I always enjoy when hip-hop artists sample themselves. It makes the music recursive, and for me, “recursive” is synonymous with “good.” You can hear self-sampling in “Nas Is Like” by Nas, “The Score” by the Fugees and many songs by Eric B and Rakim. The most recent self-sampling track to cross my radar is “Unbelievable” [...]
Filed in Key Musicians, Math, Music, Sampling
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Also tagged digging the crates, dj premier, fractals, funk, hip-hop, impeach the president, keybs, lee byron, mandelbrot, notorious big, nursery rhymes, patrice rushen, r kelly, recursion, rnb, Sampling, songwriting, turntablism
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My friend Leo has a new jazz quartet. At their debut performance a couple of weeks ago, they ended the show with a mashup of “Solar” by Miles Davis and “Freedom Jazz Dance” by Eddie Harris. “Freedom Jazz Dance” is a favorite of mine, and a lot of my fellow jazz nerds agree. People love [...]
Filed in Key Musicians, Music, Sampling
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Also tagged digging the crates, ed og, eddie harris, fu-schnickens, funk, hip-hop, jazz, mashups, miles davis, Sampling
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Thursday, September 30, 2010
In 1987 I remember having my ears grabbed by this thing on the radio called “Pump Up The Volume” by MARRS. Now that mashups are so common, this track doesn’t sound particularly remarkable. But in seventh grade it was startling to hear a house music track full of random samples. “Pump Up The Volume” was [...]
Filed in Key Musicians, Music, Sampling
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Also tagged authenticity, bobby byrd, digging the crates, dj hero, eagles, eighties, eric b & rakim, flow, fugees, hip-hop, james brown, jimi hendrix, marrs, mashups, recursion, revival revival, sample maps, Sampling, stetsasonic, turntablism
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If I had to pick a single track to explain to an alien or time traveler what hip-hop is and why it’s so awesome, I think I’d pick “Nas Is Like.” Nas has a great flow full of powerful imagery, but what truly sets this track apart for me is DJ Premier’s production. It’s a [...]
Filed in Composition, Key Musicians, Music, Sampling
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Also tagged advertising, biz markie, digging the crates, dj premier, eurythmics, hip-hop, kool & the gang, memes, michael jackson, nineties, recursion, roxanne shante, sample maps, Sampling, steve miller, turntablism
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This post isn’t about Obama. I love Obama. I’m talking about a classic breakbeat, the opening few seconds of “Impeach The President” by the Honey Drippers, and the president in question is Nixon.
Filed in Composition, Copyright and Authorship, Music, Sampling
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Also tagged big daddy kane, biz markie, de la soul, digable planets, digging the crates, drumming, eric b & rakim, funk, hip-hop, honey drippers, mick jagger, nice & smooth, notorious big, Sampling, slick rick, soul, wu-tang
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DJ Kool Herc describes “Apache” by The Incredible Bongo Band as the national anthem of hip-hop. “Apache” includes a famous drum and percussion break that has reliably put bodies on the dance floor through hip-hop’s prehistory:
Filed in Copyright and Authorship, Music, Sampling
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Also tagged apache, breakdancing, copyright, dance, digging the crates, dna, double dee and steinski, drum n bass, drumming, Evolution, funk, goldie, grandmaster flash, hip-hop, history, kool herc, mashups, memes, missy elliot, pop, questlove, roots, Sampling, seventies
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For a long time, “Human Nature” was not my favorite song on Thriller. It took me many years to wise up to how awesome it is. Maybe it’s a gender thing. I played it for Anna last night and she swooned instantly over the delivery, arrangement, melody, the whole thing worked for her. I’m slowly [...]
Filed in Composition, Emotion, Music, Sampling
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Also tagged jazz, michael jackson, miles davis, pop, quincy jones, remixes, rnb, Sampling, swv, thriller, toto, tupac
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Back in 1966, Glenn Gould predicted that recorded music would become an interactive conversation between musician and listener. He described dial twiddling as “an interpretive act.” He was wrong about the dials, but right about the main point, that technology would make listening to music more like making music. Anybody with iTunes instantly becomes a [...]
Filed in Composition, Copyright and Authorship, Internet, Music, Sampling
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Also tagged dave brubeck, digging the crates, dj, dj earworm, django reinhardt, double dee and steinski, electronica, fan art, fugees, funk, girl talk, glenn gould, grandmaster flash, green lantern, hip-hop, jonathan lethem, kelis, ludacris, mashups, memes, michael jackson, mixtapes, mozart, paul simon, pop, pro tools, radiohead, recursion, remixes, sample maps, Sampling, sasha frere-jones, wayne marshall, youtube
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