Culture always builds on the past, be it consciously or sub-consciously. However, the past has always tried to stop it by trying to control the future. Nowadays, the Interweb and its vast number of social media platforms have made the availability of the present and past cultural achievements self evident. Going online to download music, past and present, is something we take for granted. So it is no surprise, that today more than ever, the present culture builds on what is already there. And what is truly spectacular, is that there are virtually unlimited sources for drawing inspiration. However, some people dislike this tendency. Seems, though, that with platforms like whosampled.com thriving and remix culture on the rise – To Sample or Not to Sample? – might be a question answered already.

This is an introduction to an upcoming article series, where we will be taking a look into the genesis of various songs.

A DJ, by definition, is someone who plays recorded music for an audience. But disc jockeys don’t just play music. They mix it as well. DJs dig into their bag of tricks and maneuvers to do something special. If they succeed, they get the crowd going crazy from the sound waves they hear.

Off the decks, most of them spend time producing new music. Producers work on original mixes, remixes, mash-ups, bootlegs, edits ..you name it. The meaning of ‘original’ has altered over the years, though. While everybody would agree that Mozart’s ‘Für Elise’ is an authentic composition, not everyone would accept that a dance track – sampled from an old funk song, composed in Ableton – is an original. There could be a thin line between a mash-up, a remix and an original (head over to The DJ Rankings’ Resources page for precise definitions). At times, plagiarism and authenticity become an issue. To get a better idea about these questions, check out the open source documentary:

The most controversial problems surround sampling and mash-ups – a subject especially important for copyright lawyers, record companies and the authors. For a music enthusiast like me, this is also a particularly cherished theme. Not because of a potentially catchy headline about money or legal issues, but for the m u s i c. I find it exceptionally interesting to explore the evolution of a particular tune. And that’s what this article and the future editions are going to be revolving around. Of course, questions about originality or authenticity are going to be raised as well.

What do I mean? Well, let’s take an example. Let’s see how a particular song has evolved through the years, from 1981 to 2012.

D Train was ’a collaborative effort between the band’s namesake James “D. Train” Williams, who was featured as the lead vocalist and songwriter, and Hubert Eaves III, a keyboards and producer who performed the instrumentation on the recordings.’ They got their first single out there in late 1981. Needless to say ,’You’re The One for Me’ became an instant hit. D Train’s self-titled debut album is often mistakenly named by just this track. By now, it has been remixed, covered and sampled time and time again. For the hereby demonstration, I had to choose the examples from about 10 tracks. I left out N.W.A, Pete Rock and numerous other rap acts, as well as the 1985 Paul Hardcastle remix. I chose two tracks that should be most well known among today’s music enthusiasts, producers and DJs. Although, it is doubtful many people have an idea about the origins of these tunes..

Notice the hook starting from 0:50? Arguably the best part of the song is actually from D-Train’s song! So, here we have The Prodigy, a giant of electronic music. The prodigious group that has gotten all the attention and recognition an artist could ever hope for, not to mention the side benefits of money and legendary status. Coincidentally, ’Girls’ is referring to just that superstar status: ’Imagine how it would be, to be at the top, making cash money. Going tall all around the world, telling stories about all the young girls.’ The track was released on ’Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned’ , the 2004 album which brought you tracks like ’Spitfire’ and ‘Memphis Bells’.

Of course, ‘Girls’ wasn’t the track that got Liam Howlett, Keith Flint and Maxim Reality all those things. They had gotten to that point long before. But still, do you think that they cheated? After all, they used someone else’s moment of brilliance, in this case the ingenious riff by Hubert Eaves III. They made a lot of money selling the record. Maybe they even paid royalties to the tracks they sampled. And I used plural, because the above heard track was actually played a smaller part than another track they sampled.

It is very hard to determine whether this kind of track is authentic or not, whether it is original, or burrowed. Although the old lyrics are delivered by new vocals, new effects and beats are added – I’m having trouble conceiving this as anything more than a professionally edited mash-up of 2 songs. This is an arguable point. Can mash-ups be authentic too? If so, Prodigy has managed to do a superb mash-up that could be considered as authentic.

We arrive at the critical point of discussion – if culture always builds on the past, does it matter whether something new is sampled or mashed together, if the outcome is enjoyed and appreciated by the audience? Certainly, copyright lawyers would say that a piece of the new pie should go to the people behind the original pie. I would add that the new creation should also refer to the the old one, giving credit in Youtube and Soundcloud description boxes, on album sleeves etc. As long as the new production acts upon people, somehow moves them – I think mash-ups, sampling and remixing should be enforced and welcomed. However, the latter should respect the former.

Finally, we go back a year, to 2012, and the most up to date usage of the same hook. He came ‘Out of the Black’ to add another brilliant LP to an already impressive body of work. I am, of course, referring to Boys Noize, the brainchild of Alex Ridha. ‘What You Want‘ is the single he lifted in anticipation for the album, and it also uses the riff from ‘You’re The One For Me’. You see an electro house track adapt the riff to achieve something that, in my mind, is authentic and welcomed by any means. I would say this is an original track, as it only draws from one source, whereas a mash-up is a collage of two or more tracks. Ridha does a terrific job with the sampled riff, adding original beats, basslines, effects and lyrics. You see the development of D Train’s riff go on and on in a multitude of ‘What You Want’ remixes. There’s no stopping the musical evolution. I’d say, in large part we live in a relatively free world. This kind of creative freedom shouldn’t be taken for granted but cherished and furthered. Creative commons works, free music and crowd-sourcing continue to become more widespread, bringing forth a shift in traditional mentality. But I must accentuate – credit the past culture for its works, otherwise it might go missing..

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