This week we are exploring DJ culture and the art of turntabalism. In what ways do DJs remix culture? As you blog on the key words SAMPLING and TURNTABALISM, think about the role of the DJ as a cultural historian. How are diverse cultures sampled and remixed through sound bites in music? How does Hip-Hop enable cross-racial and ethnic exchanges through music sampling? If we think about early Hip-hop and the role of the DJ as central to Hip-Hop, how has this position changed over time? These are prompts to help you think through the idea of sampling as not simply the borrowing of sound bites and remixing them in different musical contexts, but also as and act of historical manipulation and contextualization.
As Hip-hop began to grow and expand, different subcultures of the genre were introduced. Turntabalism and sampling entered the hip-hop scene and created mixed opinions. First, looking at turntabalism, we see the variety of ethnicities that were attracted and drawn to the art. Look at artists such as DJ Krush, DJ Qbert, and Grandmaster Flash, who all come from different areas of the world. The universal appeal is what brought so much success to turntabalism. The competitive nature almost turned this musical art into a sort of sport, which as we know, are widely successful throughout the world. Sampling, which almost branches off of turntabalism, created a sort of gateway to break away from the disco era. By using many popular cuts from songs it opened the eyes to many listeners who were’t that interested in the rap side of hip-hop. As Nelson George states: “Sampling’s flexibility gave hip hop-bred music makers the tools to create tracks that not only were in the hip hop tradition but allowed them to extend that tradition” (That’s the Joint! 439). In other words, sampling opened new doors to hip-hop. Although sampling seems to occur a lot in today’s hip-hop, it is hard to discover and create something original, because chances are, there are several similar sounding beats, riffs, etc. Sampling is everywhere whether we recognize it or not. Robert Karimi mentions the idea of “sampled consciousness,” which is “a state of self (being) created by the act of sampling different experiences” (Total Chaos 223). Sampled consciousness is much like sampling music. Although the music has some original value to it, it still is composed of different ‘experiences’ that the artist has acquired from other influences. So the idea of sampling may not sound original and may anger those who feel they have more ‘musical talent,’ yet, it is a part of the hip-hop culture and almost all music stems of something else. So in all reality, is anything actually original?
ReplyDeleteThe role of the DJ has always been somewhat of a “historian” though I say this in regards that any of us could be considered a DJ because everyone is going to have a different taste in music ranging from Kanye West to Eric B & Rakim. Hip-hop and DJing is an ever evolving genre that formed from the roots of turntables and scratching to progressing (or “regressing”) now to the style of the auto tune and sampling from other songs or genres. Turntables were the first (and only according to some) instrumentals that enabled the DJ to scratch and create a different tune from the original vinyl and was widely popularized by Grandmaster Flex and Grand Wizard Theodore (That’s the Joint! 45). If we look at The Notorious B.I.G’s “Juicy” he clearly uses Mtumes “Juicy Fruit” as the background of “Juicy” but blends it with his own lyrics to create what some call one the greatest hip-hop songs ever. Looking back to the DJ though, we see that the role they play has for the most part stayed the same, play music the people want to listen to and create a fun and enjoyable environment for the listener.
ReplyDeleteBrandt Johnson
Turntablism represents so much more that just the single electronic instrument, it is the device based on the fusion of other creations. Originating with DJ Cool Herc in the Bronx who led the public to discover the innovated talent that turn-tables unleashed (Forman and Neal 2004). By introducing this device into the popular music industry, incorporating other beats and lyrics became a casual throw back to previous works. But now we see sampling in just about every main stream hip-hop song. Bands such as Girl Talk only incorporate already existing songs into mixes to create one long jumble “flowing” to the beat. I completely acknowledge that it is, and does take a certain amount of talent to elaborate and produce such duplications; however I do not know if I could classify it as original or creative musicians. At the end of WWII technology was evolving sound and inspiring music in many facets (Forman and Neal 2004), and now we use computer programs (such as auto-tone) to alter “artist’s” voices and construct the perfect pitch; and there is no talent, imagination or sincerity in that. These days it is rare to see legitimate talent, creativity or innovation; especially in the main stream media.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Hip-Hop history fads came and went. Some of the most prominent members of the hip-hop generation are DJs. DJ’s were originally used to change the tracks to keep the music flowing, but their position in hip-hop evolved and forever changed the face of hip-hop. Through the new invention of “Turntabalism,” DJ’s began to pick up a new sound. This new sound was made through the instrumental breaks of previous songs and records. By mixing rhythm breaks together, playing them faster or slower, the DJ created a new sound for hip-hip called scratching. One of them most crucial elements of scratching is sampling. Sampling is when you take parts or rhythms of other previously recorded songs as part of the new song. “Sampling’s flexibility gave hip-hop-bred music makers the tools to create tracks that not only were in the hip-hop tradition but allowed them to extend the tradition.” (George 439) With this type of sampling many different musical and cultural traditions are united together in one single sound. The act of turntabalism developed a new sound and a new position for the DJ, allowing him/her to develop their own personality and finally be in the spotlight. With the changing of technology, DJ’s have lost their esteemed position to computer generated beats and rhythms. DJ’s and turntabalism is now more of a passing phase than a required member of a hip-hop group.
ReplyDeleteSampling gives artists, performers, and entertainers a chance to take someone else’s music or work, and make their own rendition of it. “It’s an old idea with one of hip-hop’s gifts (Chang).” . The man responsible for sampling was a 26 year old mobile DJ who is known in the Bronx as Cool Herc (Foreman and Neal). I think that sampling ties in with the turntables and DJ’s in the sense that they all together bring in different sounds, in an attempt to make something with their touch on it. With the turntables, you can take a song from the 50’s that our grandparents used to dance to, and scratch it into something that only a 20 year old would recognize today. For example you could take the song “I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross in 1981, and most students would have no clue what that song is. But the second you played “Mo Money Mo Problems” from 1997, you would be able to tie the Diana Ross song with the one From Christopher Wallace.
ReplyDeleteHip-hop’s extreme growth over the years has expanded and touched the lives of millions of men and women from various cultural backgrounds. Sampling and turntabalism are two distinct terms known to hip-hop fans around the world. Robert Karimi simply states sampling as the act of incorporating an audio segment of an original recording into a new recording by changing from analog to digital (Total Chaos 223). As sampling progressively became more popular, more and more musical artists spoke out against sampling condemning it as lazy. However, in my eyes, DJ’s were and are in fact creating music, which may be reproduced in some aspects but ultimately is unique to that specific artist. Turntabalism is the use of the turntable as an instrument by DJ’s to create unique sounds. Many DJ’s would argue that the turntable is in fact an instrument and turntabaling allowed DJ’s to become artists as they developed a name for themselves in the music industry. The article, Sample This, states that, “since the end of World War II, technology has been a driving force in moving black music ahead--it has given musicians tools and opened possiblities their old instruments never suggested” (Foreman and Neal 438). Although technological advances progressed black music, it has also taken away from many blacks ability to create lasting impressions on the hip-hop music world.
ReplyDeleteAs Hip-hop begin to grow in the industry it began to use a lot of sampling. Even though sampling has been able to expand artist’s creativity and songs it has also got a lot of negative attention. Mentioned in the book, a producer-songwriter named Mtume slams Hip-hop for not "extending the range of the music" due to sampling. He mentions that sampling is for lazy musicians to create music. In the '80s there were also many copyright issues when artists would sample other artist’s works. Even though sampling is still present to this day it is still an on-going debate whether sampling actually destroys the African-American's music traditions or continues them. The advances in technology have provided a lot of ground for artists to cover in the industry. It has allowed them to manipulate any content of music and make it into their own. Sampling, in my opinion, is using someone else’s creation and changing points of it while still keeping the foundation of the original. I do think it is very important for an artist to be able to create their own work instead of just sampling others. However, sampling can provide the listener with a different interpretation of the music and can change the way they hear it.
ReplyDeleteI think that DJs are without a doubt the most important role in creating diversity within hip hop. You hear a lot of DJs talk about how they all grew up listening to Jazz, Easy Listening, Blues and even Samba, and although it obviously implements different sound bytes on the beat and allows for total improvisation, it’s also an extent of their own history; with these sounds, DJs can bring together sounds that can be relatable with an MC or a band for instance like with Herbie Hancock and Rockit. It can also just introduce sounds from all over the world, and therefore can break the whole misconception that only hip hop is ethno centrally a racially black or African America artistic medium. Also, if people are arguing over the legitimacy of the relations of MCs and DJs in Hip Hop, the DJs were the serious backbone of the music. But then after hip hop music was being produced onto records, the DJs were pretty much discarded because they could replace them with a drummer, which sort of kills the prospect of DJs having a massive effect on hip hop music throughout its upbringing.
ReplyDeleteHip-Hop’s popularity has been expanding since it first appeared in the music scene. Through the use of music sampling and DJs, Hip-Hop’s popularity grew among a greater number of ethnic and cultural groups due to differing cultures and ethnicities being able to communicate and share their ideas and takes on Hip-Hop. Sampling was first brought to the surface by a mobile DJ from the Bronx known as Cool Herc who rose to popularity by playing sets of assorted rhythm breaks strung together. Cool Herc took disco breaks that were unpopular with much of the youth of the late 1970s and combined them, often at a higher speed, to create a musical product more appealing to the teens unhappy with disco (Forman and Neal 41). As sampling evolved and came to the forefront of Hip-Hop culture, differing opinions regarding copyright and ownership erupted. Though the average listener often does not mind or sometimes notice sampling, critics feel as though a song in which sampling is used as a substitute for musical composition is an insult to Hip-Hop and the artists who make their own beats. According to producer-songwriter Mtume, Hip-Hop producers that have no understanding of theory, could play no instruments, and “viewed a large record collection as the only essential tool of record making” make for lazy musicians and listeners. Sampling’s purpose has evolved from making mainstream music appealing to a wider audience to creating a shortcut for many Hip-Hop producers, and has contributed to the ongoing debate of originality in the Hip-Hop community.
ReplyDeleteThe readings this week focused around two very important words that are often tied to the hip-hop community. As you can imagine, DJs are majorly influencing in this genre of music, since so many beats are samples from older songs from the past. DJs enable us to listen to a whole new spin on an old favorite. DJs are capable of remixing culture in that DJs have voices just like rappers and MCs; they have a point of view just like every other hip-hop artist. With their point of view and technology today they can sample a classic rock song with the lyrics of one of their favorite rapper. Djs and sampling make this conversion of cultures possible. While it may sound cheesy, DJs have the ability to bring very different people together. It seems as though DJs in the hip-hop world were much more emphasized back in the 80’s and that could have a lot to do with the fact that a lot of the rappers produce and mix their own music now, however there are still certain DJs who have broken through the wall and gain recognition in the hip-hop community. So while the dynamic between the DJ and the rapper has changed, stylistically, they have stayed very true to the origins. The “sampled consciousness” described by Karimi in Chang’s Total Chaos, explains the DJ culture very well. Karimi says, “The consciousness is constantly in flux, alternating, adding, subtracting, and choosing. They sample blend, fade in, fade out the various experiences, remixing the self in service to its goal.” In my eyes, that one quote summarized what a DJ truly does; it’s not just a borrowed track from a random band, its mixing a song that somehow spoke to them and mixing it with another message that is important as well.
ReplyDeleteHip-hop music has evolved many times since its beginning in the seventies. One of the more recent developments is the idea of turntabalism which allowed DJs to incorporate a different sound to their music. They could scratch an instrumental piece from one song and add it to another until a song formed. I see turntabalism as an art. It is a way for DJs to let their creative side out. Although scratching is all used stuff it still takes talent to be able to pick apart songs and mix them with others and make them sound good. “People don’t appreciate how much technical knowledge went into the creation of music” (That’s the Joint! 49). Sampling is another form of turntabalism and it was a way for artists to make a transition from previous sounds to sounds of that time. I also see it as taking the easy way out. Taking a bunch of clips from other songs and calling it yours seems like cheating. Sampling lacks the talent and use of any type of instrument that turntabalism requires. Either way, turntabalism and sampling are two very popular forms of Hip-hop music today and are what make it so popular worldwide.
ReplyDeleteCool Herc, the pioneer of turntabalism, claimed that he began mixing records because of the poor quality of music that was available. Herc claimed that “On most records, people have to wait through a lot of strings and singing to get to the good part of the record. ...But I give it to them all up front” (Forman and Neal 41). The culture of turntabalism and DJs quickly became popular in Hip hop. In the movie “Scratch”, it was explained that DJs were responsible for keeping the MC happy and MCs were responsible for keeping the crowd happy. However, turntabalism seems to have been a fad that grew with popularity, had its peak and then became rare and the minority. Eventually, most MCs did not require the support of a DJ and could sell albums on a solo basis. Sampling is something that was not just a fad and seems to have been a continued tradition. Some argue that after a certain point there can’t be one hundred percent original music so artists are forced to sample from other artists but give the music a sense of originality by adding a different context to the sampled music. Adding a new flavor to sampled music can be just as hard as or even harder than creating original music so I don’t think it sampling stems from a lack of effort.
ReplyDeleteDJing and sampling has always been a staple in the hip-hop culture and the advancement of the musical genre since the beginning of it all. Sampling started its basics with Cool Herc by assorting rhythm breaks strung together from obscure disco songs, as covered by Robert Ford for Billboard in 1978 (pg. 41). Where Nelson George says “I rail against the lack of creativity in the hip hop generation” using sampling (pg.414). I say sampling helps open up the creative floodgates and unleashes the full power hip hop music possesses (De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising and PE’s It Takes a Nation as examples pg.440). Sampling an old R&B song is more of homage to the original artist to pay respect on how influential they were than stealing the credit from them. The DJ can be seen as a “historian”, but also a mediator. They helped bring genres together, with milestones including Sugarhill Gang’s 1979 hit single “Rapper’s Delight” sampling Chic’s “Good Times and Run DMC’s sampling Aerosmith’s “Rock This Way” in 1986 made hip-hop a solid internationally-respected music. Without DJing, turntablism, or sampling hip-hop would not be where it is today.
ReplyDelete. The Dj to me is a cultural historian because they pick samplings from songs from different decades and using it for their own. "On most records, people have to wait through a lot of strings and singing to get to the good part of the record... but I'll give it to them up front, Herc describes what sampling is.(Forman & Neal 41). Djs cross culture by using samplings from different genre's of music and piecing it together with a hip hop beat from vinyl records, even though the dj's uses part of the song that people are wanting to hear its not their original song but borrowing it to make up their own. The dj's turntabalism and sampling style connect to the wide range of people who are captivated by samplings of songs they once loved and know. "Sean Puff Daddy Combs sampled Diana Ross's "I'm coming out" to provide musical backing for Notorious B.I.G.'s "Mo Money Mo Problems..."(Forman&Neal 439)
ReplyDeleteFrom the beginning of Hip Hop MC's needed there Djs to scratch and piece together an awesome beat as they perform, but now days as the technological advancements MC's no longer needed their Dj's to scratch the turntable. Now a days Dj scratching is a small minority group in the hip hop world, we have to give thanks to turntablism its not just a fad in the earlier years of hip hop but did pave the way for MC's. Though dj scratching isn't big as it use to be, its still lives on as we still hear some of is reminisce in the hip hop sounds of today and occasional at the club.
DJ’s have always been at the forefront of hip-hop even when people weren’t aware of it. DJ’s have been the ones who keep the music flowing from one track to the next. As DJ’s continued to try new things and evolve their position in hip-hop, turntablism came into existence. Turntablism is the process of taking instrumentals from different songs and blending them together at different speeds over different tracks. This allowed DJ’s to be more creative and create their own unique styles. This is called sampling, Sampling’s flexibility gave hip-hop-bred music makers the tools to create tracks that not only were in the hip-hop tradition but allowed them to extend the tradition.” (George 439). Sampling was a major step for hip-hop and DJ’s. Thanks to DJ Cool Herc hip-hop found a new corner to turn as DJ’s would be forced to become more creative with their song selections at parties and would be able to show off their skills on the turntables. As I listen to the new styles of hip-hop the samples from previous hits become more and more clear. It is evident to me that sampling and turntablism was not just a fad it was the next step in making hip-hop what it is today.
ReplyDeleteSome of the most important members of hip-hop generation first started out as DJ’s. At first, DJ’s were simply used to change the tracks and make sure the music and the parties were going smoothly. The instruments that DJ’s used were turntables. Turntables were the first instruments that enabled the DJ to scratch and create a different tune from the original vinyl. They were widely popularized by Grandmaster Flex and Grand Wizard Theodore (That’s the Joint! 45). As hip-hop changed, turntabalism evolved. Something that was brought from turntabalism is sampling, this gives artists a chance to take someone else’s music or work, and make their own rendition of it. It’s an old idea with one of hip-hop’s gifts (Chang 226). Cool Herc was the first to invent sampling and brought it to the streets of the Bronx. He took disco breaks that were not as popular, and added much of the youth of the late 1970s and combined them, often at a higher speed, to create a musical product more appealing to the teens that were unhappy with disco (Forman and Neal 41). Personally, I like when artists create there own beats and lyrics, but when it comes to samplings it provides listeners with a different interpretation of music and changes the whole sound of a track.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, the movie Scratch was a decent documentary. When finished watching it I felt like I had a basic and historical view of the road Turntabalist have taken from the beginning to the present. As far as sampling goes, I agree in some aspects of what Mtume was saying in “Sample This” that the idea of sampling takes away some of the musical composition of making your own song. Although the DJ might not be producing new music from their own stock, but they are producing a totally new experience for that music and definitely using the turntable as a musical instrument that is comparable to most other electronic instruments. All the older favorites like Jazz, Soul, Rap, and blues from the ages can be brought back into a new light with a new flavor that, at least for me, would have probably never been turned onto musically. I forget the DJ’s name but from the movie Scratch, he spent countless hours in the basement of the record shop combing through album after album of forgotten artist to find that one beat that could be cut up and totally brought back to life. My favorite quote came from Herc “ On most records, people have to wait through a lot of strings and singing to get to the good part of the record” “But I give it to them all up frong.”(B-Beats Bombarding Bronx: Forman and Neal)
ReplyDeleteThrough the growth and popularity of hip-hop, sampling allowed people to take parts of their lives and experiences both culturally and ethnically and express them in forms of hip hop. Through the use of other artists’ songs and beats, one can reuse bits and pieces to form their own creation of themselves. This part of sampling is simplified with the use of turntables, which helps take different parts of songs and speed them up or slow them down on top of other songs. Turntabalism was a huge success to the hip hop industry, allowing many DJ’s to use the ideas of scratching in an easier technological way where they just piece together the tracks.
ReplyDeleteThe role of a DJ is a largely credited job. They are the ones who take us all back to the original sounds and beats of many different types of music, especially hip-hop. Especially in this day in age, DJ’s try to remix many different songs from the past to help revitalize the music that was once very popular. When people hear remixed songs in this generation, they connect with it in a new way from when the original song came out. For example, Mase’s song “Welcome Back” was originally stemmed from Kotter’s song “Welcome Back,” but in the remixed version, Mase added his rap edge to it to make it sound more up beat and welcoming to his generation. Hip-hop enables ethnic exchanges through mixing with all kinds of sounds from all over. Starting from the beginning, DJ’s have always played a huge role in hip-hop because that is where people heard music first. Today, many people reach a song before it has even been released to the public either by listening to it on YouTube or any other type of technology based sound bite. DJ’s have lost a little bit of their dignity over the years because there are many new ways that music can be heard first.
ReplyDeleteFrom watching the movie “Scratch,” I was able to see that DJ’s have had the most significant influence on the growth of Hip-hop over time. MC’s have also been large factors in this growth, but without DJ’s and their work with Turntables, MC’s wouldn’t have had anything to flow with. As said in “Scratch,” the DJ is the source of energy because they are primarily choosing the music and rhythm with which the MC will rap to. Turntabalism began as a hobby that people would experiment with in their kitchens, or basement, and has become an instrument used in all of Hip-hop. After watching the movie, I realized the Turntabalism is not just about moving your hands over records as they spin, there is real technique and learned experience that has to be used. As DJ QBERT said, “It’s like each technique is a word. The larger your vocabulary, the more articulate you can speak.” Not anyone can just decide to be a DJ and use Turntables. As Turntables grew, so did Sampling. To Sample, an artist is taking an audio segment from an original recording and using it in a new recording (Chang 223). In “Scratch,” I was able to hear how Bambada used “funky breaks” to give music a more fresh Hip-hop sound. Sampling opens the door for artists to use any genre of music in their work, because they are able to take that music and give it any sound they want. Therefore, they are basically taking a completely different genre and making it Hip-hop. Turntabalism and its advancements have made all of this possible, and also opened our ears to a whole new style of Hip-hop.
ReplyDelete“Hip-hop came along with the sample, a tool that reuses either-or-statements. Hip-hop did not reject the past; it said, “It is part of us” (Karimi in Chang, 222). I believe this quote from Robert Karimi is a good explanation of how hip-hop through the use of sampling has merged cultures, music, and generations together. As defined by Robert Karimi, sampling is the act of actually incorporating an audio segment of an original recording into a new one (Chang, 223). Through sampling, artists have been able to retain the past and create new works that bring to light the roots of hip-hop for younger generations that may not know these origins. DJs have played a central role in conveying how sampling produces this result. In the same way that R&B made the electric guitar and bass popular implements in record making in the 50s, hip-hop has made sampling a central aspect of record making now (Forman and Neal, 441). Even in hip-hop today, artists are recalling past songs such as in Kanye West’s Forever Young which uses the 80s version of this popular song. This bridges the gap not only between generations but also cross-racially. As stated by Karimi, “We don’t throw away the past-we transform it” (Karimi in Change, 230). Without the past there is no future, accordingly without sampling, the roots of hip-hop may be forgotten and the culture from which it emerged ignored.
ReplyDeleteTurntabalism and Sampling are aspects of current day hip hop/ pop/ basically many aspects of performing arts. Expanding musical devices in this case turn tables used to play records is another perfect example of improvising. Artists used improvisation like we discussed in previous discussions as a way to still deliver their art to the people with limited resources. In the case of turntables, turtableism, scratching, mixing, sampling, etc., the one time improvisation has turned it into a huge aspect of music. Sampling especially is seen many artists music because it allows them to collaborate with other songs and artists. They may sample for a variety or reasons, some most recognizable are to play homage to previous artists, or create a unique hook for their song. The unique thing about sampling in my opinion is that it is in a way a rebirth of a previous song or idea. In most cases I’d say that it is a compliment, but I can see how those who’s work is sampled and twisted into a maybe controversial or negative way. Regardless Turtaililsm and Sampling are aspects of hip hop that have helped grow the genre in epic proportions.
ReplyDeleteThe term “turntablism” is used to describe the art form that DJs use when creating music. They use pre-created sounds and music on a turntable and manipulate it to make it their own. DJs manipulate old records with their hands by mixing, scratching, and moving them to create new music. They may also create their own computerized beats, which sound entirely different than the traditional borrowing process (Scratch). Yet, turntablists are always searching for new vinyl to work with to create a sound entirely different than anything done before by others (Scratch). By using other musicians work, they are always at risk for copyright infringement or being sued. But hip hop artists believes that the past is a part of hip hop so they are allowed to use music from previous records (Forman & Neal). The process of using pieces of old songs and reusing them in new music is known as sampling. This allowed DJs to extend the hip hop traditions from the past. It transforms old sounds, yet keeps them alive to share with future generations. DJs can put an entirely new twist on old sounds. As Robert Karimi stated in his article titled How I Found My Inner DJ, “We don’t throw away the past—we transform it” (Chang 230) And turntablists who use sampling in their music are doing just that.
ReplyDeleteDJing and turntabling have been around for some time now and have had a dramatic impact on the progression of hiphop. While mixing and sampling have come a long way, it has helped merge gaps between cultural styles and influences. Sampling can impact people’s relation to the music and mesh culturally influenced styles together. Artists often use sound clips from older genres and oldschool songs to help widen their demographic and help people relate to the sing alongs or parts they are familiar with. This helps ease a non-passionate listener into embracing a new song or style of today’s hip-hop. While DJing is still alive and kicking, the media gives more attention to solo artists and MCs and minor spotlight to professional DJs. DJ screw produced many mix tapes sampling different artists/groups and added a unique chopped and screwed effect to maintain individuality to move forward in his career. Groups such as Girl Talk can attract a large demographic by helping people relate to their music by the hundreds of song clips, from multiple genres, layered together. Girl Talk does this especially well by competently fusing bands such as Metallica with artists like Lil Mama. This draws a massive interest level compared to mixing and sampling out of only a single genre. While some may consider sampling an easy way to sell out, it helps bring together multiple demographics and supplement a casual listener’s movement into enjoying newer music.
ReplyDeleteA big issue in the Hip-hop world is sampling. To some it is viewed as stealing and to others it is seen as carrying on tradition. I can see how taking beats from other songs could be looked down upon but at the same it is what makes Hip-hop unique. Many believe that sampling is how Hip-hop started in the first place (Sample This). To me, the best part about sampling is that it continuously recycles music making it impossible to forget Hip-hop’s past. Artists sample from a variety of genres including blues, reggae, and tribal music (Forman and Neal). I will hear an old beat in a new song and smile because it will take me back to a song I haven’t listened to in awhile. For example, when I listen to Jay-Z “Empire State of Mind” it reminds me of “Breakthrough” by Isaac Hayes. Watching Scratch really opened my eyes to how much more complicated DJing really is. I like how in the movie the DJs referred to themselves as turntablists. Anyone can mix a tape but it takes a true artist to work a turntable. I feel that DJs have lost credit over time. All that people really listen to and give attention to now are the MCs and rappers. I’m going to start giving credit where its due and pay more attention to the DJ.
ReplyDeleteEver since its beginning, hip hop culture has been using turntables and sampling music. These two aspects are crucial in the hip hop industry even today. Many prominent artists right now, including Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Lupe Fiasco all release mix tapes and singles that use some other sort of artists lyrics or beat, and then add their own flavor to the song to give it their own feel. I like sampling because, for the most part, the songs being sampled fit perfectly into the “remix” and give the song a whole other life and energy. I have noticed that in most songs, you cannot really hear a turntable or anything, but when you see these artists at a live performance, they typically have turntables in the background, highlighting its importance within this genre. Typical turntabling, I feel, has fallen off a bit from the days of Notorious B.I.G. and before, when the DJ would turn up a track and let artists feed off of him. Both of these aspects of hip hop are crucial elements as the genre progresses, especially with up and coming artists such as Kid Cudi and Wale start to come to the front of the hip hop scene.
ReplyDeleteSampling and ‘turntabalism’ gained popularity in the late 70s through to the 1980s and to present day, with the introduction of new technology that enabled budding DJs to cut beats from other songs and incorporate them into their own work. This often attracted backlash from music scholars and pundits who accused these artists of desecrating archive after archive of music history, especially when these often African-American DJs began to sample music beyond ‘black’ genres such as R&B, soul and blues.
ReplyDeleteIt is not fair to accuse DJs who sample in their hip-hop of cultural robbery though, and instead it would be fair to say that sampling enables cross-racial exchanges through the form of music. Genres that would not usually fit together are moulded in a new and often refreshing way: “Sampling’s flexibility gave hip hop-bred music makers the tools to create tracks that not only were in the hip hop tradition but allowed them to extend that tradition” (Formal & Neal, 439). As hip hop makes gains by learning from other genres, so do the other genres.
Furthermore, the DJ can act as cultural historian, taking “creative musical traditions” and initiating a “radical, even transcendental, continuation of them” (438). Often music long forgotten can be added to the turntable and given new life, or old and traditional music can be manipulated in genre-defining and genre-crossing ways.
Contemporary users of the sampling technique would be Kanye West and Jay-Z to name a few, but while they may sample from pop and soul from the 60s and 70s, artists such as Gnarls Barkley have been able to take things further by incorporating classical music into their songs, for example in “Crazy.” Thus, sampling is a celebration of musical and cultural heritage, and when used successfully, can bring new audiences to hip hop.
Due to a man by the name of Kool DJ Herc, sampling, or as some call it, B-Beats, has risen to a cultural phenomenon in the hip-hop world. B-Beats started as “Young black disco DJs from the Bronx…buying these records to just play the 30 seconds or so of rhythm breaks”(Forman Neal 41). I think this a great break for hip-hop because it allows people to appreciate good beats/rhythms from old and new songs that would never be heard. It helps cross-different genres of music allowing people to ‘sample’ these beats. However, some people thought that sampling was stealing other people’s music and in parallel the artist had no musical talent of their own. Mtume states, “so many hip hop producers had no understanding of theory, could play no instruments, and viewed a large record collection as the only essential tool of record making” (Forman Neal 437). Going hand in hand with sampling, turntables were a great way to sample music. Turntables allowed artists to take vinyl’s and ‘scratch’ them and make the music ‘loop’. You could loop the good parts of a song or scratch bad parts to make them sound good; “ He had a way of rhythmically taking a scratch and making that shit sound musical,” (Forman and Neal 49).
ReplyDeleteTurntabalism and sampling evolved as a means for DJs to create completely unique sounds and beats from previously recorded songs. DJ Cool Herc describes that the reason sampling and mixing from various songs has caught on so strong with the public is because he gives “it to them all up front” (p.41 Forman and Neal). Meaning that the listeners are not required to sit through slower or les interesting parts of songs in order to get to the chorus. The ability to mix samples of various songs together allows DJs to combine, in their opinions, the best pieces of various songs and manipulate the beats in such a way that a completely new song is formed. This concept was completely innovative for the time around 1981 when the first “pure sampler” called the “E-mu Emulator” (p.439 Forman and Neal), was developed. During this time the style of rap and hip hop expression as an art form were increasingly defined because of techniques that were fresh and completely unique to the creator. Although the emergence of sampling and scratching techniques began a widespread emergence in hip-hop music one is still able to hear the regional sounds. For example in Tupac and Dr. Dre’s “California Love” one is still able to discern the laid back California vibe that is characteristic of West Coast style.
ReplyDeleteSome consider sampling to be an art form, or even a creative way to alter music by using samples of pre recorded tracks. Others consider it a rip off or a “tool that is made for lazy musicians and listeners”-Mtume (Forman & Neal 437). Whichever way you decide to view sampling it cannot be denied that it has played a tremendous role in shaping hip hop music and hip hop culture. It goes back to the days of DJ Cool Herc when he sampled the record “Bongo Rock”, because “the tune had a really great rhythm break but it was too short”(Forman & Neal 41). Herc decided he liked the beat but thought it needed something more, out of this he created B-Beats, or combinations of sampled records with influences stemming from all different cultures especially those connected with soul, blues, and disco. Since the days of DJ Cool Herc sampling and turntabalism have blown up, most of today’s hip-hop artist sample pre recorded music all the time. For example, Kanye West sampled lyrics and piano riffs for his hit song “Gold Digger”, from Ray Charles hit song “I Got a Woman”. This is a common practice in Hip-Hop that has tied many different cultures together by “mashing-up” or sampling different types of tracks stemming from all kinds of music.
ReplyDeleteTurntablism is the art of manipulating records and stringing together beats and breaks. Coined by DJ Babu, turntablism is the "manipulation of the [record] machine" (Scratch). Some DJs like DJ QBert or Mix Master Mike, understand turntablism to be a “form of intelligence,” or a language (Scratch). This understanding of DJing as an instrumental and technological art helped to establish hip-hop as a genre wider than just MCs and solidified a place for DJs in hip-hop history. Sampling is a technique used to string “long sets of assorted rhythm breaks” together (Forman and Neal). Billboard was interested in this phenomenon when DJ Cool Herc was “buying records just to play the 30 seconds or so of rhythm breaks that each disk contains” (Forman and Neal). Sampling allowed hip-hop to evolve as a low-cost genre, not requiring instruments or technical training, and allows hip-hop artists to express their membership in multiple communities. Robert Karimi explains that sampling is “a tool that refuses either-or statements” (Chang). He goes on to explain that sampling allows the “past, present, future [to converge] inside us” (Chang). Sampling aurally positions listeners within various cultural traditions, and often within many traditions and eras at once.
ReplyDeleteTurntabalism and sampling I believe are backbones to hip-hop and also they open doors to the culture. Cool Herc started a trend with a turntable. Herc found “Bongo Rock” to have “...a really great rhythm break but it was too short so [he] had to look for other things to put with it” (Forman & Neal, 41). Herc added to “Bongo Rock” and other tracks it was catching on. Sugar Hill gang sampled Chic's “Good Times” in their song “Rapper's Delight” and that was the song that put hip-hop on the map in the U.S. How many people, before and now, know that “Rapper's Delight” samples? Sampling also brings other cultures in. Before many hip-hop artist might have just sampled or mostly sampled black music but other cultures started to blend in. You have had Caribbean, Asian, and other cultures over the years influenced hip-hop.
ReplyDeleteNew fetishes are always coming about in the hip hop industry. Some of them are a hit and stay in hip hop for quite some time such as turntabalism. This unique sound was such a success and is still increasing in success till this day. Turntables were one of the first instruments that created that “scratch” sound effect. I think a big reasoning for this would be because the DJ’s differ so much all over the universe and they all bring their own sound from their backgrounds through these turntables. With these DJ’s being so original and unique it allowed the hobby to turn into something more. When reading page 45 in That’s a Joint I thought it was interesting how they talked about creating an original tune from the vinyle and was it was widely popularized by Grand Master Flex and Grand Wizard Theodore. You will find on youtube and all over the world that DJ’s are trying to “scratch” to the best of their ability. It has almost turned into a “hip hop sport”, similar to having a battle, rapper again rapper. Another thing that seems to be very popular is sampling. Sampling has truly gave hip hop a new look. Its allowing artists to create tracks that relate to their background as well as certain traditions believe in. When I think of sampling I think of someone such as Trey Songz because he will take a song that someone previously recorded and turn it around “Trey Songz style”, and make it his own. I thought it was very interesting that sampling was first brought to the surface by a mobile DJ from the Bronx known as Cool Herc who rose to popularity by playing sets of assorted rhythm breaks strung together (Forman and Neal 41). Cool Herc took some disco beats that were unpopular from the 70’s and sped them up to create a faster, more attractive sound. It amazes me to think that we have came this far in hip hop and the sounds of turntables as well as sampling can be as big of an impact as they are. These two things have truly changed hip hop and in my opinion changed it for the better. Will they stay around for more years to come? Well that’s for popularity to decide.
ReplyDelete“If creating new notes, new chords, and harmonies is what the African-American musical tradition is about, then sampling is not doing that. However, if that tradition means embracing new sounds, bending found technology to a creator’s will in search of new forms of rhythm made to inspire and please listeners, well then sampling is as black as the blues.” (Foreman and Neal 441) This not only reveals that sampling is an musical art form, even though it does not use instruments, it also relays to the reader that this new music follows the innovative traditions of other black music, such as the blues. Sampling is also compared to the electric guitar and the synthesizer. All of these were technologies that were not fully appreciated when they first came out, but in the long run helped make iconic music. Turntablism and sampling help fuse together beats from all different genres with lyrics from rappers or MCs. This allows newer generations, and people who would not otherwise listen to those genres to be exposed to music they would not have otherwise known. They can now learn the lessons previous artists were teaching in a way that is engaging for them.
ReplyDeleteTurntabling and DJing are the same thing, they are both the art of scratching and spinning records on a machine. In the documentary Scratch, the DJs explain that for them, turntabling is a form of communication with extraterrestrial beings, and that through DJing, they can communicate not only with each other, but with aliens. Sampling is something that turntablists do on a particular track, by referencing songs by other artists and providing the backing for the MC using beats from other tracks. Although artists and producers encounter legal difficulties because of copyright law, the idea of sampling, of building upon the work of others, is basic to the hip-hop tradition (Forman and Neal).
ReplyDeleteWe see sampling in the songs provided from our syllabus, but what makes them unique is the fact that we can draw back on what we learned from the first weeks of class. Each act of sampling in a specific song can be placed by region. In 2pac’s “California Love” it is clear that there are west coast sound mixes and in “Street Dreams” by Nas and R. Kelly the east coast tongue and sounds are clear as well.
‘Turntablism’ can simply be defined as a Dj’s ability to manipulate song with a variety of techniques. Dj’s take prerecorded songs and samples and mix them together to make them their own. Many people say that it is hip-hop is stealing the music, and that there is no talent involved when stealing already made music. Artists feel that people don’t appreciate the technical knowledge that goes into making music (That’s the Joint! 49) Artists also use computer created beats and rhythms that are completely different from sampling, but still manipulated by a DJ (Scratch). When looking into this week’s supplementary music, most of these songs have either been sampled by other hip-hop artists and/or used sampling for its creation. In Eric B and Rakim’s “Paid in Full”, artists 50 Cent and Lil’ Wayne have both used samples in their songs, ‘Candy Shop’ and ‘Pump that Bass’. Some artist’s even use the same title of that in which they have sampled, but create completely different songs with that sample. Nas’ “Street Dreams” uses samples from Eurythmies ‘Street Dreams’ song, as well as Biggie’s “One More Chance” uses Debarges ‘One More Chance’. Sampling has been the foundation for hip-hop from its birth, and will continue to evolve with hip-hop in the future.
ReplyDeleteOne of the central attributes of Hip-hop culture is the DJ. This person is responsible for creating the beats and the background music so other folks can dance and do graffiti.Over time, the role of the DJ has lessened in favor of the MC (rapper) because record labels do not like to pay anybody without a voice on a record. As a result, DJs have become more like producers, fulfilling a more encompassing position to music creation. An important element of DJing is to sample from other songs, which effectively give old songs new life, either by speeding them up or remixing entire tracks. Steinski, from the documentary Scratch created an entire record called lessons based off of the principle of using old tracks with real drums. Other important aspects of DJing include cutting, tapping, and walking. All of these ideas come from the mobile DJ era of Hip-hop in which DJs brought their equipment with them to various venues to perform. The equipment used is primarily from Japanese manufacturers. DJ Kool Herc was one of the first to gain notoriety from not just playing contemporary disco albums, but also by finding the break beat of Latin Jazz and old R and B music. So although rappers may be more famous than their DJ counterparts, Hip-hop would only be rap music were it not for the turntables, and the MCs wouldn't have tracks laid down for a foundation over which they could rap.
ReplyDeleteI think sampling is a great addition to hip hop and music in general. It allows the person that produced the music to incorporate music from different genres and/or decades and introduce them to the listener. From the reading, Sample This, Nelson George quoted producer-songwriter Mtume saying, “this is the first generation of African-Americans not to be extending the range of the music.” And that sampling was for lazy musicians and listeners. I strongly disagree to his statement. Coming from a musically talented household I learned at a young age to respect the greats like James Brown, Miles Davis, and The Isely Brothers. I think it’s great for artists to incorporate their work into their music; it brings back a little funk and soul from the past and gives new music a little something extra. Stetsasonic responded to Mtume’s remark with their song “Jazz” that argued, “Tell the truth, James Brown was old/’til Eric and Rak came out with “I Got Soul”/Rap brings back old R&B and if we would not/people could have forgot.” This line says it perfectly; they reintroduced James Brown’s music and if rap wasn’t sampling the newer generations may never learn about or appreciate the earlier music.
ReplyDeleteThe use of turntables is another great way of incorporating different genres of music. The video Scratch talked about Dj Babu being credited for inventing the term turntablism, meaning the way music is manipulated with the turntables and all of the different techniques. My brother DJ’s for fun sometimes and loves collecting old vinyls and mixing them into current songs. It’s another great way to broaden your taste in music.