Why The Prodigy’s ‘Firestarter’ is a masterclass in sampling
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Credit: KeithFlinted
One of the most underrated art forms in music is sampling. This is a process where artists take a section of music from another source and then rework it to create something different or add to their already existing song. This could be something as simple as taking a guitar hit and adding it on top of a beat or taking an entire beat, playing it backwards, slowing it down, and making it sound like a completely different piece of music.
Many people who have a traditional approach to music dislike sampling. They say the idea of using somebody else’s work goes against the concept of music creation, adding that only lazy people use sampling and talented musicians play instruments and write their own material. This couldn’t be more wrong.
The truth is that sampling could be seen as lazy if people sampled a rock song and then merely wrote the lyrics for a different rock song to go over the top of it, but this isn’t what people who sample do. This is what a lot of indie rock and punk bands do when they wear their influences so far on their sleeve that they end up becoming cheap copies of pre-existing bands.
Artists who use sampling can take existing songs and make something completely new out of them. This is often seen in hip-hop, and another excellent example of sampling is the hit song ‘Firestarter’ by The Prodigy. Initially released in 1997, the song was created by Liam Howlett, who was so proud of the way that he utilised sampling that the track was intended to be an instrumental.
Three songs make up the track, all from different eras and examples of different styles of music, but they come together in such an excellent way that they become a cohesive piece of work. The vocals that say, “Hey, hey, hey,” are taken from the track ‘Close (To The Edit)’ by Art of Noise.
The musical components that build on the song are from a track from the ‘80s and a track from the ‘90s. From the ‘80s, the drums for the song are taken from ‘Devotion (The Voice of Paradise Mix)’ by Ten City. Meanwhile, the hook for the song is from The Breeders hit ‘S.O.S.’. These songs have little in common but have made one of the world’s most famous drum and bass tracks.
When Keith Flint heard the beat, even though he was only acting as a backing dancer for the band at the time, he knew he wanted to add vocals to it. “It was so ridiculous because my English isn’t my strong point, by any stretch of the imagination,” he said, “So I end up singing in this weird accent… But it ended up sounding quite… menacing.”
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