It’s always good when someone involved in sampling can talk about it on a bigger stage than just their studio on YouTube and this is literally what Young Guru did a few months ago. Talking for PopTech, a “global network of remarkable people, innovative projects, powerful ideas, and extraordinary conferences”, the DJ/producer went through a couple of sampling examples. He first discussed the process of what usually leads to sampling in the first place: digging through crates and dollar bins. The first example he showed was Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City by Bobby “Blue” Bland which Kanye West sampled on Jay-Z’s Heart Of The City (Ain’t No Love). This was shown as an example of audio manipulation, which we think Kanye did brilliantly. However, because the sample is clear to anyone who knows the song, it will almost certainly need clearing (which is something Kanye isn’t so brilliant at). The second example Guru shows is from Al Green’s I’m Glad You’re Mine and he proceeds to play the chopped out opening drum break on his MPC Renaissance to raise the question of remixing and “intellectual property”. The pattern no longer belongs to Al Green if it’s interpolated but at the same time, the actual drum sounds still do. So what belongs to whom in terms of intellectual property? That’s the ongoing question within sampling.
What do you think? Stream it below and drop a comment with your opinions.
