Jason Greene writes for Pitchfork about the abundance of samples in music today, the way songs are built around prior art, and how the legalities of content ownership factor in.

Peering at the pop charts with this mindset, every song becomes a potential whodunnit, rife with potential red herrings. When the brash British pop singer Raye sings “I don’t wanna feel how I did last night” on “Escapism,” is that an intentional reference to a certain Red Hot Chili Peppers classic? In some ways, the Hot 100 right now feels as recursive, all-encompassing, and allergic to new input as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In a world where recycling music does nothing to help the environment, you would think contemporary musicians believed they were combating climate change with all the reuse.