Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ndmmz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-02T12:02:26.863Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Hip-hop sampling aesthetics and the legacy of Grand Upright v. Warner

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 May 2023

Claire E.A. Mcleish Open the ORCID record for Claire E.A. Mcleish [Opens in a new window]
Claire E.A. Mcleish*
Affiliation:
Independent scholar, Montreal, Canada
*
E-mail: claire.mcleish@mail.mcgill.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In 1991, Gilbert O'Sullivan sued Biz Markie for sampling without permission: this lawsuit, Grand Upright v. Warner, became a landmark case for music copyright, and for some scholars, represented a symbolic end to hip hop's golden age. This paper uses the lawsuit as a point of entry into debates about hip hop during a time of aesthetic transformation. Specifically, I present a corpus study spanning 1988–1993, consisting of hip hop songs of various subgenres drawn from Billboard charts. Unlike previous studies on this period, I consider both canonical artists, whose mastery of sampling is widely admired (such as Public Enemy), and more commercially successful artists (like the Fresh Prince), who used fewer samples. My study reveals a decrease in the average number of samples per song, and a radical shift in how these remaining samples are used. I situate Grand Upright at the intersection of legal institutions and musical aesthetics

Type
Article
Information
Popular Music , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , February 2023 , pp. 79 - 103
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Arewa, O.B. 2006. ‘From J.C. back to hip hop: musical borrowing, copyright and cultural context’, North Carolina Law Review, 84, pp. 547–645Google Scholar
Brackett, D. 2016. Categorizing Sound (Berkeley, CA, University of California Press)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falstrom, C.A. 1994. ‘Thou shalt not steal: Grand Upright Music Ltd. v. Warner Bros. Records, Inc. and the future of digital sound sampling in popular music’, Hastings Law Journal, 45, pp. 359–81Google Scholar
Greene, K.J. 1999. ‘Copyright, culture, and Black music: a legacy of unequal protection’, Hastings Communication and Entertainment Law Journal, 21, pp. 339–91Google Scholar
McLeod, K. 2004. ‘How copyright law changed hip hop: an interview with Public Enemy's Chuck D and Hank Shocklee about hip hop, sampling, and how copyright law altered the way hip hop artists made their music’, https://www.alternet.org/2004/06/how_copyright_law_changed_hip_hop/Google Scholar
McLeod, K., and DiCola, P. 2011. Creative License: The Law and Culture of Digital Sampling. (Durham, NC, Duke University Press)Google Scholar
Rose, T. 1994. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (Middletown, CT, Wesleyan University Press)Google Scholar
Schloss, J. G. 2013. Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop (Middletown, CT, Wesleyan University Press)Google Scholar
Sewell, A. 2014. ‘how copyright affected the musical style and critical reception of sample-based hip hop’, Journal of Popular Music Studies, 26, pp. 295–320CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sewell, A. 2013. ‘A typology of sampling in hip hop’, PhD dissertation, Indiana UniversityGoogle Scholar
Weingarten, C. R. 2010. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (New York, Continuum)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, J. 2013. Rhymin’ and Stealin’: Musical Borrowing in Hip-Hop (Ann Arbor, MI, University of Michigan Press)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Above the Law, ‘Murder Rap’. Livin’ Like Hustlers. Ruthless Records/Epic, E 46041, 1990Google Scholar
Cypress Hill, ‘The Phuncky Feel One’. Cypress Hill. Ruffhouse Records/Columbia, C 47889, 1991Google Scholar
DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, ‘Parents Just Don't Understand’. He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper. Jive, 01241-41091-2, 1988Google Scholar
DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, ‘I'm Looking for the One’. Code Red. Jive, 01241-41489-2, 1993Google Scholar
Dr. Dre, . ‘Let Me Ride’. The Chronic. Death Row Records/Interscope, 92233, 1992Google Scholar
House of Pain, ‘Jump Around’. House of Pain. Tommy Boy, TBCD 1056, 1992Google Scholar
Markie, Biz, ‘Alone Again’. I Need A Haircut. Cold Chillin’ Records/Warner Brothers, 1991Google Scholar
N.W.A., ‘100 Miles and Runnin’’. Straight Outta Compton. Ruthless Records/Priority, CDL57102, 1988Google Scholar
O'Sullivan, G., ‘Alone Again (Naturally)’. Alone Again/Save It. MAM. 45-3619, 1972Google Scholar
Public Enemy, ‘Bring the Noise’ and ‘Night of the Living Baseheads’. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Def Jam/Columbia. BFCK-44303, 1988Google Scholar
Public Enemy, ‘Can't Truss It’ / Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black. Columbia/Def Jam. 47374, 1991Google Scholar
Public Enemy, ‘I Stand Accused’ / Muse-Sick-N-Hour-Mess-Age. Def Jam. 314 523 362-1, 1994.Google Scholar
Latifah, Queen, ‘Dance for Me’. Tommy Boy. TBCD 1022, 1989Google Scholar
Dogg, Snoop Doggy, ‘Who Am I (What's My Name)?’ Doggystyle. Death Row Records/Interscope, 92279-1, 1993Google Scholar
Terminator X, , ‘Homey Don't Play Dat’. Terminator X & the Valley of the Jeep Beats. Columbia, 46896, 1991Google Scholar
Yo-Yo, ‘Stompin’ to the 90s’. Make Way for the Motherlode. EastWest Records America, 91605-2, 1991Google Scholar
Above the Law, ‘Murder Rap’. Livin’ Like Hustlers. Ruthless Records/Epic, E 46041, 1990Google Scholar
Cypress Hill, ‘The Phuncky Feel One’. Cypress Hill. Ruffhouse Records/Columbia, C 47889, 1991Google Scholar
DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, ‘Parents Just Don't Understand’. He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper. Jive, 01241-41091-2, 1988Google Scholar
DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, ‘I'm Looking for the One’. Code Red. Jive, 01241-41489-2, 1993Google Scholar
Dr. Dre, . ‘Let Me Ride’. The Chronic. Death Row Records/Interscope, 92233, 1992Google Scholar
House of Pain, ‘Jump Around’. House of Pain. Tommy Boy, TBCD 1056, 1992Google Scholar
Markie, Biz, ‘Alone Again’. I Need A Haircut. Cold Chillin’ Records/Warner Brothers, 1991Google Scholar
N.W.A., ‘100 Miles and Runnin’’. Straight Outta Compton. Ruthless Records/Priority, CDL57102, 1988Google Scholar
O'Sullivan, G., ‘Alone Again (Naturally)’. Alone Again/Save It. MAM. 45-3619, 1972Google Scholar
Public Enemy, ‘Bring the Noise’ and ‘Night of the Living Baseheads’. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Def Jam/Columbia. BFCK-44303, 1988Google Scholar
Public Enemy, ‘Can't Truss It’ / Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black. Columbia/Def Jam. 47374, 1991Google Scholar
Public Enemy, ‘I Stand Accused’ / Muse-Sick-N-Hour-Mess-Age. Def Jam. 314 523 362-1, 1994.Google Scholar
Latifah, Queen, ‘Dance for Me’. Tommy Boy. TBCD 1022, 1989Google Scholar
Dogg, Snoop Doggy, ‘Who Am I (What's My Name)?’ Doggystyle. Death Row Records/Interscope, 92279-1, 1993Google Scholar
Terminator X, , ‘Homey Don't Play Dat’. Terminator X & the Valley of the Jeep Beats. Columbia, 46896, 1991Google Scholar
Yo-Yo, ‘Stompin’ to the 90s’. Make Way for the Motherlode. EastWest Records America, 91605-2, 1991Google Scholar