dub, plunderphonics, and Glee

Mashups are some of my favorite things to listen to. When done right each sampled song elevates the other and creates new associations with the familiar. When done wrong they are awesomely bad and reveal a lot about what we have come to value in popular music. The track "99 Problems in the USA" is a great example. In Miley Cyrus's song "Party in the USA" she mentions Jay-Z as being played on the radio, this hook is now used as the chorus of the new track with the lyrics of "99 Problems" rapped over it. Even a casual listener can hear a serious disconnect - it's doubtful that the sweet character that Cyrus embodies in "Party in the USA" really relates to a song with lyrics like "Rap mags try and use my black ass/So advertisers can give 'em more cash for ads, fuckers".