I don't really sample anymore because of money issues that arise when you sample music from a artist(s) catalogue. These artist(s) have publisher's who will rape you for your publishing and leave you with zero dinero after all is said in done. At the end of the day it just doesn't make sense as a business man (or woman) to sample someone else's work unless you have the capitol to clear the sample out of the gate. However, If you're Jay-Z, clearing a sample shouldn't be as much of a issue and negotiating the publishing will more than likely not be as big of a headache because the Jay-Z brand speaks for itself. If Jay-Z samples The Spinner's...The Spinner's should be thanking Jay for making them relevant again.
The Beginning:
I first started producing music in the mid 90's. I was new to Atlanta and a aspiring rapper with dreams of making it big! I wanted to start making my own beats because I felt like other producer's were shorting me on the production end. I also felt like I had enough talent to make my own music without having to answer to some bum who thought he was God's gift to Hip-Hop and American culture. I swear most producer's I've worked with have huge ego's when their really not as great as they think they are. Most of these cats can't play any instruments and but walk around like their the black Mozarts of our contemporary times. It baffles me to this day...
Anyhow, I didn't know how to play any instruments during this time but I was hungry to learn. I also couldn't tell you anything about chord progession or what key a song was in. I had no idea what an octave was and measures or bars didn't mean a damn thing to me. I just knew what I liked and I wanted to win! I wanted to make music that made people feel good inside.
With that being said, I purchased my first production sequencer from Ensoniq called a ASR10. The ASR10 is a 8 bit sampler that gives you a little over 60 seconds to sample and about 512MB of RAM (memory). In today's world a ASR10 is not really powerful at all. It's actually a pre-historic instrument at this point. Kids today would look at a ASR10 like what the hell is the dinosaur doing the studio right now? Somebody please execute this son of a b***h!
Yeah, my ASR10 days are some of my funnest days because I was in the learning stages of production and trying to figure out my sound. Now-a-days I've developed my own sound and I know exactly who I am as a producer. I can now sit down at a piano (or keyboard) and play songs I know or that I've created. I now understand what chord progessions are as well as theory, octaves, and all the many different scales. I've transformed myself into a musician as opposed to just another cat that can sample a record and throw some drums on the top of it.
I've grown as a human being and has a producer/singer songwriter but I sometime miss the innocents of making music. I often reflect on when I didn't know a damn thing about the music business and I remember how free I felt. I remember how much more fun I had when money and politics were not even a thought in my head. Back then I created rhymes and beats for nothing more but the love or admiration I might obtain from my homies. It was a different world back in the 90's and sometimes I say f**k the piano, I'm going to pull out my ASR10 (which I still have) and sample some records! I guess you gotta take things back to basics every now and again! For my heads that continue to sampleLong live sampling!
Spread Love ya'll!
J
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