[aneisf]

>Dre didn't create his music (*sampled)

This is a highly ignorant statement.

Sampling recorded music is in fact a very musical process, from the first 20th-century musique concrete experiments to the more modern intricate, multilayered compositions of artists like The Beastie Boys, DJ Shadow, Public Enemy, etc.

Musicians always take inspiration from other music. Build a song around a chunky 'AC/DC-style' riff. Channel Quincy Jones in the drum sound. Sampling was very important in the democratization of music production because it allowed artists without access to a studio and a host of instruments to work from a baseline of recorded sound. It quickly developed into an artform unto itself.

Yes, there was and still is a contingent of artists who sample lazily and with disregard for the original music, but Dr. Dre's productions--especially his early stuff--are full of musical reverence, high-quality engineering, and even improvements over the source material. Not to mention that after the NWA days he was increasingly bringing in session musicians to replay and reinterpret source material rather than actually sampling it digitally.

edit - And to expand a bit more on the last sentence, that is exactly what music producers do. It's only in recent years that the end-to-end musician, producer, recording engineer, mixing engineer, and mastering engineer has come into fruition. And that democratization of the recording process largely stems from technological advances like digital sampling.

[ithought]

You're right and my comment was off-base. I was just annoyed by the video release of Dre bragging about being a billionaire. Also it's somewhat interesting that he sued Napster and intended to sue college students and universities then becomes immensely successful via the digital music market.

Regardless, I let my personal bias influence an asinine comment. I'm aware that sampling music is artistic endeavor and takes talent and hard work.