I'm 29 & My favourite hip hop is from the 90's. I just love the warmth & raw sound of that era. I loved hearing the vinyl pops & muffled beats! But today, all I hear is a bunch of the same crappy synths, 808 drums & claps in today's pop rap that absolutely gets on my fucking nerves!!!!! Of course I look to the underground to get my fix of real hip hop today, but I really wish sampling would come back to "mainstream" in hip hop. I don't know how much more synthetic bullshit I can take....

....Anyone else wish sampling would come back to mainstream rap, or do you like the synth crap?

If it's done with originality, then it's cool. If it's a LAZY ass, James Brown sample, then no...

[Edited 8/13/11 19:57pm]

I don't care about sampling and prefer the earlier turntablism done by the DJ or the music performed by a band (like the Sugarhill Records house band or Orange Krush). The quote The Buggles "Sampling killed the turntable star".

Yeah, I love the samples used in the 90's.... it gave hip hop that KNOCK!!!

If it can lead to something as great as this I have no problem with it.

Tittypants said:

I'm 29 & My favourite hip hop is from the 90's. I just love the warmth & raw sound of that era. I loved hearing the vinyl pops & muffled beats! But today, all I hear is a bunch of the same crappy synths, 808 drums & claps in today's pop rap that absolutely gets on my fucking nerves!!!!! Of course I look to the underground to get my fix of real hip hop today, but I really wish sampling would come back to "mainstream" in hip hop. I don't know how much more synthetic bullshit I can take....

....Anyone else wish sampling would come back to mainstream rap, or do you like the synth crap?

You know, the irony is all of this is that in early years of hip-hop/rap, It wasn't sampler-based at all. In fact, It was mostly synth & drum machine-based.

That classic hip-hop sound was called electro!

BTW, Afrika Bambaataa sampled Kraftwerk NOT with a sampler, but with synths & a drum machine. That drum machine was a Roland TR-808!

Actually most real hip-hop heads are pretty contemptuous of sampling. I'm not rap expert myself but I actually agree with them to some extent because it's not like it takes an extraordinary amount of forethought and creativity to steal segments of other people's songs and rap over them.

I don't mind it in hip hop, and expect rappers to sample...but I despise when R&B and pop singers sample. It just seems very tacky to me when someone goes to laa-dee-daa-ing over an old song.

Obvious answer.

When it's done creatively it's good.

When it's not done creatively it's not good.

The copyright laws have changed since the times of Public Enemy's classic records (or, rather, the way those laws are "interpreted"). You really can't do music that way unless you're prepared to pay for the samples. Some smaller releases are still done like that though.

TonyVanDam said:

Tittypants said:

I'm 29 & My favourite hip hop is from the 90's. I just love the warmth & raw sound of that era. I loved hearing the vinyl pops & muffled beats! But today, all I hear is a bunch of the same crappy synths, 808 drums & claps in today's pop rap that absolutely gets on my fucking nerves!!!!! Of course I look to the underground to get my fix of real hip hop today, but I really wish sampling would come back to "mainstream" in hip hop. I don't know how much more synthetic bullshit I can take....

....Anyone else wish sampling would come back to mainstream rap, or do you like the synth crap?

You know, the irony is all of this is that in early years of hip-hop/rap, It wasn't sampler-based at all. In fact, It was mostly synth & drum machine-based.

That classic hip-hop sound was called electro!

BTW, Afrika Bambaataa sampled Kraftwerk NOT with a sampler, but with synths & a drum machine. That drum machine was a Roland TR-808!

The funny thing is, this shit was dope! The stuff they do today is all the same. It's like they all use the same exact syths, the same exact tempo, & melody structures [if they even have a melody]. You can tell the dudes today making music don't really know shit about it. They're just following trends. The classics on the other hand had soul in them [even the electro stuff. those guys were awesome]...

armpit said:

Actually most real hip-hop heads are pretty contemptuous of sampling.

Wrong wrong wrong. You made that up.

shorttrini said:

If it's done with originality, then it's cool. If it's a LAZY ass, James Brown sample, then no...

[Edited 8/13/11 19:57pm]

James Brown should have never had money problems as much as he's been sampled. But [I think] we all know why he did....

armpit said:

Actually most real hip-hop heads are pretty contemptuous of sampling. I'm not rap expert myself but I actually agree with them to some extent because it's not like it takes an extraordinary amount of forethought and creativity to steal segments of other people's songs and rap over them.

I don't know about this. Paul's Boutique by the Beastie Boys was a lot of samples (made before sampling laws were created). Even some of the earlier rap songs were copied from other stuff, but replayed by session musicians or DJ's used breakbeats/instrumentals from other records when they were scratching and mixing. There weren't any actual samplers then.

I abhor nearly all manner of contemporary sampling, especially if Kanye's name is associated with it. How does one earn the "genius" label taking portions of songs written by others?

Tittypants said:

shorttrini said:

If it's done with originality, then it's cool. If it's a LAZY ass, James Brown sample, then no...

[Edited 8/13/11 19:57pm]

James Brown should have never had money problems as much as he's been sampled. But [I think] we all know why he did....

Yep...

Well My sister had this on casette as a kid, and it was totally the only rap song I knew for years...

So I kinda sampling, when it's done well. When it's some good rhyming over a familiar song it can be very enjoyable.

It was good back in the 1980 because it was done creatively. A lot of it was snips of someone else's record mixed over their own song that they created from scratch from the ground up. I know Egyptian Lover could use Prince samples and slice them up so fine that only a hardcore Prince fan would recognize them.

When the 1990s came along though, samples started becoming the whole foundation around people's songs. Instead of it being a little something extra being mixed over an original song, the samples became the actual background music for the songs. It was like they just used the instrumental of someone else's record, looped it over and over to the length of a full song, put a weak sounding drum machine over it, and rapped on top of it.

TonyVanDam said:

Tittypants said:

I'm 29 & My favourite hip hop is from the 90's. I just love the warmth & raw sound of that era. I loved hearing the vinyl pops & muffled beats! But today, all I hear is a bunch of the same crappy synths, 808 drums & claps in today's pop rap that absolutely gets on my fucking nerves!!!!! Of course I look to the underground to get my fix of real hip hop today, but I really wish sampling would come back to "mainstream" in hip hop. I don't know how much more synthetic bullshit I can take....

....Anyone else wish sampling would come back to mainstream rap, or do you like the synth crap?

You know, the irony is all of this is that in early years of hip-hop/rap, It wasn't sampler-based at all. In fact, It was mostly synth & drum machine-based.

That classic hip-hop sound was called electro!

BTW, Afrika Bambaataa sampled Kraftwerk NOT with a sampler, but with synths & a drum machine. That drum machine was a Roland TR-808!

I wouldn't even call what Soul Sonic Force did sampling. They didn't take Kraftwerk's actual vinyl record and use it for their music behind their rap. They actual re-recorded it from scratch from the ground up using their own instruments and giving it their own feel. The most popular version of "Planet Rock" back then, and even to this day, is the 9 minute instrumental on the B side. That just goes to show that the song can stand on it's own even without the lyrics because it had actual music behind it. Take away the lyrics from a lot of rap records from the 1990s on up to today and all you've got is an instrumental of someone else's song.....slowed down to a Lawrence Welk tempo of course. But that's the difference between hip hop and shit hop.

.

.

.

[Edited 8/14/11 9:49am]

leonche64 said:

armpit said:

Actually most real hip-hop heads are pretty contemptuous of sampling.

Wrong wrong wrong. You made that up.

Thank you for that comment. I didn't want to get into that debate myself.

It's interesting how hip-hop sampling started off. Some early hip-hop producers and groups used sampling for creative reasons. After Puffy, however, people just lazingly included most of an old song to make a new song and that soon became the norm in hip-hop. The last creative samplers were J Dilla, 9th Wonder and Madlib.

Timmy84 said:

It's interesting how hip-hop sampling started off. Some early hip-hop producers and groups used sampling for creative reasons. After Puffy, however, people just lazingly included most of an old song to make a new song and that soon became the norm in hip-hop. The last creative samplers were J Dilla, 9th Wonder and Madlib.

J Dilla Changed My Life!

[REAL TALK}

Tittypants said:

Timmy84 said:

It's interesting how hip-hop sampling started off. Some early hip-hop producers and groups used sampling for creative reasons. After Puffy, however, people just lazingly included most of an old song to make a new song and that soon became the norm in hip-hop. The last creative samplers were J Dilla, 9th Wonder and Madlib.

J Dilla Changed My Life!

[REAL TALK}

His samples are bananas. You almost don't recognize the original. I had no idea he sampled Lou Rawls' version of "The Season of the Witch" at the end of "Mash" until I listened to Lou's version. He totally screwed his version so much that Lou sounded like a screeching cat. I was like "THE FUCK?!" That's how creative he was. RIP Dilla!

Timmy84 said:

Tittypants said:

J Dilla Changed My Life!

[REAL TALK}

His samples are bananas. You almost don't recognize the original. I had no idea he sampled Lou Rawls' version of "The Season of the Witch" at the end of "Mash" until I listened to Lou's version. He totally screwed his version so much that Lou sounded like a screeching cat. I was like "THE FUCK?!" That's how creative he was. RIP Dilla!

J Dilla was a friggin' beast! He's the greatest Hip Hop Producer of all time imho. He's inspire a lot of what I do when I make beats.....

Tittypants said:

Timmy84 said:

His samples are bananas. You almost don't recognize the original. I had no idea he sampled Lou Rawls' version of "The Season of the Witch" at the end of "Mash" until I listened to Lou's version. He totally screwed his version so much that Lou sounded like a screeching cat. I was like "THE FUCK?!" That's how creative he was. RIP Dilla!

J Dilla was a friggin' beast! He's the greatest Hip Hop Producer of all time imho. He's inspire a lot of what I do when I make beats.....

Yeah his death robbed what could've been but more people should be inspired by him.

Timmy84 said:

Tittypants said:

J Dilla was a friggin' beast! He's the greatest Hip Hop Producer of all time imho. He's inspire a lot of what I do when I make beats.....

Yeah his death robbed what could've been but more people should be inspired by him.

It's also too bad he had to die before he got the props he deserves...that kinda makes me mad. I've been a Dilla fan since '99....

Tittypants said:

Timmy84 said:

Yeah his death robbed what could've been but more people should be inspired by him.

It's also too bad he had to die before he got the props he deserves...that kinda makes me mad. I've been a Dilla fan since '99....

I agree. But that further proves people give you roses when you can't no longer smell them.

Timmy84 said:

Tittypants said:

It's also too bad he had to die before he got the props he deserves...that kinda makes me mad. I've been a Dilla fan since '99....

I agree. But that further proves people give you roses when you can't no longer smell them.

True dat.

I LOVE "lazy" James Brown beats.

For me, I think Sinead's, use of it was the best....Raw.

vainandy said:

TonyVanDam said:

You know, the irony is all of this is that in early years of hip-hop/rap, It wasn't sampler-based at all. In fact, It was mostly synth & drum machine-based.

That classic hip-hop sound was called electro!

BTW, Afrika Bambaataa sampled Kraftwerk NOT with a sampler, but with synths & a drum machine. That drum machine was a Roland TR-808!

I wouldn't even call what Soul Sonic Force did sampling. They didn't take Kraftwerk's actual vinyl record and use it for their music behind their rap. They actual re-recorded it from scratch from the ground up using their own instruments and giving it their own feel. The most popular version of "Planet Rock" back then, and even to this day, is the 9 minute instrumental on the B side. That just goes to show that the song can stand on it's own even without the lyrics because it had actual music behind it. Take away the lyrics from a lot of rap records from the 1990s on up to today and all you've got is an instrumental of someone else's song.....slowed down to a Lawrence Welk tempo of course. But that's the difference between hip hop and shit hop.

.

.

.

[Edited 8/14/11 9:49am]

Exactly.