Listening to Dissect always reminds me that much of the music we listen to is a bricolage of beats, sounds, and lyrics of music. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that: standing on the shoulders of giants is a given in any field. Furthermore, sampling builds upon culture and creates conversation with past artists and producers. It can evoke feelings of nostalgia or be used to make a statement. Sampling is an art—just like composition and singing.
Sampling does teach us important lessons. The first is that there’s a lot going on under the hood of the music industry that we don’t know about. It’s not like producers and artists are secretive about their sampling or covers—most listeners just don’t care enough to question why they’re hearing what they’re hearing.
Noticing these things about music leads to a deeper understanding and appreciation for music. Engaging with history teaches us about the present, and where we could be headed in the future. The same can be said through any field, whether it’s science, literature, or politics. We can never use the past as a blueprint for predicting the future, but we can use it as a way to think about what went right or wrong to lead us here. If we’re unhappy about certain government policies, for example, we can research what social, economic, and political factors led to their implementation. We can then draw parallels to the present. It doesn’t guarantee that these ideas are right, but at least it gets us questioning why things are the way they are instead of passively accepting them.
Conversely, if we really like a policy, we can read up about how similar programs were enacted and use that as a way to see a path forward to make better changes. One example is universal healthcare. RomneyCare was actually used as a model for ObamaCare. The Obama administration was able to use a state-level policy and scale it up on the national level. Both sides wanted affordable healthcare, but once Obama made it part of his mission as president, many Republicans didn’t support it. Understanding that example helps illuminate how partisanship often gets in the way of common interests.
A second example is the Roe v. Wade overturning. In the wake of this decision, many researched other examples of biopower, particularly how women’s bodies are controlled by the state. From forced sterilization to institutionalization, there’s many things America has done to make the Handmaid’s tale less of a fiction and more of a cautionary tale. It’s scary stuff.
Some things to do to make it less scary
- Study history
- Share what you learn
- Collectivize and act
This Week’s Top 3
- The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 👸🏾 – revisiting it with Dissect‘s context and a more mature perspective inspires infinite re-listens
- Survivor Worlds Apart 🏝 – and, like any other reality show, I would recommend watching it with other people so you can ~discuss~
- “Power (Remix)” – feat Jay-Z, Swizz Beats & John Legend 💪🏾 – not on Spotify, but like Flume’s “Tennis Courts” remix, it needs to be