Music Sampling

The language in our popular music has the ability to shape one's reality. For instance rap artists in their first couple albums that are released their lyrics tell the story of their lives and how hard it was for them before the fame and glory they live today. I think some people can thrive on that and in turn will motivate them to do something for the greater good because they can relate to the experiences and the hard times rap artists have gone through. A good example of this is Tupac Shakur in his song titled "Changes." He uses the same beat of the original song written by Phil Collins in 1989, "That's just the way it is." I like Tupac's remix better because it is more up beat and relates to my generation. I believe that Tupac set a new standard for modern day rap artists. Eminem is very aware of Tupac's impact and also uses older beats from older pop artists in his works. I like the use of this because it not only relates to the audience of the younger generation, but using a beat from the 70's or 80's relates the that generation. It doesn't even really matter whether the remix song is a bust when played on the radio because obviously the original song was a hit when it first came out. The sound and the beat stay the same we can now relate that same beat with two popular musicians nearly 10 years apart. If I were an artist from the 70's and now in 2005 other artists want to make a remix of my song, I think it's almost like honoring past musicians. The work was great then and it still can be a hit 35 years later.

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