Samples from popular songs
When it comes to music, we’re all used to covers and samples by now. Whether your flava is :: flinging yourself from a bar counter into a mosh pit/wearing the floor away to the strobes/grinding up yo’ steezy (style) while drinkin’ yo’ jeezy (gin and juice) in da’ heezy (hood), you’ll hear cover versions of older songs or samples used to make new songs more interesting. I’m sure you’ll agree though that it happens more than ever these days, it’s almost like people are running out of ideas. You might find it interesting that some sources define Rap music as Urban youth cultural music constructed out of samples of a huge variety of genres…blah blah blah.
I’m always fascinated when I figure a sample out, so here’s a couple you’ll all know and a couple you might not. Feel free to correct me where i’m wrong and add to the list at will.
The obvious:
Rick James SuperFreak ::: McHammer Can’t touch this
Sampled music, used and registered a riff with credit given to original artist
Vanilla Ice Ice ice baby ::: Queen and David Bowie Under Pressure
Sampled music, stole a riff with no credit or registration
But did you know:
Patrice Rushen Forget me nots ::: Will Smith Men in Black
Sample and adapted lyrics
DJ Bobo Somebody Dance with me::: Rockwell feature Michael Jackson Somebody’s watching me
Sample and adapted lyrics
Eminem Sing for the moment Aerosmith ::: Dream on
Stole a riff
The Clash Rock the Casbah ::: Will Smith Will 2K and Train in Vain ::: Garbage Stupid Girl
The Commodores Machine gun ::: The Beastie Boys Hey Ladies
Craig Mack Flava in your ear ::: J lo and Ja Rule Aint it funny
Enya Baodicea ::: The fugees Ready or not and Mario Winans I don’t wanna know
Stevie Knicks Edge of Seventeen ::: Destiny’s Child Bootylicious
In fact why don’t you take a close look at this list and see just how many songs you love were also loved in part by you parents and their parents before them. Take a closr look at artists like Shaggy, Daft Punk, Tupac, Kanye West, Janet Jackson etc and you’ll find that amlost ALL of their BIGGEST songs use samples from previous hits.
So next time you’re about to be in absolute awe of the new masterful creation by your favourite artist, run it by Grandma first.