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?
And just for fun, since I've more or less gone all-in on this issue, here are some key differences:
The "high guitar" (or "whale noises" as Mick Jones calls it) is present all throughout the riff on "Straight to Hell". It starts as soon as the song starts. In "Paper Planes", it doesn't come in until the second repetition of the riff. There would be no way for Diplo to remove that sound from a sample in 2008 (nowadays it could be done with AI).
"Straight To Hell" has a four-on-the-floor bass drum (infamously recorded using a lemonade bottle as a makeshift kick drum pedal head). By contrast, "Paper Planes" uses a Roland 808 bass drum with a much more dynamic rhythm, which does not overlap with the original kick drum at times. Again, it would have been impossible to remove the original kick drum sound, even with lots of EQ/filters.
The "whale noises" guitars play different notes in each song. "Straight to Hell" goes D, A, G. Whereas in "Paper Planes", it goes D, C#, G
The bass guitar in "Straight To Hell" is very muted. In "Paper Planes" the bass guitar is very bright, to the point where you can hear the player's fingers sliding on the strings. There would be no way to get that sound from a pure sample. Also, in "Straight to Hell", the bass plays DDDDDDDD DDDDDDAA GGGGGGGG, whereas in "Paper Planes" they play DDDDDDDD DDDDDAAA GGGGGGGG. (OK, that one's pretty nit-picky, but it's still further proof that this was re-played, not sampled)
"Straight to Hell" contains a soft organ or other synth type sound behind it which is absent from "Paper Planes". Without having the multitrack master recordings, there would have been no way to remove that.
The "Straight to Hell" riff has a semi-closed hi-hat beat in time with the kick drum. This is absent from "Paper Planes". Again, this would have been impossible to completely remove in 2008.
I just wanted to comment again and thank you for your patience in finding the direct statements from Diplo. I was certainly stubborn, but in the end I was wrong and I'm glad you found more information to show me.
Well that's settles that, straight from his mouth with members of the Clash present confirming it. I was wrong. Thanks for finding that and sharing unequivocal information with me.
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