The Current Trend of Music: You Can't Remix a Remix

The record scratch is typically credited to an artist named Grand Wizard Theodore. He really opened the door for hip hop and urban music in the late seventies / early eighties when he realized that he can sample, mix, and scratch previous songs to create new beats and progressions.

In the early eighties, Grand Master Flash started sampling the bass grooves of disco and funk tracks and then rapped over them. One of his biggest hits was called Superrappin'. It used the bass progression of "Seven Minutes of Funk" by The Whole Darn Family. This started the trend of rap groups sampling classic songs and gave way to the likes of Run DMC sampling "Walk This Way" or A Tribe Called Quest sampling "Walk On The Wild Side."

They sampled Lou Reed's classic and made it their own

If  you ever have time to check out a song on YouTube, listen to "Can I Kick It?" by a Tribe Called Quest. If you like Lou Reed, or like "Walk On The Wild Side," you'll love the early 90's hip hop re-visioning of Reed's level-headed bass. 

My point is, early hip hop (80's stuff, "old school") was built off the failing rhythms of funk and disco. Many hit rap songs of the early 90's include the riffs from rock and roll classics. Even Eminem, when he first came onto the scene, ripped the first verse from Dido's song "Thank You" in his song "Stan." Every new blossoming of creativity was built upon the whispers of the past. 

These days, sampling has evolved (or devolved, depending on your view) into Mash Up. On Youtube, type in any hit song, then remix, and you will find a dozen DJ's trying to make their name by combining it with some other hit song. Tupac with Phil Collins. Biggie Smalls with Miley Cyrus. Pink Floyd with Jay Z. 

There are even Mash Up artists becoming more famous than their inspiration. Greg Gillis, AKA GirlTalk has made his name by combining the hits of numerous decades of music. Don't get me wrong, GirlTalk is certainly talented. It takes vision to combine Biggie Smalls with Elton John. But, there is nothing new happening. It is software and a MacBook Pro.

GirlTalk in action

Mash Ups are merely the past being combined with the past. There is no "new school" being brought in to compliment the old. If all you are doing is putting together the past with the present, all you can hope for is the present - there is no hint, no nod, and no grasp for the future. No boundaries or limits are being pushed let alone sought. 

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On the flip side though, GirlTalk plays a helluva show. If you ever get a chance to see him play, TAKE IT. You won't be dissapointed.