Rap Is An Art, You Can’t Own No Loops: Did Lupe Fiasco Break An Essential Hip-Hop Rule?

“Rap Is An Art, You Can’t Own No Loops” © Keith “Guru” Elam

Much of the Hip-Hop world is outraged over Lupe Fiasco’s latest single “Around My Way (Freedom Ain’t Free)” which uses pretty much the same beat as Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth’s tribute to their fallen friend Troy “Trouble T-Roy” Dixon of Heavy D & The Boyz “T.R.O.Y. (They Reminisce Over You).” There are some that don’t think it’s a big deal, provided Pete Rock & C.L. get their proper credit or compensation for the beats usage.

Others instead feel that “T.R.O.Y.” is one of a few sacred Hip-Hop songs that are exempt from being remade or being sampled due to its place in Hip-Hop culture. “T.R.O.Y.” began as a song that two sons of Mount Vernon made in tribute to a beloved friend that was embraced by the entirety of the culture to the point where it was played at funerals and weddings alike. This is both a generational issue and a philosophical issue at the same damn time. Are there really rules in Hip-Hop or are we just kidding ourselves?

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Photo: Instagram

I came up in Hip-Hop culture as a member of a generation that remembered Hip-Hop before it had records or was played on the radio. It was usually performed live in a party setting and the Hip-Hop or Rap I heard at the time in recorded form was on tape and it was of a live party or a battle held in a club setting. Back then it was common practice to rework popular song lyrics into a new routine. DJ’s would backspin parts of popular songs so the MCs could rap over them. The initial Rap records essentially jacked popular Funk and Disco songs to provide music for the initial Rap records. Eventually, producers began to emerge and after a while Hip-Hop began to amass original recording that would be considered classics. Among these classic records are tracks that are deemed so meaningful that remaking them or even using the same sample is seen as a violation of basic Hip-Hop Law. Unfortunately, not all of us remember these days…

“If you came up in the post ’97 Internet Age of Hip-Hop then these standards or rules simply don’t work with, or just are not respected, in modern Rap.”

Unless you were around to dig for records and experienced when Hip-Hop had a built in mentorship program where you were expected to learn at the feet of elders about the essential “rules” of Hip Hop and its culture, then you might be completely confused as to why Pete Rock was enraged over the usage the beat for his song “T.R.O.Y.” I still can’t forget the day my cousin Nanzette called my brother Dave from Mount Vernon trying to hold back tears to inform us that Troy Dixon had passed in a freak accident. I’d idolized Heavy D. & The Boyz growing up through my Mt. Vernon family so to me that song is absolutely off limits. When Diddy sampled Edo G. & The Bulldogs classic “I Got To Have It” for Mary J. Blige’s “Love & Life” album in 2003, and put 50 Cent on it, Boston and New York had some serious exchanges over the usage of what is seen as the Boston anthem (but just a classic outside of Massachusetts). Now let’s get to the crux of the problem, shall we? [continued on pg 2.]

The same samples have been flipped by different producers on numerous occasions, some claim that some sample sources shouldn’t be toyed with while others feel that two producers won’t make the same beat out of the materials so why not? When you take a recognizable beat that is deemed an undisputed classic by some and a sacred song by others you aren’t allowed to use said beat then add elements that diminish it. In many cases, you’d receive grief just for rhyming over the original instrumental on a mixtape. In the case of “T.R.O.Y.”, it’s a song that a great deal of us wouldn’t even fathom that someone would touch because it’s a given that you don’t use, rework or attempt to update it. However, if you came up in the post ’97 Internet Age of Hip-Hop then these standards or rules simply don’t work with, or just are not respected, in modern Rap.

“I cannot (and refuse to) respect those that outwardly dismiss the notion that there are, in fact, guidelines, boundaries rules and proper etiquette in Hip-Hop in respect to these issues.” 

Whereas Pete Rock, Grap Luva, 9th Wonder, Kev Brown and many others producers that came up in the same fashion I did in respect to the observance of the supposed rules of Hip-Hop feel this was an affront to the culture, there are others from the same generation that feel that nothing is off limits, but it’s up to the producer and MC to still treat the original song or source material with respect if they chose to take on that task. I can respect that opinion, I cannot (and refuse to) respect those that outwardly dismiss the notion that there are, in fact, guidelines, boundaries rules and proper etiquette in Hip-Hop in respect to these issues. It’s like the old saying goes “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” It’s just troubling to think that in 2012 we need to explain things that should be long established by now.

In closing, Lupe Fiasco and the dumbass producer of said ill fated song made the following mistakes. First, they used a beat that could possibly be deemed as Hip-Hop sacrilege for using. Secondly, it was too similar to the original iconic production and the changes made to said song tainted what’s regarded as one of the greatest beats ever (which worth noting was disputed for years between Pete & Large Pro as to the discovery of the sample, but that’s a separate issue in of itself). Third, Pete Rock wasn’t previously informed (Lupe says differently) that this song was being made using his beat. Given that it was intended to be a single for Lupe Fiasco’s upcoming album that’s absolutely unforgiveable. Fourth? That Lupe Fiasco himself didn’t know enough or have enough wherewithal to decline rapping over the “T.R.O.Y.” beat in the first place.