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Songs That Changed The Sound of Music

Goldie

I Just Want Some Chips
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There's a handful of songs that changed the sound of music forever.


The first one I'm gonna highlight is James Brown's 'Cold Sweat'. I call it The Bounce, most people call it Funk, a Groove, etc. Basically that shit in music that makes your face go :scust: and makes you bop your head like this
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Before "Cold Sweat" , there was songs you tapped your feet to , but this shit redefined rhythm and bounce. You can argue "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" was the first sample of the bounce, but Cold Sweat was the one.



 
Good Thread Premise.

Here are some early Hip Hop records that changed Black Music. In the late 70s as Disco was dying out, Rap Producers made records with an R&B flavor. It was clearly Black music so they'd have a group of session musicians (or a house band) play an R&B sounding beat so that the R&B stations would play it.

But these 4 songs sounded unlike anything else when they were released.










 
So, The Last Poets (along with The Watts Prophets and Gil Scott Heron) created a new style of music with congas and spoken word, talking about politically conscious subject matter.

So Marvin Gaye took that style and added a pop feel appeal to it. He kept the congas and the social commentary but brightened it up with a baseline and a string section.




Edit.

In fact that whole album (What's Goin On) might be the best album I've ever heard in any genre.
 


This is the song that Eric B and Rakim dropped that's credited as changing the fabric of hip hop. Rhymes couldn't be simple anymore, no more "yes yes y'all", no more of anything that came before it.

But "I Ain't No Joke" is the joint that pulled it all together and codified it. This takes the blueprint from "Paid In Full" and puts it all in motion.

 
Goated for the drop but it was " Eric B For President" that changed Hip Hop forever from an MC standpoint.
 


The impact of Kraftwerk's "Trans Europe Express" really can't be measured. It's the basis of Planet Rock and the inspiration behind the whole elecro-backed hip hop sound (i.e. Siberian Nights, Boogie Down Bronx, Computer Age, Al Naafiysh , etc) as well as providing the direction for other electro pop acts (Yellow Magic Orchestra, Telex, Ultravox, Gary Numan), it's the anchor for much of the Freestyle and Miami Bass genres, and laid the blueprint for early Detroit Techno (A Number of Names' "Shar Vari", Cybotron's "Clear" and "Cosmic Cars", etc) and Electro (early Model 500, Dopplereffekt, Ectomorph, Drexciya, etc).

All that shit comes back to this joint here.
 
So, The Last Poets (along with The Watts Prophets and Gil Scott Heron) created a new style of music with congas and spoken word, talking about politically conscious subject matter.

So Marvin Gaye took that style and added a pop feel appeal to it. He kept the congas and the social commentary but brightened it up with a baseline and a string section.




Edit.

In fact that whole album (What's Goin On) might be the best album I've ever heard in any genre.


Pete Seegers 'We Shall Overcome' was a big protesting song in the 60s too, imo it helped changed music, not many political songs were pop/popular at the time and this has been an anthem for many protests and struggles...

Billie Holiday's 'Strange Fruit' the late 30's is a classic but 'We Shall Overcome' is in more of an anthem.... Same Cooke's 'Change Gone Come' was a game changer too, especially as it was part of Obama's campaign...

 
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