A challenge to the hip hop community

I think Rev Jay just went Samuel L. on everyones ass

But I can feel what you're saying. Most rappers rap about money anyway, so everybody is entitled to their fair share, including the guy behind the scenes. And the fortunate thing with Hip Hop is that live bands are becoming more regularly used these days then what it used to be.

 

I'd still let them. Even if they didn't ask. I make music so people can hear it not for money

 

To me it doesn't take all of the fun out of it. I'm a bass player. I love getting together with other musicians. I love bringing a piece of music to players I love and respect. I love hearing it come together in ways I never would've expected. I love going into the studio and saying this would sound great with this reverb or this delay setting. I love mixing and hearing how a song takes form from that raw idea to a finished product. I love playing in front of an audience and seeing how a piece of music changes because of them.

All of these things are beautiful wonderful things and they are alot of fun. It can be very rewarding. But they are also alot of work. I like to get payed for my work and for my efforts. I was in a band and wrote most of the songs did most of the bookings, contacted other bands, put bills together, booked studio time and made sure that all of the bands got payed at the end of the night. It was usually a pittance but it was payment. That is why I am so passionate about this subject. That is why if anyone is making money off the music I play I'd just assume have my cut.

It blows my mind that some cats doing hip hop pull guns on each other over royalties but still won't pay the guys that they sample.

Like I said about playing with people it is hard work but it is also fun as all hell and if you rely on samples you are cheating yourself out of it. Once you hit the stage you can't ramp up the energy of a sample by playing it a little louder or a little faster. You can't draw the audience in by reducing things to a wisper. You are trapped to the dynamics of the sample.

I think it is great that Spearhead uses a live band. I think it's great that The Roots use a live band. I think it's fucking cool that Lyrics Born and Del tha Funky Homosapien use live bands. I'd like to hear more hip-hop evolve in that direction. I think that sampling is just kind of lazy.

Peace Out,
Rev J

 

Atmosphere has been touring with a live band the past few tours. Saw em twice last year and both were great shows.


As a former turntablist, I loved doing party's. I got paid for one, because the cash was forced upon me. I did because it was a fuckin blast. I would be more excited than the peole partying. You creat the mood. I would spent endless amounts of time just diggin through records just to find some wierd ass noise that I could use, or just any noise that I could manipulate.

You say toss the sampler but like I posted before, jay Dee was a sample god. He's made fantastic songs. Dr. Dre and the chronic!!! Listen to that album again and listen to the samples he uses on that. If there was no sampler then there wouldn't been a chronic album. And if there wasn't a chronic album then....shit I don't even wanna think about that.

 

But if there wasn't any P-Funk there wouldn't have been any Chronic.

Peace Out,
Rev J

 

I heard that.

 

A quick trip down memory lane:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-MEL84yXh0"]YouTube- Raper's delight (Sugarhill Gang)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x18lrg_grandmaster-flash-the-message_music
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1h9s2_grandmaster-flash-white-lines_music

No samples. Performed in the studio with a live band.

Here's the band:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1GVzx2LVCk"]YouTube- "Dangerous Sex"

Peace Out,
Rev J

 

I see you point. To be honest I would be a little disappointed if someone made my shit into something....shitty. I'd rather do a collaboration or something haha.

 

Thanks and I'm not anti-DJ. I've heard shit with turntablists that I love. Right now I'm almost addicted to a group called the Spam Allstars they've got a DJ, Congas, Timbales, Guitar, Trombone, Baritone Sax, and Flute. They call it electronic descarga so it's like Afro Cuban music with big 808 drumbeats. I also dig the Greyboy Allstars, The Yohimbe Brothers (Vernon Reid and DJ Logic), DJ Shadow, DJ Harry (Does electronica remixes of Jamband stuff) and DJ Spooky.

I'll also give it to Dre that statistically speaking he is one of the few that clears and pays for his samples. And he even did that back in the day. I read an interview with a cat named Mike Elisondo who is a Bass player/producer who had been working with Dr. Dre for probably about 10 years. One of the things that he said about Dre is that he has started using live drums and bass on his stuff because he got tired of wanting to use a sample and either getting snaked or being unable to get clearance. Necessity is the mother of invention.

Fuck the status quo change shit up. I initially posted this as a challenge. Can YOU make a good Hip-Hop record without using other artists shit. I told you why people who get sampled and not payed and cleared get pissed. I told you about the possible legal ramifications. Like I said man if the recording industry cracked down on sampling the same way they cracked down on file sharing I would probably be buying Street Sheets off alot of you cats. And for some poor motherfuckers it would be like winning the Lottery.

Just a thought.

Peace Out,
Rev J