So much ‘new’ music is sampled or covered from older tracks. Samples and covers are everywhere, hiding in plain sight. Your latest favorite tune might be sampled from a 2002 track which sampled it from Led Zeppelin! Let’s check out some not-so-well-known covers and sampled versions of yesterday’s tracks.
Eminem - My Name Is
Eminem has been quiet for the past 2 years, but that’s not unusual when you have a back catalog the size of a Daft Punk concert rig. Let’s take it right back to the beginning, his 1998 breakthrough hit ‘My Name Is’. A little-known fact is that the quirky, bouncy chord progression was lifted from a tune by 1970s British poet and songwriter Labi Siffre. Musically, it’s a really unusual tune! Siffre also wrote ‘It Must Be Love’, which was later covered by the group Madness. Check it out on WhoSampled.
John Legend and The Roots feat. Black Thought - Hard Times
It’s neither a crowd-pleaser nor a noteworthy dance tune, but John Legend’s cover of Hard Times is a masterpiece of soul. Tapping into vintage funk and Motown, the track tells the same story felt by struggling African Americans with emotion. The original composer Baby Huey released Hard Times in 1971. Pull this track out when you’re deep into the jam and people are looking to connect with each other over something real. Check out the comparison on WhoSampled.
Lana del Rey - Doin’ Time
Lana del Rey is the eternal first choice for dinner or cocktail music at fancy weddings. Her sultry, quiescent vocals soothe people without interrupting conversations. Funny to imagine that ‘Doin’ Time’ is in fact a cover of ska reggae band Sublime (itself a cover of ‘Summertime’ by George Gershwin). Sublime was active in the 1990s and is credited with popularizing energetic ska music (punk with a brass line). Check out the comparison on WhoSampled.
Older music only tends to pop up on a DJ’s radar later on in life. The more music you listen to, the more you realize just how much new tracks are samples of older tracks or even direct covers. As they say, there’s nothing new under the sun! But as always, don’t let that stop you from trying out one of these DJ courses for amateurs looking to level up.