Hip-Hop: Scruples for Samples (Part 1)

Are producers truly making new music, or are they just stealing?

It's been a tradition since the early days of hip-hop; taking different pieces of music and putting them together to make a new song. Sampling stems partially from the ideals of Africa Bambaataa, one of hip-hop's original pioneers of the 1970's, and founder of the hip-hop movement known as Zulu Nation. Determined to stop violence amongst rival gangs in the Bronx, he mixed music from different communities during his dj party sets, uniting people and cultures all over the city. He is described by journalist Jeff Chang (whom I referenced in my previous post) as "break-centered." In other words, he would use his favorite part of a song, and mix it with portions of other songs. He "...pulled out what was precious and tossed the rest." Today, hip-hop continues to be very break-centered, sampling different records from different walks of life, worldwide.

Unfortunately, the ethical issues that come into play with sampling are nearly as old as the tradition itself. In the late 80's, the group De La Soul was sued for using a sample from the turtles for their debut album "3 Feet High and Rising." In a 2010 blog post from Benz & a Backpack Timbaland is said to have been accused of sampling music from Egyptian artist Hossam Ramzy without permission for Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin'." In both cases, the sampled material sounded too similar to the original material. These are just a few instances that compromise the morality of hip-hop.

One of my favorite artists, Count Bass D has a t-shirt that summarizes the production aspect of sampling ethics in one sentence:

"Sampling ain't biting*, as long as you flip it fresh."

*Biting: to copy or mimic

Put in layman's terms, if you can take a sample and change it, mix it, and chop it to the point where it is unrecognizable, where it becomes a new sound, it's acceptable.

Consider this. All musicians, hip-hop or not, gain inspiration from the music of others. In order to compose, one must be familiar with music on a certain level. It is hard to create a full composition without having some musical knowledge, and inspiration from music that already exists; it is your foundation for composition. With your knowledge of music, you imagine how you might change and evolve a sound you have already heard. You experiment in your mind and with your instrument based on your foundation. After you are satisfied, a song is born.

Now, imagine a person who uses samples for hip-hop music. They have a foundation just like any other musician. They are able to experiment, try out new ways of implementing that foundation by mixing, cutting, etc. The difference is that having a sample allows one to directly reference the original record; to reference their foundation. So inspiration from samples can be molded into any new form of music via turntables physically, just as musical knowledge and inspiration from a song you remember in your head can be molded and shaped mentally.

End of Part 1

Part 2 coming soon!