How Music Shapes Meaning: Hip-Hop Sampling, DJ Spooky, Gil Scott Heron, and Kanye West

I did not hear the phrase ‘who will survive in America’ from the original artist, Gil Scott Heron, but instead from Kanye West. I did not hear the bass-line from Lou Reed’s ‘Walk On the Wild Side’ from the song itself, but the instead from the popular Tribe Called Quest song that samples it, ‘Can I Kick it?’ For many, the first time they heard Lauren Hill’s voice wasn’t in her own work, but instead on Drake’s ‘Nice for What’ track. The list goes on and on. Countless songs are known not for the actual song itself, but instead from the samples that reuse them.

In his book Rhythm Science, D.J Spooky aka that Subliminal kid (Paul Miller), demonstrates his idea that sampling pervades and exists within all components of our culture. He claims that sound is “utterly malleable material,” and that “any sound can be you” (20, 24). Gil Scott Heron’s work exemplifies the malleability of music and the effects of sampling culture through its broad impact. Heron’s work is known by most through its use in hip hop sampling. When most people hear Heron’s iconic phrases, ‘the revolution will not be televised,’ or ‘who will survive in America’ they don’t immediately think of a Harlem poet, but instead of a Kanye West track. In a recent article on Heron, Andrew Nosnitsky stated, “it doesn’t take long to see past the catchphrase and recognize him as a much more complex artist and human” (Nosnitsky). However, few people actually do experience Heron outside of the little snippets they hear in tracks like those from Kanye. Like many heavily sampled artists, Heron’s work and its meaning are completely transformed and reduced in totality. Heron’s work effectively reinforces Miller’s claim that music is ‘utterly malleable material,’ and that it is difficult for any work of art not to be remixed, revised, or redefined.

In Rhythm Science, Miller makes the claim that sampling, remixing, and revising are fundamental aspects not just of modern hip-hop culture or DJ’ing, but of human existence. Miller defines Rhythm Science as “a forensic investigation of sound as a vector of a coded language that goes from the physical to the informational and back again” (5). Notably, Miller focuses on how rhythm science is all about repetition, going from physical to informational, and ‘back again’. Throughout his work, Miller claims that DJ’ing and sampling both center around repetition.

In Miller’s book, the physical structure aims to reinforce messages within the text. Miller repeats, redefines, and reprocesses his definition of rhythm science throughout the book, thus following along with the fundamentals of DJ’ing and sampling. Miller also relies upon the DJ’ing pillar of repetition by physically structuring half of the pages identically and including a consistent page break on each page. The break itself is caused by the physical CD within the book: another example of Miller connecting the physicality of his work to its content. He claims, “DJing is writing, writing is DJing.” There is no distinction between his physical book, the topic of his writing, and DJing and sampling. They all exist together as one. Through his work Miller exemplifies his idea that sampling, DJ’ing, and remixing are fundamental parts of music and life, showing us that “any sound can be you” (64).

‘Comment #1’ is a thought-provoking poem by Gil Scott-Heron in which Heron focuses on a criticism of race in America. ‘Comment #1’ includes a “mockery of white radicals,” visceral imagery of the slave trade, numerous verses of self-hatred, and a devastating call for equality and change. The recording of his poem includes an up-tempo drum beat in the background as well.

The far more popular track, ‘Who Will Survive in America’, by Kanye West, which was released 40 years after Heron’s original recording, includes only a short snippet of ‘Comment #1’. Kanye completely redefines ‘Who Will Survive in America’ not because he adds any more lyrics–he doesn’t–but simply because he releases it in a unique time period, via an alternative medium of expression, and as a different individual.

The phrase “Who will survive in America” is the centerpiece of the sample Kanye uses from ‘Comment #1’. For many, the first time they hear this phrase spoken in Heron’s voice, it is not in Heron’s own poem, but instead as the final track on Kanye’s album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. ‘Comment #1’ has only 388,324 plays on Spotify, whereas Kanye’s ‘Who Will Survive in America’ has 25,391,515 (both as of July 2022).

‘Who Will Survive in America’ does not add any new words and simply places a snippet of Heron’s original work over a different beat. However, the literal change in the sound is not the only difference between these two works. Scott’s criticism of white radicals who “exercise the luxury of dropping out of society so they can fight for the cause of smoking pot and fucking in the streets” while they continue to ignore the basic needs of the African American community (basic civil rights, food, housing) is radically changed when heard in 2010 as opposed to 1970. When we think of the phrase ‘who will survive in America,’ it sounds different on Kanye’s album than it does on Heron’s, even though we are hearing almost the exact same thing. This process of sampling and re-contextualizing sound is an integral part of sampling culture, especially within hip-hop music. The context of 2010, Kanye West, and the other songs on Kanye’s album alter the meaning of Heron’s poem.

Now when I listen to my favorite hip hop tracks, I am always sure to consider the samples they utilize. Tobias and I even created a playlist of our favorite hip hop songs along with the samples they use. I would have never listened to Pastor T.L Bennet without first hearing the sample Kanye used in ‘Father Stretch my Hands’. Embarrassingly, I heard Coolio’s ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ before listening to the Stevie Wonder track ‘Pastime Paradise’ that Coolio uses as a sample. The story is the same for countless hip hop fans who found their way to the Isley Brothers, Curtis Mayfield, Lou Reed, Lauren Hill, Gill-Scott Heron, and countless artists, thanks to the use of sampling.