie Boys, Def Jam was determined to create an act that would compete with the Beastie Boys. Def Jam's replacement for the Beastie Boys was 3rd Bass. Sam Sever produced 3rd Bass's very successful Derelicts of Dialect album in 1991. He also went on to produce Prime Minister Pete Nice's Dust to Dust album in 1993 after 3rd Bass broke up.

In 2000, Sever created a remix for the Beastie Boys. The "Sever & Hoffman Intergalactic Remix" can be found on the Beastie Boys Video Anthology DVD.