"When I sample something, it's because there's something ingenious about it. And if it isn't the group as a whole, it's that song. Or, even if it isn't the song as a whole, it's a genius moment, or an accident or something that makes it just utterly unique to the other trillions of hours of records that I've plowed through." - DJ Shadow
They say mimicry is the truest form of flattery. But in the music business, is it just stealing?
It's no secret that artists have been biting off each other for years. When your work is constantly influenced by what you listen to, and your creativity is molded by those who taught you the craft, how much originality is available? One of the simplest (and maybe more acceptable) forms of stealing/sharing is sampling. We can pinpoint sampling practices back to 1961 when James Tenney used state of the art technology, or tape recorder manipulation, to sample Elvis's "Blue Suede Shoes."
From the harmless to the overtly obvious (Vanilla Ice still defends his distinction from Queen's "Under Pressure" with a straight face), sampling remains a huge part of the music business today - particularily in hip hop culture. There are enough legal issues involved to make my head spin. An artist can obtain a license to utilize a physical sound recording that doesn't belong to them (as the Beastie Boys did for their sample of James Newton in "Pass the Mic") but the artist still must clear the use of the song. If lyrics and music are involved in the sample, that complicates matters further. Ludacris, Kanye West, the Beastie Boys, and several other big names have all been involved in legal disputes over these issues.Let's take a look at some famous samples, as well as some other ones I've scoped out recently.
The Track: Vanilla Ice - Ice, Ice, Baby [mp3]
Samples From: Queen ft. David Bowie - Under Pressure
The Track: MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This
Samples From: Rick James - Superfreak
The Track: 2 Pac - California Love (Remix)
Samples From: Joe Cocker - Woman to Woman
The Track: Notorious B.I.G. ft. Puff Daddy & Mase - Mo Money, Mo Problems
Samples From: Diana Ross - I'm Coming Out
The Track: Beastie Boys - Egg Man [mp3]
Samples From: Public Enemy, Curits Mayfield, Funkadelic, Lightning Rod, Kool & The Gang, and Tower of Power. Thematic use of scores/sound clips from Jaws, Cape Fear, Psycho, E.T./Aliens (Still unclear whether Drew Barrymore's character screams or Newt).
Sidenote: Beastie Boys, Paul's Boutique
There are so many samples on this album it's insane. There's even a website dedicated to their enumeration. In the eighties, there was nothing Adam, Mike D, and Ad Rock considered sacred. They sampled lots of Led Zepplin, The Eagles, and everyone else under the sun.
The Track: MIA - Paper Planes
Samples From: The Clash - Straight to Hell
The Track: Common - The Light
Samples From: Bobby Caldwell - Open Your Eyes
The Track: A Tribe Called Quest - Award Tour [mp3]
Samples From: Weldon Irvine - We Gettin' Down
The Track: Wiz Khalifa - Say Yeah
Samples From: Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone [mp3]
The Track: Wale ft. Lady Gaga - Chillin'
Samples From: Steam - Na Na, Hey Hey, Kiss Him Goodbye
I haven't definitivly made up my mind about the practice of sampling. It obviously serves to create some of the catchiest, most dance-riling tunes I know. And yet, there's something to be sad for originality, if it still exists organically. I love the lead-in quote from DJ Shadow, because I think it highlights the best intentions of sampling. That would be the creative elaboration or transformation of another person's most genius moment, even accidental ones. Maybe it's a little hippie-ish (communist?) of me to believe there are such altruistic movements behind sampling, or maybe it's the kind of optimism we need. To believe we can live in a world where art is free for everyone to access, expand, customize, and send on it's way for the next alteration or labor of love.
LtK
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