Is sample clearance still an issue with a small label like Stones Throw?
It’s an issue with any label. I know there’s a chance that someone will come after me. But Madlib gets popped once in a while and he’s still sampling up a storm. My buddy Alchemist says you’re not a producer until someone tries to sue you.
Stones Throw have a good way of dealing with it. When they get popped for samples they establish a relationship with an artist. It’s like: ‘OK, don’t sue us, I’ll get that guy to remix all your stuff, then we can put that out.’ There’s a Jaylib track called ‘The Red’ they got sued for. Cris Williamson is the artist and she’s a total feminist, a real woman-power type. In that song Madlib says “mostly shitty women”. She said, ‘I’m not having that, take it off the album.’ But she’s still letting them use the instrumental for licensing and so on. So even there they’ve worked something out.
But there’s always trainspotters out there. I’ve already been called out on two or three of my samples. How the fuck do you know that? I can’t even remember what I sampled. Someone spotted Van Der Graaf Generator; someone called out a Bollywood sample. Shit, how did you find this? Fans spotted it, no publishers or nothing. I don’t think Van Der Graaf would like it. -J.ROCC
