SAMPLING: The act of taking a portion, or sample of one sound recording, and using it as an instrument or a sound recording in a different song or piece.” -Wikipedia.
Grandmaster Caz of the Cold Crush Brothers, one of the pioneer rappers from one of the pioneer rap groups said it best: “Hip-hop was not made up from scratch…the foundation for the music of hip-hop came from records that we found in our parent’s crates… Hip-hop didn’t invent anything, but hip-hop reinvented everything.”
Hip Hop reinvented everything.
Quincy Jones, THE Quincy Jones granted an interview a couple of months ago which caused quite a stir because he spoke his mind without holding back on many issues. One of the things he said was that many music producers today are lazy. They do not go back to study the musicians who lived way before them, some of whom are still alive (like him) today.
Now, I may not totally agree with Quincy Jones, particularly on the ‘lazy’ part of what he was saying. I think of Jovi and Salatiel for example, and I cannot for the life of me call those guys lazy. But it wasn’t just “lazy” in the strict terms of the word that Quincy Jones was talking about, it was more of lazy in the sense of not wanting to go deeper into song composition by putting in as much work as they did back when Fruity Loops and Adobe Audition did not exist.
But Quincy Jones’ words sure point to an issue; that music is something of a wheel. That there is a foundation to music and there are lot of basics and ethos that unfortunately are not being taken into account by mainstream musicians. And for purists like him, I can certainly understand how bitter a pill that could be.
C.A had written an article here on Poise about how we are losing our musical identity, especially in our urban music, because it is sounding more ‘generic’ and more Nigerian.
Et quelques part cela n’est pas trop loin de la vérité.
But it would be too hasty to hold that as an ultimate truth. Elements of our traditional music are still very much present in our urban music today.
But can we/should we do more? I absolutely, 100% feel so. But let’s get back to rap.
If you ask me, even if you wake me up from sleep at 2 am, what the most accomplished Cameroonian rap production is, in my humble opinion, without hesitation I’ll tell you it’s Jovi’s ‘Bush Faller’. Why? It samples to near perfection Eko Roosevelt’s “Attends-moi” and infuses it with new life, and in a way that amalgamates seamlessly tnto a rap 'feel'. Mind you, the original is song older than Jovi himself. It hapens to be, and by far, my favourite song on the H.I.V album. The composition is a pure relish for the ears.
And Jovi didn’t do too much. He simply sped up the sample, accentuated the bass line and then added/changed the drumming to give it a more “hip-hoppy” feel. It was simple and yet so wonderfully effective.
On that same album he samples Tabu Ley Rochereau on the song ‘Pitie’. And on the song “H.I.V.", Reniss’ background vocals have an uncanny resemblance to the chorus of Sam Fan Thomas’ “Mandela”.
It’s funny how we, the audience, usually call out Camer rappers who sample, frequently saying “they have stolen beats.” No, they haven’t. Sampling is a cornerstone of hip-hop culture. That is how rap music started. The very first DJs combined sections of different records at parties, and the music eventually evolved to the hip-hop sound we know today.
And so, this is a call for Cameroonian rappers to sample even more. Sample older Cameroonian music and incorporate that into their rap compositions. Boy Tag’s recent sample of Talla Andre Marie’s ‘Benskin’ hit the internet barely two weeks ago and the comments on YouTube are nothing else but positive.
Another one of my favourite rap songs with a great sampling is Roggy Stentor’s “Ambiancez-moi ca la” feat Njohreur where a Petit Pays song (the title eludes me) was sampled and a portion of Petit Pays’ verse was used as the chorus in the new song.
So I think our rappers should sample more. If anything, it continues to perpetuate the unique sounds of the Cameroonian musical identity and it solves a crucial problem raised by Quincy Jones; that of current producers not dipping themselves enough into the craft and artistry by taking a walk through the lush vegetation of musical history, to study and play music like the older musicians did. Because let’s face it, our generation is yet to produce ne serait-ce qu’un seul musical genius that is good enough to tie the sandals of Richard Bona.
So the least we can do is listen to the great masters of Cameroonian Music; Toto Guillaume, Ekambi Brillant, Henri Njoh, Jean Dikoto Mandengue, Pierre Didi Tchakounte, Aladji Toure…. et j’en passe. And sample their music.
- Wandji Wilfred.