america adrift

“Now let me take a trip down memory lane”

A discussion of sampling in rap

By Morten Stinus Kristensen

Hip-hop music, or rap, has always been a place where originality was reshaped, rethought and redefined.  With innovative lyrics and music based on samples from songs previously published by other artists, rap is a paradox: do rap producers simply steal old songs without any artistic integrity or pride, or do they create something new and original from tradition? Are their use of samples merely inspiration, as found in all other genres of music, or a continuation of a tradition, combined with a new technology? No matter the answer, the formula has been extremely effective: rap has risen from a few DJs playing records at parties in the South Bronx in New York city in the 1970s to becoming not only a global billion-dollar business, but also a cultural power that arguably has changed not just the face of American music, and along with that the global music scene, but also changed the face of American society.

Rap music in fact started off with plagiarism. The first rap single to enter the US top 40 was Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight,” released in 1979. This song contained an entire verse, rapped by Big Bank Hank, that was in fact written entirely by another rapper called Casanova Fly (who in his own way historically important in that he was the first DJ to incorporate rapping in his DJing and later became known as Grandmaster Caz). There was not even an attempt of disguising the fact that this had been written by someone else. Thus, the first lines in the verse rapped by Sugarhill Gang member Big Bank Hank is “check it out, i’m the c-a-s-an-the-o-v-a /and the rest is f-l-y,” spelling the name of the true writer of the verse. While the first hit rap single might have been, in part, plagiarism it is the use of samples and the reinterpretation of earlier traditions that the use of these samples I believe is the most important aspect of originality in rap music. Some might argue that rap producers merely take other people’s work and disguise it as their own, as Big Bank Hank did with Casanova Fly’s lyrics, but the use of samples in rap demands a much more complex analysis.

In the 1970s, the South Bronx had been socially devastated by several things; amongst these the building of the Cross Bronx Highway that made property values in the area plummet, but also by severe cutbacks in social and cultural funding. Thus, as Tricia Rose, author of the seminal academic book on hip-hop, Black Noise, suggests, early hip-hop parties became a way for disadvantaged youth to find a cultural expression they could not find anywhere else. The young urban, primarily Black and Latino youth had very few resources for creating culture, so instead they created new culture from what was available; relatively inexpensive records and new technology in a combination that not merely provided them with means for creating their own kind of music, but was also extremely innovative.

The source of samples is perhaps the most important aspect of samples in hip-hop. From the very beginning, sampling have relied heavily on African-American music, for example, “Rapper’s Delight” used a sample of disco band Chic’s hit “Good Times.” To pick a more current example, out of thousands, Nas’ “N.Y. State of Mind” from his excellent debut record Illmatic uses two jazz samples, one from pianist/drummer Joe Chambers (“Mind Rain”) and one from trumpeter Donald Byrd (“Flight Time”). The producer of this track, DJ Premier (one of the most accomplished hip-hop producers ever) has found samples from songs that might be recognizable to jazz fans, but that most hip-hop fans would have no possibility of identifying. This is important to acknowledge as it shows us that samples are not used to merely pay homage to musical predecessors. Of course it does so implicitly, but it is by far the main objective for using a sample to overtly connect rap to earlier musical traditions. It is, however, a great example of how organically jazz, a predominantly African-American musical tradition, is a part of this track and hip-hop in general. Though DJ Premier have cut up the samples so their sources are not immediately recognizable, it is still, when you listen to the original recordings, very easy to locate them in “N.Y. State of Mind.” The connection to tradition is obviously very strong in hip-hop and hip-hop producers are both relying on and bringing African-American traditions with them into a new era of music.

“N.Y. State of Mind” also demonstrates another interesting aspect of sampling, namely its sampling of the Eric B. and Rakim track “Mahogany,” more particularly the lines where Rakim raps that he is in “a New York state of mind.” The sampling of earlier hip-hop in this song creates a continuity that has not been exhibited, and is not possible, in other musical genres, because the old tracks becomes as integral a part to the new track as any other aspect of it is. Another more current example of the complexity of sampling is found in The Cool Kids’ “Gold and a Pager.” In this track they sample a song that has been immeasurably important in the way hip-hop has evolved, N.W.A’s “Fuck Tha Police,” more specifically the line “with a little bit of gold and a pager.” The particularly interesting aspect of this sample is the huge difference in themes and contexts of the two songs, recorded more than twenty years apart. While Ice Cube of N.W.A raps about having his car searched for the sole reason that he is a black teenager with money and a pager, The Cool Kids track is a tribute to the materialistic teenage life, which hip-hop today also stands for. The contrast between The Cool Kids’ portrayal of their, relatively carefree, teenage life, exemplified by for example the lines: “The last day of school threw my hat in the air / With a new pair of shoes with the gum sole,” contrasts very much with N.W.A’s lyrical exposé of ghetto life in for example the lines “A young nigga got it bad cause I’m brown/And not the other color so police think/they have the authority to kill a minority.” The difference between The Cool Kids track and the song they prominently sample is in no way a weakness; rather it underlines the unique ability hip-hop has of reinterpreting life through using tradition and making it relevant for their own life and setting. The ability to reinterpret tradition from a new perspective is one of the biggest strength of hip-hop.

Both The Cool Kids and Nas sample earlier hip-hop and thus connect their own music to their idols and hip-hop forefathers. They do it differently, however. While Nas merely replay Rakim’s rap, without altering it in any way, The Cool Kids both slow and cut up Ice Cube’s rap. This does not in any way show disrespect, but rather talks to the large difference between the perspective of N.W.A and The Cool Kids. Just as hip-hop in general has continued a focus on the ghetto aesthetics, it has also changed some of the aspects of hip-hop, such as fashion, a subject The Cool Kids actually rap a lot about in this track. When Nas released Illmatic hip-hop was much more popular than it was at Eric B. and Rakim’s time, though it had still not achieved the cultural status it has today. Interestingly, when The Cool Kids played in Copenhagen for the first time it was in connection with Copenhagen’s Fashion Week and for a later The Cool Kids concert there was competition for tickets in the Danish fashion magazine Cover. Today, I think it is fair to say, hip-hop has become a force within fashion, but it has done so, partly at least, by relying on hip-hop’s history of authenticity, such as for example The Cool Kids’ sampling of N.W.A exemplifies. It is highly doubtful that a lot of readers of Cover like or even know N.W.A, but it is certain that The Cool Kids would not have achieved the same level of trendiness without the history of rap providing them with the framework for creating hip-hop with an authentic and honest feel.

Another example of fashion appropriating authenticity is the fad of keeping the sticker on a New Era cap. In Denmark, this fashion is particularly useful in pointing out how fashion has become very important in a new hip-hop generation; a fashion that has started in US, most likely to prove that the cap is not a counterfeit (the origin of this fad is somewhat disputed) has transferred to Denmark and a market where counterfeit hats are extremely seldom, if they even do exist. Nonetheless, this idea of proving your authenticity through fashion is very expressive of how hip-hop is considered today by what you could call a new hip-hop generation; a generation where wearing the right brands, and proving it too, is just as important, maybe even more so, than knowing the history of hip-hop and rap. And this is exactly the case with sampling in hip-hop as well: while The Cool Kids use a sample from N.W.A they do it mainly to maintain authenticity, not to draw a direct comparison between themselves and N.W.A, just as Danish kids today keep their sticker on their New Era caps to follow a trend that can provide them with an authenticity they would otherwise not be able to achieve (for more on this trend, check out http://articles.sfgate.com/2007-11-11/living/17268207_1_new-era-s-new-york-sticker-cap).

Sampling other hip-hop also provides a chance for Danish rappers to provide a more authentic context for their music. The Danish rap group Malk de Koijn are very skillful at this, both lyrically and musically. A musical example is found on the track “Johnny Torso” where they use a sample, originally from funk group The Whole Darn Family’s track “Seven Minutes of Funk”, but which has been sampled extensively by American rap producers, most famously for the Jay-Z track “Ain’t No Nigga” from his debut album Reasoanable Doubt. Lyrically, there are many examples of Malk de Koijn sampling/referencing American hip-hop, such as naming a track “Phantastisk”, substituting the f with ph, a construction stemming from the ebonic replacement of f with ph as in for example the word “phat.”

So we see sampling serving many different purposes. It provides hip-hop producers with the ability to create something new from something old and is a perfect way for providing new hip-hop with an authentic feel. At the outset of hip-hop this innovative use of samplers came from a lack of resources for instruments etc., but it developed into the trademark of hip-hop. Today the kind of sampling hip-hop created transcends genres, but still the use of samples is omnipresent in hip-hop. Sampling provides new hip-hop artists a chance for connecting their music to that of their musical predecessors, such as is the case with Nas or The Cool Kids, or provides non-American rappers, such as Malk de Koijn with an opportunity to connect their Danish interpretation of hip-hop to the American tradition. By using samples from everywhere the musical world of hip-hop shrinks and everybody in the hip-hop generation achieves ownership of the world. From a cultural point of view this is immensely important as hip-hop emerged, and is still in part seen as, a medium that could serve as a creative outlet through which the voiceless of the American ghettoes could spread their message. Rap artists still refer to their history in lyrics, but also refer back at least as much through the use of samples. Creative interpretation of tradition is what hip-hop is based on, and what has made it so popular. Sampling is a great example of how hip-hop can serve this purpose: reimagining the past in both hopeful, but also powerful terms. And so, they have pioneered a cultural form, where sampling is merely one aspect, albeit an important one, to create an outlet for black urban youth, who before hip hop was disenfranchised and silenced, but today, with the rise of hip-hop has achieved a dominant position on the global cultural scene. As Nas and his producer Pete Rock rap on Illmatic, with the final answer sampled from a 1984 T La Rock track: “Whose world is this?/The world is yours/It’s mine, it’s mine, it’s mine/Whose world is this?/’It’s yours!’”

Morten Stinus Kristensen is an MA student of English at the University of Copenhagen.

mortenk@stud.ku.dk

This article was first published in the magazine INK, the new student publication of the English Department at the University of Copenhagen. First edition out on Friday, March 12th 2010. The magazine is a student initiative and is available for free on campus.