| Abstract | This thesis analyzes two popular rap tracks from the 2010s that both sample jazz musician and social activist Nina Simone's music but with opposite purposes. The lyrics of the two rap tracks and the methods with which the Simone songs were sampled exemplify a dichotomy in the ways that hip-hop musicians can choose to handle samples of civil-rights music: build on the meaning of the sampled lyrics or ignore history and intentionally misread the lyrics. Jay-Z's "The Story of O.J." contains samples of Simone's "Four Women" that are used to add depth and history to his own track. Lyrically, Jay-Z addresses two themes present in "Four Women": double consciousness and a call to the black community to embrace their heritage. In partnership with producer No I.D., Jay-Z ties the two songs together musically by sampling all of the individual sounds from "Four Women" as well as cutting and splicing vocal samples to highlight the original racial themes. While this particular practice of sampling a civil rights artist is new for Jay-Z, it is a technique that has been used before by a variety of other artists. Kanye West's "Blood on the Leaves" contains samples of Simone's cover of "Strange Fruit" that Kanye uses to create controversy. Lyrically, "Blood on the Leaves" ignores the racism discussed in "Strange Fruit" and instead portrays women as gold-diggers, going against the tenets of Simone's feminist activism. Similarly to "The Story of O.J.," "Blood on the Leaves" samples all of the individual sounds from "Strange Fruit" and keeps most words and phrases intact, but places Simone's words next to Kanye's in a way that changes their meaning. Kanye is aware of Simone's history and legacy, but chooses to be inflammatory for this track. "Blood on the Leaves" is a particularly obvious example of ignoring the context of civil rights songs through sample, and likely sampled Simone for the same reasons of legacy and history that Jay-Z did. However, he uses her legacy to provoke his audience rather than engage them. |
