Izibele Maloyi
Those who know me well know that there are a few things that make me happier than the feeling of discovering the original of a sampled song. There’s not much that compares to the glorious moment of uncovering a gem in the musical lineage. I can clearly remember my elation when I heard Pharoah Sander’s The Creator Has A Master Plan, an incredible jazz song which has been sampled (to my knowledge) for Koolie High’s, Median-assisted 2011 song Yeah Yeah.
I remember a day where I had a three-hour disagreement with one of my best friends, who is a creative and music producer, about sampling - yes, it was that serious; wait until you hear me and my other best friend go at it about ProVerb and Tumi.
As a creator, he believes that sampling means one is not as innovative as they should be as music makers. His argument is that as the original maker of the sampled song, only you know the pain and struggles of trying to piece together a multi-layered jigsaw puzzle, where some days and nights inspiration is nowhere to be found.
Personally, I love sampling for a number of reasons, and they are as follows:
Creativity
Sampling dates as far back to the early 40’s and has, throughout the years, evolved into a formidable way of creating music. There’s a lot of creativity that comes with sampling. The creativity to finding the right song to sample, or better yet finding the best part to sample, is really no child’s play. You have to take a lot of technical and sonic factors into consideration. It takes a lot of skill and fair understanding of music to take Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi and flip it to TKZee’s Palafala. To put it into football terms, everyone can pass a ball, but not everyone can do what Iniesta, Xavi and Cesc Fabregas could do with it.
Time travelling
I was introduced into sampling by the likes of 9th Wonder and DJ Premier. What amazed me was the wealth of musical knowledge within these two legends. Sampling has shown me that music can transcend generations. Take the aforementioned Pharoahe Sanders gem; that song came out on the Karma album in 1969, but thanks to DJ Prince in 2013, I got to know of the great Pharoah (see what I did there?) through Yeah Yeah.
Another great example is that of The Spinners, an amazing soul group that gave us I Found Love (When I Found You) in 1977. This great song was brought back to life on Mr Selwyn’s Doin’ It, as well as on Ma-E’s Yizinto, in 2009 and 2017, respectively.
When my mom asked me to buy her the Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow album by The Spinners, I was greatly surprised to hear the piece of music at the beginning of the second song! At that point, I realised that sampling brought my world and my mom’s a lot closer. We could now connect musically and I could start engaging her on music of her time and its impact.
Musical library
Going back to find the original sampled songs has increased my musical library by a large margin. I now know artists in genres I never thought were my liking. I understand music better now, and I now listen to music more openly.
Sampling has not only expanded what I know, but has really broken down the walls, tearing apart the foundations of what I thought I knew about music.
I don’t really entertain the argument that sampling producers steal from material that is already there. Why? Because creatives borrow from each other all the time.
I love music with all that I am and I’m grateful to have been part of a time where music exists beyond time and space.
**Image source: Wikipedia**
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