Case Study 2: Collision Course

In the late 1970’s in the Bronx, New York, house parties ruled the social scene. The house party without room for a band had to be entertained by an individual who played music. This Disc Jockey set the tone for the party, and occasionally he would have a partner on stage to help entertain the crowd called a Master of Ceremonies. Since this duo couldn’t perform their own music with instruments, records from old jazz and funk artists were looped and scratched to create a unique sound. At this time funk was still king in the Bronx, and MC and DJ’s were simply trying to add to the genre, not create a new one.

The MC’s job was simply to talk about how amazing the DJ and he were and “move” the crowd. This production evolved into the MC “rapping” improvisational rhymes to the beat that the DJ played. It wasn’t until the Sugarhill Gang’s 1979 hit “Rapper’s Delight” that this process was recorded and reproduced commercially. The song sampled Chic’s song “Good Times.” MC Wonder Mike of the Sugarhill Gang begun the song with a warm-up and then started the first verse in the first rap song to be a top 40 hit like this:

“Now what you hear is not a test--I'm rappin to the beat, and me, the groove, and my friends are gonna try to move your feet, see I am Wonder Mike and I'd like to say hello!”

Wonder Mike certainly did say hello, and 30 years later he is the godfather to a whole genre of music that is a fundamental component of pop-culture. In order to sample Chic’s song, the band Positive Force had to be brought in to reproduce the music. Years after Sugarhill Gang came out samplers became an instrument used to create virtually all hip-hop music.

This background is important for people to understand who believe that sampling is “stealing.” Sampling is really about respecting the history of the art. Everyday people talk about remaining connected to the roots of an art, trade or sport. One example of this is the argument that adding instant replay to Major League Baseball will detach the sport from its roots. The same argument was made in the National Football League. History is an important component that respects the culture that the art came from and keeps the art connected to its foundation. Without funk, records and sampling there would be no hip-hop, just like how without soul and jazz there would have been no funk.

Copyright laws do not seem to agree with the evolving culture however and according to those rules a sampling artist must obtain permission in order to use copyrighted material. These rules are ignored frequently, sometimes due to the belief that publishing on a public domain like the internet means that it’s fair use. Many artists also believe that when they sample a song, they put their own spin on it, and the outcome is original, with a tribute to the old while creating something completely new. The law disagrees however, and coincidently, the same year as the Sugarhill Gang formed in 1976 the Copyright Act came out. This act stated that the owner of original material has exclusive rights to the reproduction, distribution and derivative works and that the material becomes property of author as soon as the work is finished. This act included musical works.

Though there have been many conflicts between this act and remixed material, one case is particularly interesting. Jay-Z, a once student and now legend of hip-hop released what was to be his final album “The Black Album” in late 2003. Jay-Z also released an a cappella version, with the implicit purpose of encouraging the use of his verses in mash-ups and remixes. Understanding and appreciating the history of the music that made him famous, allowed Jay-Z to encourage this creative behavior, instead of trying to stop it or profit from it. Linkin Park, a popular rock group, joined Jay-Z to officially release the album “Collision Course,” which combined, or “mashed-up,” popular tracks from both artists on their recent albums.

Not every artist and record company was as welcoming to this forum however, as “The Grey Album” produced by DJ Danger Mouse in 2004 did not go over as well as “Collision Course.” DJ Danger Mouse in “The Grey Album” mashed songs from Jay-Z’s “The Black Album” and The Beatles “The White Album.” DJ Danger Mouse did this without any permission to use the digital property of The Beatles. Record company EMI who owned the rights to The Beatles, ordered DJ Danger Mouse to cease distribution. Danger Mouse complied, however in this digital age, just one online download is enough to open the internet floodgates. On February 24^th, 2004 a day titled “Grey Tuesday,” electronic civil disobedience prevailed as over 100,000 downloads of the “The Grey Album” on over 170 sites occurred. While EMI sent cease and desist letters to some of those who downloaded the album that they could track, no legal action beyond that were taken in connection to the event.

The shame about this conflict is how it overshadows what should be the subject, “The Grey Album” as an artistic masterpiece. Danger Mouse did what DJ’s do, and did it very well, even being named Best Album of 2004 by Entertainment Weekly. Hip-hop is a genre of music that is here to stay, and the style it uses directly collides with copyright law that is equally as old as the entire genre. These laws were created so popular artists couldn’t steal from others and make money using their popularity as leverage. Act’s that allow for sampling in music should be in place, so people who own the rights to past artists do not control the future of music. The digital age has allowed for mash-ups and sampling to be commonplace for almost anyone in the present and future, and that’s where our legislations should be as well.

Simply put, laws should no longer reflect a world without hip-hop while pop-culture is being lead by it.