Funky Forebears

I think the notion of “authenticity” that some bloggers have raised in relation to hip hop and rap is really poignant and that it is an argument worth exploring further than the rapper who is just “keeping it real”. The common tradition of “sampling”, (commonly implemented by the beat maker) when pieces of existing music is cut up and reassembled to form the backing music for a rap song is most certainly a point of contention within popular music discourse. Many consider it as inauthentic, asserting that it is artistic theft or simply that it requires little “real” musical talent and therefore is of little musical value. However, I think the technique is a complex one that deserves a lot more respect and appreciation than it receives.

When sampling was in its infantile stage, artists such as Eric B and Rakim looked to past black artists, particularly funk and soul artists, such as James Brown to sample (something which is now stock and trade). Not only was the technique sonically new but it also carried with it significant resistive qualities in relation to the recording industry. This is because sampling challenged laws which prohibited the use/reappropriation of whole or even parts of copyrighted material. The reason it was such a defiant act, was because the music that they were sampling was generally performed by black artists who had signed dodgy contracts. These contracts basically robbed the artist of a significant amounts of royalties and legal rights to ownership of the songs that they created/performed, while awarding them to the major labels (owned by white males…) that they had signed under.

These days, rap has become a commodity from which lucrative profits are to be made. Rap music and hip hop culture is everywhere, most evidently in its role as a vehicle to sell unrelated products: Lil’ John’s “Crunk” energy drink anyone? However, through the continued act of sampling the rap artists’ forebears, I think a sense of “realness” is expressed as it asserts that the rap artist is aware of the industry that they are working in and has a sound knowledge of historical artistic creations. This solidifies their talent as truthful and authentic.

Furthermore, although the rap artist now has to legally clear songs that they sample and pay record companies for such use, the technique also appears as an act of respect as they verify the original artist as somewhat of a canonical author. An example of this, is the advent and coining of “G-Funk” style rap, which uses funk samples and whose name alludes to forebears Parliament-Funkadelic, also known as P-Funk.

It is widely regarded that rap’s sampling of old songs, created a bigger consumer demand for them, so much so that many out circulation albums and singles were reprinted. Because of this, it also gave artists stronger profiles and more agency. An example of this is Parliament-Funkadelic founder George Clinton, who a few years ago took his record label to court and won the ownership rights to the songs which he created.

So I guess what I’m getting at, is that even despite what many perceive as negatives of a lot of today‘s rap music: the “bling”/booty culture, violent lyrics and imagery, there is still potential room for the rap artist to express some type of positive and perhaps (if the sample was used in an anti-authoritarian way) counter hegemonic discourse.