Remixes in Music: Giving Life to the Forgotten
By Patrick McDonnell
Now let me preference this with saying that I am not a music nut and what I regularly listen too is usually 3 – 5 years old (often now considered throwbacks and oldies. However, I can say in my limited music knowledge that music remixes are an entire industry of themselves
But, let’s backup first, music is one of the world’s oldest forms of communication, storytelling, and sensory enjoyment. Because of this, music archives such as iTunes, SoundCloud, and even YouTube have millions of songs ranging from top billboard 100’s too old classics.
Yet, with many new modern songs that come out, there are often hints of older re-mastered songs within them. This practice, known as sampling, is the process of using portions of older songs in new creations.
Let’s take for example Kanye West, one of the most popular hip-hop artists and producers of the 21st century. He is most well-known for his catchy songs and similarly clever lyrics. Because of this he has won 21 Grammys. However, perhaps his greatest longer lasting gift to society is that he re-masters the old with the new.
Look at his 2013 song Blood on the Leaves, which peaked at number 89 on the US billboard Hot 100. In his song, the underlying rhythm relies on a sample of Nina Simone’s 1965 rendition of Strange Fruit. A song which was originally about lynching and hangings in the deep south. Even more ironically, Simone did not even write or produce the song; the song was originally created by Billie Holiday in 1939. Simone simply did a rendition of the tune which caught on in 1965 due to its cultural importance at the start of the civil rights movement.
Thus, West took a sample of a sample and mixed it with another sample to create something entirely new. Why does this matter, because without West there is little chance that we would ever be talking about the original 1939 Billie Holiday song! What West has accidentally did was breathe life back into forgotten tunes of historical importance. He popularized something which was almost left behind outside of specific areas of academia. Now although West’s song, Blood on the Leaves, certainly has different messages than the original, it now has its own historical significance due to its remix value. The even more intriguing part is that West’s sample is not unique in the music industry. Countless new artists sample and blend older song into new popular music. Although, the messages may not always retain the value, the act of preserving almost lost items is in its own way an archival miracle.
Nina Simone - Strange Fruit - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqbXOO3OiOs
Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs
Kanye West - Blood On the Leaves - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPhsSzfAoBA
