opinion
samples and covers
I was listening to the current charts when I was over 30 – and experienced one flashback after the other
Rapper Luciano is in the charts with a song for which he borrowed from Sean Kingston
© Eibner / Imago Images
Music from the charts? That’s something for young people with no taste in music, our author hasn’t had anything to do with it for a long time. But when he listened to it once, he discovered a surprising number of old acquaintances.
Be honest: Do you know Domiziana? Do you know who Julian Sommer is? And have you ever consciously heard of Liaze? If so, then there’s a good chance you’re not older than 25. If no, then you’re like me – you simply have no idea what music is currently popular. At least if you equate popular music with the top positions in the current charts.
I’ll admit it: I’m already too old for charts in my mid-30s. The names that are at the top of the hit list mean almost nothing to me, the song titles just as little. And if you played me one of these songs, I probably wouldn’t recognize it. I’m one of those people who only know music titles from the top ten when they unexpectedly resurface as a result of series appearances or when their sexist lyrics are being discussed. Someone who snorts contemptuously when someone describes their taste in music as “charts”.
But for those of my generation who are basically interested in music, a listen to the current charts reveals something amazing: you experience one flashback after the other, to the music of your youth or to hits that you still like to dance to. There are some videos on TikTok with examples.
Current charts: Many old acquaintances in a new guise
Well, did that sound familiar to you? In the current hit lists, regardless of whether it’s about the classic single charts or the streaming charts, you come across so-called samples again and again. These are fragments of well-known songs that are processed into new pieces. Liaze, for example, used Coldplay’s “Paradise” (2011), Luciano used Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls” (originally from 2007) and Ion Miles’ “Powerade” clearly sounds like the MGMT hit “Kids”, also at the end the year 2007, on.
So it can definitely be worth listening to what’s currently going on in German children’s and young people’s rooms. Apart from the fact that from a certain age you need new musical impulses: According to a study, “musical standstill” occurs on average at the age of 31, from then on you no longer discover new music and more or less stick to the same bands and songs.
A sign of less creativity? Not necessarily
But why is it that so many artists use samples? Has the new generation of musicians run out of ideas, has creativity been lost? Not necessarily. Samples and covers are nothing reprehensible and – in one form or another – have been an integral part of music production for a long time. You just don’t always notice it. After all, you need a certain background knowledge to recognize older pieces as such. And sometimes just a little more life experience.
I have to admit that for a long time, for example, I took it for granted that “Running Up That Hill” was a Placebo song. I only realized that the song is actually much older and by Kate Bush when it was recently revived by the Netflix series “Stranger Things”. ashes on my head. Either way: maybe I should give the current chart music a chance more often.