For more than four decades of being active in the big beat genre, Fatboy Slim (a.k.a. Norman Quentin Cook) isn’t holding back. The 60-year old English DJ and record producer emerged from the Brighton scene in the early ‘80s, and brought funk, house, and yes – big beats, to as far as the beaches of Rio. The artist’s uncanny prodigious ability to blend sounds has become the inspiration to many DJs whom he paved the path to global recognition.
“It kind of makes me feel proud, because sometimes I feel like their dad. They’re certain DJs who come up to me and say, ‘You’re the reason I started DJing.’ Yes, I get a lot of respect from the young ones,” he said when asked how he feels about performing with younger contemporaries in the industry.
“Hard but fair is [how] I describe my music. I’m a bit tougher than a lot of DJs that are a bit commercial,” he added.
Sampling is an Art
And hard it is. Some of his greatest hits include samples, which may seem to be easy to do for those unfamiliar with producing EDM. It’s the creative genius that’s innate in talented artists like Fatboy Slim that makes the entire process complex yet artful.
In another interview, he divulged his secret to creating his songs. “I'm using a collage of samples. I try and work like you would a pop song, having been in a pop band previously in The Housemartins. We're kind of used to song structure and, you know, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, middle eight. And so I would try and treat one as a verse, one as the chorus, whereas a lot of people making dance music, it's just sort of one linear thing. But I've tried to make them shaped and feel like pop records with pop structure. But most importantly, the hook. You know, once you've got the hook and the rhythm, then the rest of it, it's just just fill-in in the dots. They're the two most important things. And if you haven't got them, you haven't really got a song."
His remixing days speak so much about craft, and it’s in the tracks where he samples songs that this is evident. “I realised I had a lot more fun putting records together in the way hip-hop producers would, rather than traditional pop producers, by using break beats, samples and loops. And that’s still the thing which really turns me on,” the artist confessed.
“Ya Mama,” which appeared on his album “Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars" in 2000, and was featured in the soundtrack of Charlie’s Angels and Spy Kids, includes several samples such as the "Shake what ya mama gave ya" line, which was borrowed from "Shake Whatcha Mama Gave Ya" by Stik E & The Hoodz. It was produced by the American DJ, producer and remixer Frankie Cutlass.
The guitar riffs were derived from "The Kettle" by Colosseum, which was featured on their 1969 album “Valentyne Suite,” and is regarded by many as their finest release.
Finally, the "Push the tempo" vocal hook originated from "Let the Rhythm Pump" by ‘90s icon Doug Lazy (who was previously featured here when he listed his three hit songs on Royalty Exchange). Fun fact: Doug Lazy only realized that his song was used by Fatboy Slim when his wife, while watching Charlie’s Angels, thought that the sample from “Ya Mama” sounded familiar.
But Fatboy Slim is known to be very generous when it comes to attributing samples. In fact, in one interview, he admitted that he paid 100% royalty to his song, so each of the four artists could get a fair share.
Royalty Earnings
“Ya Mama” is part of a 53-track catalog listing on Royalty Exchange that features ‘90s dance hits and hip-hop jams including "Shake Whatcha Mama Gave Ya." Other tracks that appear in the list include Lisette Melednez’s Billboard Dance Club Songs hit “Together Forever” and the original human beatbox Doug E. Fresh’s “Freak It Out.”
This catalog has a very lucrative history. In 2018, an investor paid $19,000 to acquire the royalties before selling it after three years for $25,000, which was 15.05 times higher than the earnings in the last 12 months. The original investor made a 42.7% ROI in just under 3 years of holding.
The new investor who now holds the royalties for only 2.86 years so far, has already received $26,875 in royalties earnings for a 105.4% total yield thus far. Royalty Exchange attributes the song’s growth to TikTok and other social media apps.
The listing has also earned $13,384 in 2023, up from $1,396 in 2019. That's an 859% increase in only 4.5 years!
Of all the tracks included, "Yo Mama" has earned the most in the last twelve months with $11,645, followed by "Together Forever" with $593.
Online streaming remains strong
TV and film use is the main source of earnings in the last twelve months with a total of $10,405, thanks to the inclusion of “Yo Mama” in movie soundtracks. Streaming comes next with $1,193 where Fatboy Slim’s hit has a total of almost 10.5 million streams on Spotify and 26.6 million views on YouTube.
Interested in Investing in this Listing?
Until a good offer is accepted, the investor who currently owns this catalog will continue to earn since Fatboy Slim is still one of the most followed EDM artists today. He has slated concerts in the United States, UK, Italy, Ireland in the second half of 2024. This comes after his successful shows in Indonesia and France earlier. This popularity will be very influential in the financial performance of this catalog, so it’s a wise move to check out its asset details today and place your offer now.
Royalty Exchange also has other hip-hop and R&B music catalogs that are up for auction today, so sign up as an investor to get started.
