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Exclusive analysis of and insight to music sampling, copyright law, and more from The Art of Sampling.
Fresh Ears & Classics: Black Moon – ‘Enta Da Stage’
Editor’s note: I'm a strong advocate for music that stands the test of time. When new music is released in a particular period, each subsequent generation of listeners is entitled to its own opinion of the music that became before them.…
Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers Taught Me How To Shuffle
The Jazz Messengers are one of the richest sources of musical knowledge that we still have available to us. Initially Co-fronted by drummer Art Blakey and pianist Horace Silver, Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers (the moniker that was…
Soul Control: Isaac Hayes – “Soulsville”
"Soulsville," from the movie Shaft. This is my favorite Isaac Hayes joint. The scene in Shaft where this song plays is so appropriate. The images — which are certainly no Hollywood props, but instead real glimpses of early 1970s…
Sample Flips: Jay-Z – “Imaginary Players” (Prod. by Prestige)
A sampling gem from Jay-Z's In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
After the release of 4:44 I had a newfound interest in revisiting Jay-Z's catalog, especially because of the sampling. I started with In My Lifetime, Vol.1 because it was the…
The Old New: Bronze Nazareth’s ‘School for the Blindman’
BeatTips Rating: 5/5
"Roll dice in old piss" —Bronze Nazareth
We often like and celebrate an album because of its power to take us somewhere. The vivid images that it calls up; the memories that it inspires; the emotions that it…
Marquee Names: The Soul of Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield helped reshape the direction of soul music in America and brought forth one of the most celebrated music catalogs in popular music. His gentle musicality, contrasting style, and powerful lyricism made him one of the most…
Funk That Goes: James Brown – “Funky Drummer”
Funk
By AMIR ALI SAID
The music and video below is presented here for the purpose of scholarship.
James Brown – "Funky Drummer"
Jazz to Know: John Coltrane – “Invitation”
The music and video below is presented here for the purpose of scholarship.
John Coltrane – "Invitation"
Kendrick Lamar Sued for Bill Withers Sample
A rapper uses a sample from a song of another artist to create a new song — said rapper places new song on their free mixtape, then gets sued for copyright infringement by the copyright owners of the song that the rapper sampled. We’ve been…
Marquee Names: John Klemmer – “Free Soul” and Jazz Fusion
John Klemmer's "Free Soul" was one of the very first records I ever hunted down and bought at a record convention. I first heard the song when I was 19 on a now defunct jazz program that used to air on WNYC in New York. I remember…