Re-Makin' it Happen

Plies. Oh Plies. How many of my favorite R&B songs from the 80s are you going to sample? First, he sampled Janet Jackson's "Come Back to Me" for "Bust it Baby Part 2" and now in his new song which features Ashanti he jacks The Deele's (80s group with Babyface, Antonio L.A Reid and four others), "Two Occasions".

Blasphemy! Now my music knowledge is pretty vast but not omniscient but maybe these songs contained elements of others as well, but I have a big problem with remakes if it doesn't do the original any justice. And I know some random bottom feeder songs that never made it big, so it's even more of a surprise when someone comes out with a new song and it has elements of a song that never made it big because now you know they're getting away with no flack for it.
Granted, sampling and having elements of other songs doesn't mean it's free which is why we hear of artists getting sued every once in awhile.

There's nothing wrong with modern versions of songs or remakes, but artists rely on them too heavily especially these newer ones. Think of this familiar formula: A new singer or rapper wants to come up in the game and they may not be extremely talented, but have a look that'll work in the music scene. All you have to do is get some producers behind a track, take a song from the past that worked or had a catchy beat or hook and you can cook yourself up a hit. Whether their career stands the test of the time is often up in the air, but back in the day old school singers had to claw their way in. And back then you didn't even have to be the best looking. Although it helped, it really was all about if you could carry a tune.

This is also rampant in the film industry. Remakes of old movies, relying on the popularity of a comic book storyline, and importing overseas plots into new movies permeate. It's more evident to me in the horror genre as it seems no one can come up with any scary themes or villains so they rely on the stale leftover hype of a 70s/80s movie to carry a new movie. The most recent remake in the works is a remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street minus Robert Englund which sounds like a cinematic disaster.

There's nothing wrong with being inspired by something, but where does it end and when can we begin again?




In honor of it being one of my favorite songs here's "Two Occasions", but honestly these guys sound much better than they look in this video (Babyface is the only one who looks somewhat normal in it).