The beautiful thing about music is that it can be given new life and recreated time and again without being detected.
Here are 10 songs that have sampled and interpolated parts or wholes of tunes that have come before them.
1. Tekno – ‘GO’
If you’ve ever felt like you’ve heard parts of Tekno’s catchy tune, ‘GO’, before, then you were actually not wrong. The song notably borrows lyrics and melodies from not just one but two hit songs.
The first is from, ‘In Da Club’ by 50 Cent which can be heard at 00:04 and throughout the song. The song also replayed a sample of vocals and lyrics from Dr. SID and Don Jazzy’s 2013 hit, ‘Surulere’.
2. Jason Derulo – ‘Swalla’ feat. Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla $ign
Jason Derulo premiered ‘Swalla’ on February 23, 2017, with parts of the chorus being made as an interpolation of Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s 1995 song, ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ya’ at 00:49.
3. Patoranking – ‘Girlie ‘O’ Remix’ feat. Tiwa Savage
Tiwa’s verse in this dance hall jam is actually not 100% Tiwa. Ms. Savage, or whoever wrote the tune, interpolated vocals and lyrics from another dance hall hit.
Chaka Demus & Pliers’ 1992 song, ‘Bam Bam’, was the first time we heard the lines that Ms. Savage sang at 00:43.
4. DJ Khaled – ‘Wild Thoughts’ feat. Rihanna and Bryson Tiller
DJ Khaled’s now iconic, Rihanna and Bryson Tiller-assisted jam heavily samples the instrumentation from another iconic song in its own right.
Multiple elements of Carlos Santana’s 1999 love song, ‘Maria Maria’ can be found in Khaled’s latest single. The sampling of the former song is so heavy that many critics refer to the latter as a cover.
5. Olamide – ‘Batifeori’
I am sure Cece Winans would be surprised to learn that arguably the most popular track from her 2003 album, ‘Throne Room’, was sampled by Nigeria’s very own Baddo Sneh.
When looking for a chorus for his 2014 gospel-inspired jam, ‘Batifeori’, Olamide turned to ‘Mercy Said No’ and gave new life to the gospel favourite.
6. Ed Sheeran – ‘Shape of You’
If not for us, you would probably have gone your whole life wondering why the bridge to Ed Sheeran’s 2017 single, ‘Shape Of You’, sounds so familiar. You’re welcome.
The 2017 body loving jam actually borrows a melody from a very popular TLC song. That’s right, 1999’s ‘No Scrubs’ is the original owner of the melody that Ed interpolated in ‘Shape of You’.
7. Tiwa Savage – ‘Without My Heart’ feat. Don Jazzy
Calling this is a sample might seem a little unfair. Tiwa Savage’s 2011 collaboration with Don Jazzy, ‘Without My Heart’, is more of an unofficial remix to Diwali Riddim’s 2002 ‘Lenky’. They are basically the same song, except one has Tiwa’s vocals on it. We see you Don Jazzy.
8. Beyoncé – ‘Run the World (Girls)’
Another R&B diva that has heavily sampled a dance track for her single is Beyonce. Jay Z’s very own Iya Ibeji directly sampled Major Lazer’s 2009 dance track, ‘Pon De Floor’, for her girl power anthem ‘Run The World (Girls)’, which she released in 2011.
9. Adekunle Gold – ‘Sade’
One of the most popular Nigerian samples, Adekunle Gold’s usage of One Direction’s ‘Story Of My Life’ is a personal favourite.
Another direct and heavy example of sampling, Adekunle Gold’s breakout hit ‘Sade’ paved the way for the singer and songwriter to create amazing and original follow up materials afterwards.
10. Wizkid – ‘Jaiye Jaiye’ feat. Femi Kuti
WizKid seemed bent on giving Fela a full tribute with his 2013 track that he sampled a seemingly random Fela track.
Starboy interpolated Fela Kuti’s ‘Lady’ into his 2013 hit single ‘Jaiye Jaiye’ without minding whether or not it correlated with his song.