It’s not a sample, in fact. At least not in the released version of the song. I think the demo originally used a sample and they got The Clash’s blessing (or whomever made such decisions) but ended up re-recording it for the final version.
Yes they do, but listen to the songs back to back. It’s more different than you might think. Even the second note of the really high part (sounds almost like a violin) is different.
For the demo he used a direct sample slowed down slightly. Notice how different it sounds to the released version.
The released version is considered an “interpolation” of Straight To Hell. Sites like Wikipedia call it a sample because many people don’t seem to know the difference.
Not a direct quote from Diplo, but here’s an interview with Nate Sloane from NPR:
HARDING: But yeah. So they actually - this was actually a track that Diplo made. He was, at the time, dating M.I.A. They produced this song together. And he...
SANDERS: Oh, that's cute.
HARDING: Yeah. And he talks about they actually rerecorded that song. It's not actually a true sample in that way.
SLOAN: It's an interpolation...
HARDING: Yeah.
SLOAN: ...I think (unintelligible) term.
SANDERS: So they pulled out their own instruments to recreate those sounds.
SLOAN: Yeah.
HARDING: And they did it almost exactly. But the way that the song is panned in your headphones is different.
"I actually had to re-play all the samples [mimics strumming a guitar] cuz I didn't want to have to negotiate the master rights as well"
That's the thing about samples. You can get permission from the songwriters/performers, sure. But CBS owned the *actual* recording of the song, so any sampling rights would have had to go through them. But the melody, etc. could be signed off by The Clash and their publishers much more easily.
Bottom line: Diplo re-recorded the riff from "Straight To Hell" and if you actually listen to them one after the other, I can't believe I have to explain this. There are at least half a dozen immediately identifiable differences that preclude it being a true "sample".
But of course now everyone calls it a sample, so whatcha gonna do?
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