National Identity in Hip Hop

[Haze47]

this is geared towards non us users. altho the opinion of all is welcome.

i was wonderering seeing as most of the hip hop we listen to a grew up with is american, do any of you feel that the time has come, this is especially relevant to uk hip hop, that we mainly as europeans, jack in using american samples such as soul and funk, and start using our own countrymens stuff? i mean as an english man, i would consider our musical heritage as probably the most successful in the world ever. Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The stones etc etc, they set a benchmark in music that has never been equalled. There are so many talented english bands of old that are dying to be sampled, but arent because our producers are still sample from american sources, and we ALL know that british music of the 70s was the best there was. So what im saying is shouldnt we keep to british samples in order to make our music BRITISH/EUROPEAN as well? cuz that is what we are and who we are. i eventually hope to trancend to that palin myself

 

[Rhythmikal]

yeh man, i see what your saying, its just that the US is so dominant and influential in hip hop that everyone just follows what the americans do, whether it be rapping, beat making etc.. i admit myself that my beats are 95% american.

the problem is british music (well the old stuff) is all mainly rock n roll and stuff that isnt too easy to sample. in america u got thousands of old Soul and Jazz artists to sample (which is more fitting to hiphop) that the UK never had.

plus The Beatles have already been used - that dude who made the Grey Album (jay-z over beatles beats)

sAfE.

 

[Lex]

Great topic man.

I've actually sampled British and European sources before [stuff off tv, lol as well as soundtracks etc]. I try to listen to lots of music from around the world too, just because there is so much variety. From afro-latin jazz to traditional bunjabi music. People shoudl definitely start sampling things outside classic funk/soul stuff from the US. Not that those genres aren't interesting - I love old soul and funk music, its just I think people shoud start pushing things forward.

I downloaded an album the other day by a group called 'La Famiglia'. Apart from being from Southern Italy and rapping in their local dialect [not even 'standard' Italian], they sample and compose using tradional instruments of the area like mandolins,harps etc.... A truly inspiring breath of fresh air, albeit it a strange one.

Oh yeah, the topic - Word, sample some old british pop/rock stuff [avoiding the Beatles may be wise as they are a little too well known].

 

[afriquedeluxe]

hmm am not sure whats in question here. but the way i see it, just do what you feel and enjoy rather than trying to limit yourself to a certain identity. i mean with the logic in the first post, we could say that pink floyd got influenced by americans who got influenced by african music and therefore that british music you wish to sample isnt really british.

 

[Lex]

hmm am not sure whats in question here. but the way i see it, just do what you feel and enjoy rather than trying to limit yourself to a certain identity. i mean with the logic in the first post, we could say that pink floyd got influenced by americans who got influenced by african music and therefore that british music you wish to sample isnt really british.

Right on. Don't limit yourself to sampling certain genres or eras of music.

Well, pretty much all modern forms of music [from rock to hip hop] stem from older forms of African American music [blues etc] which were themselves are derivatives [along with some 'Western' influences] of African music. So whatever you are doing, you are sampling Africa.

 

[Haze47]

^ im not sure about that. i fairly certain that prog rock is an entirely british genre

 

[MarkN]

the problem isn't sampling us music tbh most people who hear jay-z or nas on the radio havent got a fuckin clue where the sample came from and if you told them who it woz they still probably wouldnt know so i don't see the problem just because the track you sample is american why does that make the music and worse for uk people to hear?

My music is british because im british coz thats where im from where i grew up and where i make my beats its a big influence but fuck not using a sample just coz its from the us !
The thing with UK hip hop is people constantly compare it to US hip hop and then complain that its always compared to us hip hop, we will get our own identity when people start making tracks that stand out and give the country an identity where a sample came from has nothing to do with this !

 

[Lex]

^ im not sure about that. i fairly certain that prog rock is an entirely british genre

LOL, I was kind of joking....but prog[ressive] rock dervives from rock music which is derived from rock and roll which is an African American type of music and so on....lol.

Basically a lot of music isn't really native to the country, it gets imported and evolves as immigrants move in and out of countries etc. Which is why you shouldn't limit yourself [or exclude] to sampling from certain countries.

 

[Haze47]

@ makn im not sure you got what i was saying, how can we make tracks that stand out as british then?

but i also DO see your point....

 

[classic]

Again im just droppin my 2 cents this is an intersteding thread

MarkN
Just becasue your british dosent mean your making british music, its not where ur from, but your influcnces. Ive heard plenty of your tracks and them joints is straight east coast hip hop all the way.....

Same goes for me, Im from the south but i dont partcularlly make "southern" style beats. Alot of my influnces are otherwise

My 2 cents

class...

 

[Haze47]

word class....!

 

[Carpe Diem]

i flip whatever i think is gonna sound nice... i dont give a fudge where the samples from...

 

[DJ Abstract]

this is geared towards non us users. altho the opinion of all is welcome.

i was wonderering seeing as most of the hip hop we listen to a grew up with is american, do any of you feel that the time has come, this is especially relevant to uk hip hop, that we mainly as europeans, jack in using american samples such as soul and funk, and start using our own countrymens stuff? i mean as an english man, i would consider our musical heritage as probably the most successful in the world ever. Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The stones etc etc, they set a benchmark in music that has never been equalled. There are so many talented english bands of old that are dying to be sampled, but arent because our producers are still sample from american sources, and we ALL know that british music of the 70s was the best there was. So what im saying is shouldnt we keep to british samples in order to make our music BRITISH/EUROPEAN as well? cuz that is what we are and who we are. i eventually hope to trancend to that palin myself

i dont know. ive never got any samples off old britsh stuff so i use soul n jazz cos its so easy to use and theres good samples!!!

 

[Haze47]

eh? didnt you just start a "where do samples come from" thread?

anyway what about british jazz? and Northern Soul?

 

[DJ Abstract]

wah? yea i kno bu dats cos i aint got any new samples!! no i used some american soul and jazz!!

 

[The Konductor]

Over time people have always looked to other cultures in order to get insight in to something different. Even though were all different, we're still the same.

The same goes for sampling. Remember when that Nas Ooochie Wallie track came out? After that I noticed many other producers looking towards that arabic sitar sound.

But before you go searching for other cultures to sample, you should know your own culture/music and then build off that. Ofcourse you're more inclined to look towards the American sound of the past to sample from, because American's set the standard for alot of things especially hip-hop. I think its ok to bypass your own country mens stuff due to the fact that you're already familiar with it and you just want to expand your horizons. I'm not a samlping producer, but when I do decide to sample I'll probably sample heavily from other cultures simply because the sound is differnet and also the American funk and soul genre has been over sampled in just a matter of 20 yrs.

 

[MarkN]

@ makn im not sure you got what i was saying, how can we make tracks that stand out as british then?

but i also DO see your point....

im not trying to make a british sound im trying to make my own sound, its not like kanye tries to make an american sound, its all hip hop !
class my beats might be influenced by east coast sound or woteva but there not east coast beats coz im not from the east coast !