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Forum nameThe Lesson
Topic subjectBob James reacts to songs that sampled him
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=3029942
3029942, Bob James reacts to songs that sampled him
Posted by falafel stand pimpin, Sat Jan-30-21 03:32 PM
https://youtu.be/1NI5Nl4XvXM
3029957, I really enjoy Bob James' appreciation for sampling
Posted by CherNic, Mon Feb-01-21 08:54 AM
I've watched more than a few videos/talks and he seems to just be cool about it. And that's really dope.
3029970, RE: I really enjoy Bob James' appreciation for sampling
Posted by howardlloyd, Mon Feb-01-21 05:54 PM
https://www.factmag.com/2015/05/08/jazz-legend-bob-james-suing-madlib-and-stones-throw-for-copyright-infringement/

https://www.courthousenews.com/bob-james-is-notamused-by-sampling/
3030016, right
Posted by Ashy Achilles, Thu Feb-04-21 09:59 AM
i think he appreciates the notoriety but wants to get paid for his efforts
3030017, I don't see a problem with him wanting to get paid
Posted by CherNic, Thu Feb-04-21 09:59 AM
3030018, neither do i
Posted by Ashy Achilles, Thu Feb-04-21 10:10 AM
3030088, Waiting to be paid for being sampled does not at all mean he doesn't
Posted by Buddy_Gilapagos, Mon Feb-08-21 09:42 AM
appreciate sampling.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"
3030102, he doesnt appreciate it
Posted by howardlloyd, Mon Feb-08-21 03:44 PM
outside of being paid for it

he's on the record (historically...not now that he's working with the sample site)... he's also denied clearance cause he hasnt liked the art

3030121, none of this is true
Posted by tomjohn29, Mon Feb-08-21 06:33 PM
He tried do a project in 97 to get current producers to flip his samples on a compilation
The samples i know that didnt get cleared were over splits with publishing and not the art
I used to clear samples for a living....Bob James is not even close to what you are saying lol
3030161, RE: none of this is true
Posted by howardlloyd, Wed Feb-10-21 10:25 AM
>He tried do a project in 97 to get current producers to flip
>his samples on a compilation
>The samples i know that didnt get cleared were over splits
>with publishing and not the art
>I used to clear samples for a living....Bob James is not even
>close to what you are saying lol

was he getting paid for the project? exactly...

he's not on the record dissing sampling before he became enlightened (like many men after he started seeing checks)?

he didnt deny souls of mischief because he didnt like their song?

everything i said is true...here's a quote and a link

"“ after was a hit. It was quite a ways down the line. I would not have spent the money to do anything about if it had not been so successful. It was way up on the charts, and a friend of mine in the music business called me and was like, ‘You should check out this recording.’ And when I heard it, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was insulted by it. It was blatantly stealing my music without asking me about it. It was way before this genre had developed a stage where some of these samples actually took on a historic value of their own. And of course, when ‘Nautilus’ took on this value, I had a different type of appreciation for it. But this was just theft."

http://bobjames.com/sample-stories-with-bob-james-a-hip-hop-history/
3030204, you quoted the wrong part
Posted by tomjohn29, Thu Feb-11-21 03:37 PM
But when you’re tampering with my music without my permission, or insulting my art * and then trying to tell me you’re being really creative about it, I say, ‘You’ve got another thing coming. No way.’ Those would be the only instances that I would’ve been motivated to deny a person permission to use my copyright.”

*Eventually, Bob James came around and gave permission to Souls of Mischief to use a sample of his song “Angela” on “Cab Fare,” but ultimately, permission was denied by the publishing company that controlled the Taxi TV series.

pay him and be creative....whats the problem?
3030220, RE: you quoted the wrong part
Posted by howardlloyd, Fri Feb-12-21 03:32 AM
you are moving the goalpost. people came in praising him like he is supportive of sampling artist. i said he is appreciative of sampling when $ is involved. his own words show his hate and bias for sampling. he came to appreciate it once nautilus had been sampled 100x

who is he to determine someone else’s creativity?

insulting his art? FOH. once you put shit out into the world. it’s out of your hands

my point stands
3030262, RE: you quoted the wrong part
Posted by thebigfunk, Sat Feb-13-21 07:59 PM
>you are moving the goalpost. people came in praising him like
>he is supportive of sampling artist. i said he is
>appreciative of sampling when $ is involved. his own words
>show his hate and bias for sampling. he came to appreciate it
>once nautilus had been sampled 100x

I agree that folks are maybe glossing over the caveats that James puts down in the interview. But beyond that, I guess I'm not sure what your point is?

Looking back in time, is it at all realistic to expect artists working in pre-sampling models of intellectual property and publishing, not to mention artistic merit/aesthetic value, to just "get" sampling right away. To not: a) feel insulted if they don't like what was done with the music? and b) wonder why they're getting paid, or paid how they expect? and even c) wonder if the practice is legit.

Especially in jazz where there is such an emphasis on collaboration and give and take. If that's part of where you draw your artistic energy from, are you going to hear someone playing music you don't really understand that lifts straight loops of your work and just have an epiphany that completely transforms the way you think about copyright and ownership and creativity, etc. (and yes, $$$)

By your logic, there's no way for James to put any conditions or expectations on sampling at all at any point in his career -- and so you've literally left no opportunity for a change of view. If he wasn't on board with sampling 100%, no strings attached, from the beginning, his changing views of sampling, in your view, can only be financially motivated. (And this motivation, somehow, is apparently the wrong motivation to have.)

Is it really impossible that the combination of getting paid (ameliorating one issue) and time/experience has made him adjust his understanding of sampling? I'm sure this is not the first time someone like 9th has given a speech in front of James about how much of a legacy he's left through hip hop production -- there's no chance those types of stories changed his view at all? It's absolutely all $$$? He talks about himself starting to play with sampling to better understand it -- we can be skeptical but does skepticism have to be the last response?

Radical alternative:
- it's ok for people to hold complicated and even contradictory views of sampling even if we ourselves believe in a more radically open understanding. it's ok for those views to change over time.

- it's understandable for people to feel that they should get paid when sampled even if we ourselves disagree about what that looks like. there's a larger system and history at play, a complicated range of influences and traditions, that shapes the way we all think about these issues -- we can respect that even if we don't 100% understand it or agree with it

- it's ok for people to wish that they had more of a say in the sampling process (or other forms of clearance), or to take a more active role in the process based on their own goals for their art, even if we disagree with the conditions they place. it doesn't mean that they harbor "hate and bias" toward sampling as an art. it does mean that they aren't on board with an absolutely no-strings-attached approach, and that's ok (again, even if we disagree with it)

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~
3030273, RE: you quoted the wrong part
Posted by howardlloyd, Sun Feb-14-21 07:17 AM
I never said he shouldn’t get paid

I said don’t rewrite history and make it seem like he is all into sampling outside of getting paid for it

Again my point stands

3030049, Bob James is a top lad for Rameau
Posted by fanks, Sat Feb-06-21 02:01 PM
100
3030089, Too bad artists haven't tried to collab with him
Posted by Beamer6178, Mon Feb-08-21 09:49 AM
Dude is like 81 now, but I mean all that creativity in one room could have produced some crazy(er) stuff.

3030159, Daytona 500 feat. Bob James
Posted by topaz, Wed Feb-10-21 07:30 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMEFOIvldJ0

This is amazing
3030243, RE: Daytona 500 feat. Bob James
Posted by Original Juice, Fri Feb-12-21 12:50 PM
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMEFOIvldJ0
>
>This is amazing

lol that was great
3030293, Ayyyyyyyye
Posted by OKdamn, Mon Feb-15-21 09:54 AM
3030394, LMAO that goes from very cool to annoying in 10 seconds..
Posted by My_SP1200_Broken_Again, Thu Feb-18-21 11:01 AM