What is it with today's R'n'B/Rap? It's turning into Europop from ten years ago! And why is it turning into Europop from ten years ago? Because that's what their sampling and it's just plain wrong. Sure it makes for cheesy/catchy/annoying/easy-to-sell ringtone, pop chart hits but it's sampling gone mad. Gone are the days when DJs would go to every length to hide what breaks they were playing, when producers wouldn't share their sample sources - these are the days of shamlessly plundering already bad music to make a quick buck.
Sure, R'n'B and Hip Hop's history is littered with similar stories. Take Will Smith's hits for example - all very popular old tracks (that only he'd afford sample clearance for). But the difference in this case? All very popular GREAT old tracks, for example Diana Ross' 'Love Hangover' being converted into 'Freakin' It' or The Clash's 'Rock The Casbah' making it to the charts as 'Willenium'.
So who are the main culprits now? Well T.I. set it off with 'Live Your Life' which sampled the awful 'Dragostea Din Tei' by O-zone. Now Flo-Rida has followed with 'Sugar' which samples Eiffel 65's 'Blue (Da Ba De)' (I know...!) and last year Wiz Khalifa nicked Alice Deejay's 'Better Off Alone' for his terrible 'Say Yeah'.
It's sampling gone mad and it needs to stop. Or is this what folk have always been saying about rap records? Do you know of any more examples like this? Let us know your thoughts. All I can say is I'm looking forward to when they tap into the rich Europop vein that is Aqua of 'Barbie Girl' fame.
Sure, R'n'B and Hip Hop's history is littered with similar stories. Take Will Smith's hits for example - all very popular old tracks (that only he'd afford sample clearance for). But the difference in this case? All very popular GREAT old tracks, for example Diana Ross' 'Love Hangover' being converted into 'Freakin' It' or The Clash's 'Rock The Casbah' making it to the charts as 'Willenium'.
So who are the main culprits now? Well T.I. set it off with 'Live Your Life' which sampled the awful 'Dragostea Din Tei' by O-zone. Now Flo-Rida has followed with 'Sugar' which samples Eiffel 65's 'Blue (Da Ba De)' (I know...!) and last year Wiz Khalifa nicked Alice Deejay's 'Better Off Alone' for his terrible 'Say Yeah'.
It's sampling gone mad and it needs to stop. Or is this what folk have always been saying about rap records? Do you know of any more examples like this? Let us know your thoughts. All I can say is I'm looking forward to when they tap into the rich Europop vein that is Aqua of 'Barbie Girl' fame.
Stumble It!
5 comments:
great post. slight mod on the sample stream. it's proper name is Eurotrash (named after the channel 4 series). Funny shit, still trash.
I think somebody needs to actually write down the unwritten rules of sampling. Until then, I'm going to raid my brother's Erasure collection and make myself a few mil.
Blame Duff Paddy - he started this ish with all the 80s samples.
These records play on the fact that people know the originals, and that's a big part of the problem.
I want to hear Lil Wayne Autotune over Venga Bus.
I remember Eurotrash yeah!
Venga bus, now that's one I want to hear!
just got my Spotify listening interrupted by a Flo-Rida ad and it reminded me of this post - he's apparently also got one on his album that samples bloody "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" by Dead Or Alive. Given hip-hop's history with men in make-up and the like, it's sort of hilarious to imagine Pete Burns feeding his collagen addiction with a fat royalty cheque from Flo-Rida.
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