There have been times in our society's history when progress starts unraveling. Bush's reelection in 2004, the production of sexually objectified Bratz dolls and any reality television series currently airing or even being imagined stand out as prominent examples of moments when America saw growth and the potential for change in the horizon and then turned around and ran in the opposite direction.
Unfortunately, plateaus in the evolution of music often occur as well. When one type of song gains popularity and several artists quickly try to catch the money train of that format's success, stagnating trends arise.
A recent trend taking over mainstream music, however, has actually caused a regression in innovation. Over the past year, you may have heard songs that purported to be new releases, but sounded oddly familiar. Some may have even inexplicably evoked memories of awkward elementary school dances and all the spastic movements your uncoordinated little body could (and probably still can) muster. Others may surprisingly remind you of recent hits that as a result of nonstop airplay and excessive exposure have become fully integrated into your brain's hard-wiring, rerouting the neurons that once gave you the capacity for free will.
That sense of entendu-vu is induced because you have in fact already heard parts of those songs before. Sampling is by no means a new technique and has been done by artists across all genres. Of course, we all remember the classic example of Vanilla Ice's use of Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure" for the background track of "Ice Ice Baby."
But many other artists like the Beastie Boys and Beck, for example, have used recorded sounds in creative, witty and unexpected ways. In such cases, the old is recycled into the novel and we get the privilege of hearing a completely different side of a song we never bothered to explore.
In 2008, T.I. and Rihanna released the single "Live Your Life." The song opened with a sample from Moldovan group O-Zone's "Dragostea din Tei," which worked surprisingly well in the hip-hop track. Yet, what makes the song clever is the idea behind the choice of the so-called "Numa Numa song" as a sample T.I. and Rihanna were able to take a song that was largely known through its dorky association with a large man dancing in his chair on YouTube and convert it into a hit single intended as a smooth anthem for the successful.
Unfortunately, the success of "Live Your Life" spurred a surge of tracks that feature a similar use of sampling. Flo Rida's latest album "R.O.O.T.S." put out two singles that both placed done-over recordings at the forefront. "Sugar" uses Eiffel 65's "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" (which I'm sure you only expect to hear while cycling through your '90s playlist), and the chorus of "Right Round" blatantly takes after "You Spin Me Right Round (Like a Record)" from the '80s group Dead or Alive. Flo Rida's straightforward use of "Blue" is effectively a copy and paste from the song into his, while "Right Round" modifies the lyrics in the chorus of "You Spin Me Right Round" to make an uninspired reference to oral sex. Although "Right Round" is enjoying higher spots on the charts than Dead or Alive's original did, I don't think Flo Rida can do anything to best Dead or Alive's music video for the single (look it up on YouTube you will not be sorry).
In a slightly different direction, Kid Cudi's second single, "Make Her Say," plays a sample from a version of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" throughout the entire track. The lyrics also repeatedly reference other popular songs like T.I.'s "Whatever You Like" and Jamie Foxx's "Blame It." The use of a song that has already received so much attention is questionable, but it is at least in keeping with the single's play on pop culture.
Still, the degree to which sampling has been used is nearing overkill and the unimaginative use of other recordings in these mainstream singles just seems to be borderline plagiarism. Although it may be fun to hear these hits from the '80s, '90s and even present day being incorporated into hip-hop and R&B songs, the lack of thought and revision given to these samples is essentially taking steps backward in the evolution of music. I like to think there's enough room for creation that we don't have to settle for repackaging the past.
