Music has a funny way of imprinting a time period in the listener’s head. And maybe that’s why we like it. As a work of both art and performance, listening to music becomes more than a passive experience. The audience participates in different, and now evolving ways. Considering the personal relationship listeners have with music, where does this bring the conversation regarding ownership and fair use, and the love of hip hop?
I spoke with DJ/producer, Amerigo Gazaway, about these ideas, as well as his process in creating new works using samples from well known artists. His responses have been edited for length and clarity. – Huffington Post
HP: I think the idea of a “mashup”, the combining of two or more songs together to form a new song, has been around (in a mainstream way) in force for about ten years. Your projects take on two or more artists to create a whole album experience. That’s a bigger undertaking. What is your motivation or ambition?
AG: My ultimate motivation with the projects is to create something that sounds authentic and organic enough that it maintains the integrity of the original work. Most people consider the artist and work I re-imagine to be untouchable so I’m driven by the challenge to do the original work justice. That can sometimes involve a lot of re-worked vocals/samples with other outside elements or it can involve just one sample that’s been manipulated in a cool and interesting way. It really depends on the tone I’m trying to convey at that particular moment in the album. People tend to think that’s what sets me apart from other mashup producers- that I use a lot of samples. But that’s not necessarily the case, and sometimes less is more. Not to say there isn’t a distinction between what people might typically consider a “mashup” album and the type of conceptual collaborations I create but they’re just two different approaches to the art of sampling.
Read the full interview here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-carpenter/amerigo-gazaway-hip-hop_b_5580394.html
