Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Synergy





XO f/ Cee-Cee - Grind Baby | Divshare | YSI | 320 kbps

It's not really that exciting or notable than XO, of Paper Route Recordz flipped Weezer's "Say It Ain't So." Had it happened in 1996, it would have been a cross-cultural oddity and a smash hit, but now that rock bands are looking for assists from Timbaland and our next president very well may be black, "Grind Baby" is just another really solid track about working hard from the mind-bogglingly good scene down in Huntsville, Alabama.

What is notable is how well the lick from "Say It Ain't So" fits under a country rap tune like this one. Producers have been building tracks over their own Skynyrd-inspired riffs for a minute down south. Reworking the other guitar lick as an auxiliary synth line sounds perfectly natural. Someone who didn't spend middle school moping and playing drums in suburbia like me could miss the sample entirely. So rather than reflecting on racial harmony in America, I am just reminded that there is absolutely nothing new under the sun ever anywhere period. Rivers Cuomo probably came up listening to arena rock just like Texas rap production legend Mike Dean, who gets his guitar on in a bunch of his tracks for the Geto Boys and Devin the Dude.

In conclusion, there is no such thing as original idea. The only way to get ahead in this world is to steal something first.

1 comment:

Woods said...

I heard this on a sampler CD at WMC this year. It was only on for like 45 seconds but I remember playing it over and over again. What I like most about it is that there is no irony whatsoever in using Say It Aint So, it's being used exactly how it should be.