Snaps

In this Norient Special, we examine how political contexts of our time are transformed into musical production. With case studies from all around the world, this Norient Special approaches sampling as a tool for critical thought and a way of alternative storytelling.

Recently, dance music producers have attempted to sample Islamic sonic materials and courted controversy with the establishment in North Africa and the Middle East. Is sampling a tool that can be used indiscriminately across cultures? Or are there limits to its reach?

The encounter between experimental club music and mainstream pop has become ubiquitous in the sampling practices of avant-garde electronic musicians of the 2010s. These practices have worked to question the inclusivity of electronic music scenes, our author argues.

The song «Apesar de Você» by Chico Buarque is one of the most iconic protest songs published in the context of the Brazilian military dictatorship. A sound collage made from clippings of the word «despite» in various instances of Brazilian pop music.

Sampling is an approach to composing music «with» others by incorporating audio fragments from various sources. Anthropologist Nicolas Puig discusses sample-based tracks by the Palestinian artist Osloob, who lived in Lebanon until he moved to Paris in 2014.

Restriction on the use of samples resulted in creative adaptations. In Belo Horizonte, Brazil, hip hop producers increasingly use the technique of sample chopping because of both economic and political reasons.

The frenetic cutting techniques by electronic music producer Kyoka stand for what our author calls «techno punk». With this techinique, the producer ambiguously positions herself outside of the club music versus experimentation binary and the unpolitical becomes political.

South Asian sounds have long occupied a place in the market of sample libraries while being advertised as «world» sounds. Here, the case of Sohan Lal is discussed, a Punjabi singer whose voice ended up in such a sample library and was used in many popular songs.