NOW and THEN: Kanye West - 'Bound 2'

We all know a Hip Hop naysayer. "They're just speaking in a rhythm." "I can't understand what they're saying." All they do is sample old songs." Now I can't help with the first two, but I'll give the last one a shot.

Let's take it back to the birth of Hip Hop. It came the streets of the South Bronx in the early seventies, where hoods were united by sound systems manned by DJs, like pioneer DJ Kool Herc, who would eventually begin to mix songs to create a dancing vibe. The Civil Rights Movement of 1964 was a recent success, there were films depicting Black protagonists in films like Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and Shaft and African-American popular music was at its peak, with James Brown, Parliament and Marvin Gaye providing funk, soul and blues. In short, Black culture was thriving and had a commercial place of its own. 

Fast forward 40 years, and we have rappers and producers gripping onto the renown of said artists, and all with a 3-second sample. Whilst the naysayers may think hip hop producers simply lack the creative brains, producers are conversely showing exactly how much they know.

'Bound 2' samples:

• Ponderosa Twins Plus One - Bound (1971)
• Wee - Aeroplane (Reprise) (1971)
• Brenda Lee - Sweet Nothin's (1959)

Two of the samples are from the Golden Era in the 70s, a nod to the Black musical history that is informing Kanye's futuristic output. Samples are widening our references points to that era. Wee are an authentic alternative to recommendations of funk not from the Shaft soundtrack and the original 'Bound' sounds like a Jackson 5 hit that never was. We also thank Brenda Lee for the greatest three-word cultural reference of the year. Country ain't dead guys.

Sampling is a chance for producers and rappers to show that they have got their hands dirty finding good material and proving to the basics that there is life beyond the clichéd classics. Plus, it's unlikely many people were listening to Wee before Kanye, Ché Pope and Mike Dean came along. If anything, Kanye and his team are educating the future generation. So attention naysayers: round of applause for Hip Hop educating the masses.