“I wrote and produced millions and millions of selling records, so my publishing company alone was worth millions of dollars. I didn’t have to work anymore in life because when the rappers started sampling… I’m the most sampled artist in history.”
Rick James
Hating Hip Hop
My first aversion to Hip Hop was the message. It was all about the Benjamins and bling and ho’s and killing cops. The prison style of dressing and the tattoos made me side with the cops when they face anyone in a hoodie. I mean, if you look and dress like a gangster, why are you surprised to be assumed a gangster?
I don’t like the process. To make a Hip Hop song, the singer sits in a studio and the producer layers tracks to make beats and bass and builds the song. These tracks are called samples and they are other people’s work.
Sure, the samples are paid for today. They were not in the beginning. A very popular singer might use up to 36 samples for a song. On the lower end it might be 16 samples. Even if it is a paid for, it is not their work is it? Imagine if I took the Mona Lisa and put a stainless steel frame around it and said, “Look, this is my work.”
There is a dishonesty in the work. Even their names are fake. I am not saying that those producers are not artists, they are amazingly good at their craft. It is that the music is compiled of other peoples work. We know this is not right but we have a generation who has grown up in the Hip Hop era.
It is okay if you use someone else’s test paper if you paid for it. It is okay to lift Michelle Obama’s speech and give it to Melania Trump. It is okay if you had your trainer fill the urine bottle because he works for you.
The Hip Hop philosophy has been the message to a generation. To me, it shows in the actions of everyday life. At its core, see if you believe as I do, using other people’s work for your own is dishonest.
The Profound Bartender 