The debate surrounding the use of loops from sample packs has reached something of a crescendo this year. The news that the main groove from Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso is derived from a few Splice loops caused some people considerable consternation, and Afrojack said that he was “disappointed” to discover that Fred Again’s 2023 track, Ten, is “based off three Splice samples".
Now producer and musician Raphael Saadiq has been having his say, noting that he feels he learned how to make music “the authentic way”.
“People like pushing buttons because it’s faster and easier for them,” he told Music Business Worldwide. “But I can make better music than people pushing buttons, fast.
“People who can’t play an instrument, or can’t come up with a certain line or a melody, depend on loops and take basslines from Ableton or Logic. I will never take a bassline from any digital domain in my life! That will never happen.”
Saadiq goes on to say that he does draw a distinction between using instrumental and drum loops, but even when it comes to beats, he likes to record his own.
“Drum loops I don’t mind, but even 99% of those, I’ll play it faster than I can find it, and I can find the best drummer who can play better than me,” he reckons. “I’d just rather do what the authentic sound is; it breathes more, it has that sensibility. And, if everybody’s doing something, I want to be the one person that doesn’t do it.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Saadiq reflects on his skills as a producer - most recently, he worked on three standout tracks from Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album (16 Carriages, Texas Hold ‘Em and Bodyguard) - and suggests that his approach is pretty hands on.
“I got the opportunity to use the title ‘producer’, but I don’t use it too much,” he says. “I just say I’m a member of the band. If we work together, I just join the band and it takes a lot of pressure off me. I used to work with people that would wear T-shirts that say ‘Producer’, but I’ve never really seen myself like that. I just try to do what I like and hopefully we all like the same thing.”
His attitude, it turns out, is similar to that of Dan Nigro, who said recently that he too sees himself as a band member when he’s working with Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo.
Saadiq also discusses one of his first gigs: playing bass in Sheila E’s band when she supported Prince on his 1986 Parade tour.
Of this relationship with Prince on the tour, Saadiq says: “I got a chance to hang out and talk to him. I watched to see what big management and a huge production looks like. It was like seeing Jimi Hendrix at the height of his career…”
