Sampling Politics

Sampling has become a predominantly digitalized practice. It was popularized with the rise of Rap and Hip-Hop, as well as ambient music scenes, but it has a history stretching back to the earliest days of sound recording and experimental music making around the world. Digital networks allow artists to sample music across national borders and cultural traditions with relative ease, prompting questions around not only fair use, copyright, and freedom of expression, but also cultural appropriation and "copywrongs." Based on archival research and musical analysis, alongside conversations with artists and their own public reflections, Sampling Politics provides ways to listen more closely and hear (again) music making.