Two things that I love to fuse together: hip hip music and jazz. Hip hop jazz! By listening to this tune, you’ll hear exactly that! “No B.I.G. Deal” is one of those tunes that will not only get the toes tappin’ and fingers snappin’, but will probably get the heads boppin’. You’ll also get a big dose of nostalgia as I pay homage to the late Notorious B.I.G. and one of his hottest songs, “B.I.G. Poppa.” How did I do it? Just keep on reading!
Writing the Tune: Homage to Notorious B.I.G.
Some people that know me as a composer/arranger know that I get my inspirations from what I hear. I listen to a variety of styles of music (classical, jazz, r&b, gospel, pop, rock, etc.) and constantly get inspired by them all. Another thing I love is a music that samples other music (tastefully of course). I get so inspired by them that sometimes I wonder to myself “Hmm…How would I approach writing that song?”
I wrote “No B.I.G. Deal” when I was in my first year of graduate school. The song “B.I.G. Poppa” randomly popped in my head one day and I was vibin’ out to it (kinda like I do with a lot of music before the 2000s). I then got curious as to what song it sampled. After all, a lot of hip hop music takes sample of older music. After doing some research, I found the song “Between The Sheets” by the Isley Brothers. Everything lined up with “B.I.G. Poppa” besides the beat and the lyrics. That’s when I got the inspiration to take on my version of that song.
So I know what some of you might be thinking. “J, stealing someone else’s music is illegal! It’s plagiarism!” “Did you get the rights to the sing? I know it must’ve been expensive.” To answer both of those questions, I’m well aware that plagiarism of all forms is wrong and no I didn’t buy rights to the song (because it IS very expensive). So what did I do? I did my research.
As a composer/arranger, I knew I had to quickly become familiar with some basic music laws. That being said, I discovered that things such as melodies, rhythms, and bass lines could be subject to copyright. However, chord progressions are not. And the chords to “B.I.G. Poppa” is what I was mainly after.
After my research, I quickly began writing “No B.I.G. Deal.” I knew right away that I wanted to be some sort of jazz tune. But with a twist. Hip Hop Jazz! I took the chord progression from “B.I.G. Poppa,” altered it slightly, and then added a standard swing feel, which eventually switched to a hip hop feel. Both these feels alternate each time the main melody is played. Thus, my tune was born!
Check out my tune right here!!
Do you like it??
What do you guys think? Cool tune? I hope so. It’s one of my favorites! Again, I love fusing hip hop. I hope I turned you guys onto it too!
If you like what you’ve heard, check out some of my other music RIGHT HERE!
Response Magic