{"id":114,"date":"2009-03-19T12:30:39","date_gmt":"2009-03-19T12:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp\/?p=114"},"modified":"2009-03-19T12:30:39","modified_gmt":"2009-03-19T12:30:39","slug":"blogger_book_club_the_art_of_i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/2009\/03\/blogger_book_club_the_art_of_i\/","title":{"rendered":"Blogger Book Club: The Art of Imitation"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brian Sacawa<\/p>\n

Everybody has their vices. Mine is listening to pop radio in the car. (And
\nwatching Law & Order<\/i>.) I like to do this
\nfor two reasons: 1) I genuinely like some of the songs, and 2) out of
\ncuriosity, since I am often puzzled by what pop culture deems “good” music
\nand think that repeated listenings will reveal the reasons for its
\npopularity to me. Anyhow, on a recent drive I noticed some striking
\nsimilarities between “The Way I Are” (feat. Keri Hilson and D.O.E.) by
\nTimbaland (released July 9, 2007) and “Circus” by Britney Spears (released
\nDecember 9, 2008). I made a mashup of the two tracks to better illustrate
\nthese likenesses. Here’s what you’ll hear: Timbaland Bridge–Britney
\nBridge–Timbaland Chorus–Britney Chours. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Listen:<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ummm… Let’s compare. Same tempo, though we can let that one slide since
\nsuccessful pop songs only work at certain tempos. Similar, almost
\nidentical, melodies and melodic contour. But what I found most exceptional
\nwas the cadence and rhythm at which the lyrics are delivered. These songs
\nwere not written by the same person, nor did they have the same producer,
\nthough Britney did work with Danja, who produced “The Way I Are”, on her Circus<\/i> album. And she apparently used samples from “The Way I Are” for a
\nmashup with her track “Gimme More” for an interlude during her 2009 The
\nCircus Starring: Britney Spears Tour.<\/p>\n

(For the record, I don’t know if Timbaland has a serious musical agenda or
\nartistic vision or what his views are concerning ironic references, but I
\nthink he’s a slick sampler and pop music semiotician: semi-buried in the
\nbackground of “The Way I Are” is a sample of “Push It” by Salt-N-Pepa,
\nwhile the recurring “Yeah!” and “Talk to me, girl” that precedes the
\nbridge sound suspiciously like the “Yeah!” and “Take it to the
\nbridge\/chorus” in “SexyBack” (released July 7, 2006) by Justin Timberlake
\n(or is it Timbalake?).)<\/p>\n

This is nothing new for pop music. And as Lessig points out, this kind of
\n“sampling” is the norm in jazz. In fact, “building on the creativity of
\nothers before” (p. 103) is how an aspiring jazz artist is often measured.
\nHave they absorbed the language of the art form’s innovators? Can they
\nplay Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” solo verbatim not because it’s the only way
\nthey know how to blow on the tune but simply because they’ve paid their
\ndues? Can a trumpet player play like Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Lee
\nMorgan, Clifford Brown, Randy Brecker, and Tom Harrell and<\/i> still have
\ntheir own distinctive voice? In jazz improvisation, a sly reference to the
\npast in a contemporary solo speaks volumes about the artist who was
\ncreative enough to work it in.<\/p>\n

I’ve always thought that the amount of “copying” in pop music greatly
\nexceeds the amount of innovation. The few innovators there are–say The
\nBeatles, 1980s Michael Jackson, Nirvana, or Dr. Dre, to name only a
\nfew–do their thing and then have to watch as the rest of the industry
\nemulates them. Is this imitation done out of reverence to these
\nground-breaking artists like a jazz musician paying homage to the greats
\nof his instrument in an improvised solo? Maybe for the high school kid in
\na garage band, but in general I think it’s mostly driven by economics. The
\ninnovators innovate and then everyone else files in behind their sound to
\ncapitalize on what’s hot. I just wonder why Britney is allowed to be so
\nblatant while someone else might get sued? Where’s Joe Satriani when you
\nneed him? I guess in a different way, this also speaks volumes about the artist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brian Sacawa Everybody has their vices. Mine is listening to pop radio in the car. (And watching Law & Order.) I like to do this for two reasons: 1) I genuinely like some of the songs, and 2) out of curiosity, since I am often puzzled by what pop culture deems “good” music and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-bookclub","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}