50 Ways to Use a Sample
Paul had “emo” on lock before girl-jeans on guys
This coming Next Tuesday marks the release of an artist who the Brown Bloggers are somewhat partial towards. The internet has been hot the past couple of days with the leak to Lonnie Lynn’s attempt to find forever. But as I listened to the leak and got to the last official track of the album, “Forever Begins”, I was automatically drawn to the drum line. And then I ran into a post from Hip-Hop is Read, and thought of all the numerous times which the instrumentation was flipped.
Paul Simon isn’t necessarily the most Hip-Hop of cats. But there is something infectious within the eerie melody and drummer boy snare line that grants it repeat sample status. Whereas Garfunkel’s former potnah, sang about ways he should have left his ex-wife, the sampling artists reflect the diversity of Hip-Hop as they range in topics from death, rap battles, a problematic idea on gender politics, escaping one’s own status, paying dues, etc. In addition, the artists are also just as different as their respective songs.
I hardly ever do these sample hounds posts, but if ever I get a chance to put 2Pac, Eligh, Andre Nickatina, Common, and Pigeon John in one post, of course I’m going to take it. Consider the Triple P track a bonus mp3, since it’s an actual cover and not just a sample. And it’s not exactly 50 examples either (let me know of others I may be missing):
Paul Simon - 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
2Pac - Wonder Why They Call You Bitch
Andre Nickatina - Last Breath of an MC
Eligh - Born to Pay for the Past
Platinum Pied Pipers - 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover feat. Rogier
*Update:
Kool Moe Dee - 50 Ways (shout out to sd, I can’t believe I forgot about this one)
-Ninoy Brown
July 22nd, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Awesome post man! Didn’t know it was used for that many songs. ;-D
July 25th, 2007 at 7:06 am
50 Ways by Kool Moe Dee off the How Ya Like Me Know album…
August 7th, 2007 at 6:54 am
[...] Inspired by the writings of George Lipsitz’s Dangerous Crossroads, Joseph Schloss’s Making beats, and Ninoy Brown’s illustration of Paul Simon’s musical family tree, I decided to trace but also make educated guesses on how these cultural borrowings and syncretisms work in the context of their appropriations. Upon coming here (my current geographic location), I found out that George Lipsitz’s ideas circulated far and wide like mono in undergrad student populations. Lipsitz was not just a professor I deeply admired, but apparently a verb, adjective defined by an ethos of unending optimism. Lipsitz becomes an adjective in the sense that the writing is really optimistic (critically tho) but I guess you have to be if you have faith in a better future considering what a wacky world we live in today. I guess it also refers to the syncretic, hybrid ways of viewing life, finding the unlikely connections between peoples that contradict what people generally think about identity and nation; Lipsitz exposes, in the words of Greil Marcus, the “secret histories” of the United States. I guess it then becomes a verb when you put those optimistic thoughts into text on paper or computer code. So, here is my attempt at being “Lipsitzian” in considering the politics of musical citationality (if there is one…). [...]
August 9th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
[...] August 10th, 2007 With the new Common album now out and “The People” now making it’s way off the radio, I wanted to do something like Ninoy Brown’s earlier post on the album’s title track, and bring attention to the fresh-ass wah-wah keyboard sample from its chorus. It comes from Gil Scott-Heron’s 1977 track, “We Almost Lost Detroit” and, if you listen closely, you’ll also recognize it in Black Star’s “Brown Skin Lady.” I’m not much of a sample detective, but the track always struck me ’cause it so local, and well, ’cause, how many other tracks contain such earnest lines like “When it comes to people’s safety, money wins out every time.” [...]
July 20th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
[...] One more to add to the list of Hip-Hop tracks influenced by Paul Simon. [...]
October 29th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Kid Cudi - 50 Ways to Make A record