Florida producer Diplo has spoken about the art of sampling, and his role on the new M.I.A. album.
With his background in Miami Bass, Diplo approaches things from a different viewpoint to European producers. Open to the influence of ragga and dancehall, his collaborative project Major Lazer released their acclaimed debut album last year.
Containing a multitude of samples, the producer recently revealed that one piece in particular was intended to demonstrate a point. “I think everyone who plays an instrument and comes from a real musical background is a bit perturbed by sampling in general” he told Wired.
“It might be ignorance to begin with — like, they don’t like hip-hop because ‘it’s an ignorant form of music and they’re not creating anything.’ I think one of the biggest haters of our stuff is always going to be the guy from Black Flag, Henry Rollins. He just always hated.”
“We actually sampled him on Major Lazer — we couldn’t clear it, we had to change the riff around a little bit, which sucked because it was kind of a statement. Always, when we sample, I try to be making statements.”
Meanwhile, Diplo has been working with M.I.A. on her forthcoming album. “On the new record I’ve just done for her that might be the single, I sampled a bunch of gospel-y, old-school, Alabama, weird, Sacred Harp singers — it’s turning into an Animal Collective kind of record, which represents a total departure from what you would expect from her, but that’s where her head was at.”
“She just had a baby so she was on this elated (mood). With her it’s always sort of random, whatever you think was not going to be productive — that ended up being a really shitty demo and it turned into a big song.”
M.I.A.’s new album is due out this summer.
