Jupiter

Illegal Beat Tape Vol. 1

What is the purpose of intellectual property when it only belongs to one or a few? I understand that copyright exists mainly to protect artists from incurring financial damages from someone else’s use of their ideas. But is the purpose of those ideas solely monetary? Isn’t all art just a new combination of already-existing ideas? After all, like the late Nipsey Hussle once said, “the highest human act is to inspire.”

The Illegal Beat Tape Vol. 1 uses samples of copyrighted songs. However, the purpose of this project is not monetary. I have been using other people’s songs as inspiration and learning material ever since I started making music. There is no making music without first experiencing music and learning from that experience. This project pays tribute to that idea.

My point is not a matter of credit either. Credit is paid to the original artists. I am forever in debt with all musicians and intellectuals that came before me. These beats and ideas would not exist if it wasn’t for their work. The names of the original samples can be found in the project description.

The cover art is “LHOOQ” by Marcel Duchamp. Duchamp was a pioneer of Dada, a movement that questioned long-held assumptions about what art should be, and how it should be made. The title of the piece, LHOOQ, is a gramogram; the letters pronounced in French sound like "Elle a chaud au cul", or "She has a hot ass.”

Dadaism was a movement with explicitly political overtones – a reaction to the senseless slaughter of WWI. It essentially declared war against war, countering the absurdity of the establishment's descent into chaos with its own kind of nonsense. In the same way, this project aims to make a statement about the absurdity of the music industry and its near-singular monetary focus.

Music does not belong in the material world. Although sound is created from frequencies, art and creativity stem from the psychological, immaterial realm. The conflict and chaos that exists in the music industry stems from an attempt to materialize an immaterial form. Intellectual property reduces music to just that: property. Music is much more than that. Not everything has to be monetized, or justified. Make art for art’s sake, only then will you be free.

Tracklist & Samples:
1. Grab Your Pants
    - Kansas City Express - This Is The Place
2. The Blossom
    - The Blossoms - Just Remember
3. Punch
    - Mary Wells - You Beat Me To The Punch
4. Shinning Star
    - ティナ-シャイニングスカイ (Tina - Shinning Star)
5. This Feeling (ft. Kenneth Harris Rubin)
    - David Chesky Band - Hangin'
6. $moke N Hoe$
    - Rene & Angela - My First Love
7. Doctor Marihuana
    - Cartel de Santa - Doctor Marihuana
8. Praise God
    - Praise God - Kanye West (ft. Travis Scott & Baby Keem)

Praise God

Doctor Marihuana

$moke N Hoe$

This Feeling (ft. Kenny Rubin)

Shinning Star

Punch

The Blossom

Grab Your Pants

Sakura Trees

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