QUESTION DU JOUR: Samples--Good for music? Or Killin' the Classics?

May 5, 2010

So, I'm separated from my older siblings by 10 years, roughly (an older brother and an older sister). Needless to say, I was brought up in a house with good music. And nowadays, when my sister is with me and we're listening to some of my music, she always ends up saying, "NO! They messed up a classic! That definitely used to be an old song that y'all don't know anything about!" More and more, I'm starting to realize that EVERYTHING is sampled from something.

Tonight, my roommate was listening to some old Harold Melvin And The Bluenotes and I had a light bulb moment when the melody came in. Jay Z sampled their song on his Roc La Familia album (the first album that I ever purchased--from Wal-Mart! I remember it like it was yesterday). Anywho, I thoroughly enjoyed the blast to the past, and it made me dig out my old Jigga man CD.

Take a listen to both and give me your opinion. Are remakes ruining old classics? Or do samples pay tribute to the greats and bring their songs back to life with a contemporary feel?

Photobucket








♬ Harold Melvin And The Bluenotes, "I Miss you"

Photobucket







♬ Jay-Z, "Must be life"

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

i split strictly down the middle. i think it depends solely on how well a sample is done. like you said, everything is a sample of something. so if an artist puts their own creative spin on thangs and keeps it tasteful i would rate that a tribute. BUT if they just throw some bars together and think they'll have a hit cuz no ones paying attention: FAIL. it all depends....

 
Don't watch me, w-w-watch my feet....