Hip-hop was once a subculture, but it has long since become one of the unquestionably dominant forms of popular music, not just in America and not just among young people. Of course, there is still a significant amount of resistance to hip-hop, but even they have come to know a certain amount about hip-hop just through cultural immersion. For example, they realize that, whether they want to admit it or not, rappers typically perform over music constructed through sampling, music that is pieced together from fragments of other songs. If you don’t know how it works, you can clearly visualize the process to see it. video above From sample provider Tracklib.
This video, which provides a breakdown of sampling as it happened throughout “50 Years of Hip-Hop,” begins in 1973, before the genre really took shape. It was then that DJ Kool Herc developed what he called the “merry-go.” ‘Round’ Technique’ is an early example of the use of dual turntables to go back and forth between the instrumental break and the incredible bongos of James Brown’s ‘Give It Up or Turnit a Loose’. The band’s “Bongo Rock.” The original idea was to give the dancers more time to do their thing, but as the MCs picked up the microphones and started getting creative, new music quickly took shape.
Mainstream America got its first taste of hip-hop in 1979. “Rapper’s Joy” By Sugarhill Gang. Many people would recognize Thicke’s “Good Times” from its repeated rhythmic parts. This was actually an interpolation, or re-recording, rather than a sample. This led to a lawsuit, but it wasn’t the last in hip-hop, and it caused thousands of DJs to scour their record collections for a break they could use. Disco proved to be a source of inspiration for early hip-hop, but so too did jazz and electronic music, as demonstrated by Afrika Bambaataa and Soul Sonic Force. “Planet Rock” A sample of Kraftwerk’s “Trans-Europe Express”.
Nothing is artistically off limits when it comes to sampling. In some ways, the less immediately recognized, the better. As audio editing technology has evolved, hip-hop artists have long taken borrowed clips and taken them further by slowing them down and making them their own. Accelerate them. Chop them into small pieces and rearrange them. And I’m going to layer them on top of each other. This can sometimes lead to problems, such as the catalog not being officially available due to difficulties in licensing De La Soul’s wide variety of source material. Along with A Tribe Called Quest, who also appears in this video, De La Soul is known as a hip-hop group loved by music geeks. However, a serious analysis of hip-hop’s major works reveals that all of its artists are music geeks through and through.
via Kottke
Related content:
The History of Sampling: From the Beatles to the Beastie Boys
How sampling transformed music and created a new tapestry of sounds: an interactive demonstration with producer/DJ Mark Ronson
“Amen Break”: The most famous six-second drum loop and how it sparked a sampling revolution
The surprising long history of “Autotune”, a vocal processing technology that music critics hate
Hear every sample from Beastie Boys’ acclaimed album. Paul’s Boutique – and discover where they come from
Listen to De La Soul’s acclaimed and influential hip-hop album for free streaming for the first time
Based in Seoul, Colin Mbemust write and broadcastIt’s about cities, languages ​​and cultures. His projects include the Substack newsletter books about cities and a book Stateless City: A Stroll Through Los Angeles in the 21st Century. Follow him on Twitter @Colinbemust.
