I’m reading a book by Hannif Abdurraquib Go Ahead In The Rain about A Tribe Called quest and that era they came from. It surprised me to hear samples used by ATCQ of Weather Report from the iconic Heavy Weather record, the one with the genius single Birdland. But I find sampling discussions a little weird. As he compliments the creativity of ATCQ and frames their use of Weather Report as brilliant – Weather Report already was brilliant, not chopped up. He writes sampling allows us to hear the voice again of the artist who might be dead…but so does listening to the artist in the original unfucked with recording. I’m not without an appreciation or understanding of samples. It is a natural and even organic evolution of digital tools and musicality but the romanticization of sampling seems funny, maybe it’s just me. What I enjoyed most was his flattering Queen Latifah implying whatever male guests she had on her first records she always rapped circles around them. I had to check and I think he’s right, hers are more surprising and amusing “easy lover is something that I ain’t, besides, I don’t know you from a can of paint”.