Is it a Remix?

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David Bowie's Under Pressure v.s. Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby

One example of a song that has been copied, transformed and recombined to produce a remix is Ice Ice Baby. By contrast to Queen and David Bowie’s 1981 hit song Under Pressure, Vanilla Ice recreated the song through several additions and deletions of the original copy. 

In Under Pressure, the opening of the song begins with the upbeat baseline that was copied and remixed in Ice Ice Baby. In the background of the song listeners can hear both clapping and snapping as opposed to what sounds like maracas or the gentle tapping of a drum at the beginning of Vanilla Ice’s song. About 20 seconds into Under Pressure, an electric piano begins playing to create a bridge in the music, and one of the singers sings along to the baseline. Later on in the song, the very high and low notes of the song become evident. At around 2 minutes, 11 seconds, the singers start singing in whispers, which aides in emphasizing the lower parts of the song. In the baseline, as well, the notes are distinct, quick and exaggerated. In Ice Ice Baby, the baseline is altered by repeating one simple note to make the baseline appear shorter, and lengthen the time the notes are played for. This is the main difference between the baselines of the songs. 

The transformation of Under Pressure is further shown through Vanilla Ice’s voice as a rapper. Although he does whisper several times throughout the song, he raps the lyrics as opposed to singing them like Queen and David Bowie. In addition to the change in the why the song is sung, the lyrics in the Vanilla Ice’s version are completely different, and it is obvious that the meaning of the song is different from that of Under Pressure. At around 50 seconds, listeners can hear a change, or transformation, in the overall tone, as deeper, more monotone notes are played to create a less uplifting vibe. 

Overall, I believe that based on this evidence, the baseline of Ice Ice Baby is a remix, as Vanilla Ice put his own spin on the song to make it his own. Therefore it can be concluded that Vanilla Ice doesn’t infringe on the Queen and David Bowie’s copyright to the song. 

Creators should follow several main guidelines to avoid “ripping something off”. It is important for all writers, producers, artists and innovators to realize that all good work comes from an existing source, and that it is the goal of the creator to build upon the existing source instead of reiterating or plagiarizing it. With this knowledge, creators can better understand the need to cite their sources and beware of copyright in several areas of the arts and humanities. I would highly suggest that whenever possible, all creators also try to expose themselves to new people, places and situations to further their creativity. Earlier in Unit 2 it was touched on that creativity can be broken down into several different words or phrases. Building on one’s creative mindset is a skill that can help can creators develop additions for existing sources; and thus, avoid the probability that they will infringe on copyright laws. This activity helped me to utilize the listening strategies taught in the podcast section of this unit, and helped me to become more aware of the importance of creativity in the arts and humanities.