samples
05/22/2025
Billboard has rounded up 16 songs by R&B and rap artists that sample old African songs.
05/22/2025
Bad Bunny is facing a lawsuit over allegations that a track from his chart-topping Un Verano Sin Ti featured an unlicensed sample from a Nigerian artist – and that the superstar’s reps later “stonewalled” efforts to resolve the problem.
In a copyright case filed May 2 in Los Angeles federal court, attorneys for the artist Dera (Ezeani Chidera Godfrey) claim that Bad Bunny’s “Enséñame a Bailar” illegally sampled from a 2019 track called “Empty My Pocket.”
Dera’s lawyers say they’ve raised the issue with reps for Bad Bunny and others behind the song, but that they’ve “turned a blind eye” and left him with “no choice but to file this lawsuit.”
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“It is not very often that a musical artist of Bad Bunny’s caliber and sophistication uses someone else’s music without permission, and then ignores the person’s efforts to resolve the problem,” writes Dera’s attorney Robert A. Jacobs, a litigator at the top music law firm Manatt Phelps & Phillips. “Such a response is especially surprising when the unauthorized use pervades the entirety of the musical artist’s work. Unfortunately, these are the circumstances here.”
The lawsuit also names as defendants The Orchard, which distributed the album, and Bad Bunny’s Rimas Entertainment, among others. Representatives for both Bad Bunny and The Orchard did not immediately return requests for comment.
Released in 2022, Un Verano Sin Ti was a mega-hit – spending 13 weeks atop the Billboard 200 and more than 150 weeks total on the album chart. “Enséñame a Bailar” was a hit in its own right, charting on the Hot 100 for two weeks and earning 72 million views on YouTube.
In his lawsuit, Dera says Bad Bunny’s song was essentially built on top of his “Empty My Pocket” – that the usage is so “extensive” that the sampling itself is “beyond question.”
“Plaintiffs’ works comprise virtually the entirety of the musical bed and a portion of the lyrics in the infringing recording and infringing composition, and, as such, account for a significant portion of the appeal of the infringing works,” his lawyers write.
They claim access to Dera’s song was provided producer Lakizo (Lekan Adesina), but that he had no authority to clear the use of the sample: “Lakizo … is not an author of ‘Empty My Pocket’ … and does not have – and never had – the right to prepare or authorize others to prepare derivative works.”
According to the lawsuit, when Dera discovered the unauthorized sample he tried to negotiate a good-faith resolution with Bad Bunny’s team, saying he wanted to “address past unauthorized uses” but also “allow future uses.” He says he also “unconditionally complied” with requests to substantiate his claim, including sharing documents showing that Lakizo had not been authorized to clear the sample.
“Despite plaintiffs’ cooperation, these defendants stonewalled plaintiffs after receiving the requested information, making clear that plaintiffs’ only option for obtaining redress for the violation of their rights would be through the courts,” Dera’s lawyers write.
In early March, a new James Brown recording strutted onto a Billboard chart for the first time in more than three decades. But Brown, the incendiary funk pioneer who died in 2006, wasn’t going viral on TikTok or putting out albums of previously unreleased material. Instead, he had been sampled by the rapper 310babii, who credited the Godfather of Soul as a featured artist on the new track, titled “Bad.” When the single subsequently hit the Rhythmic Airplay chart, Brown came along for the ride.
A prominent credit for a sampled act has the potential to propel an older name back into the conversation for “a whole new, young audience of fans,” says Karla Redding, daughter of Otis Redding. For legacy acts or artist estates, getting such exposure is more valuable than ever: It can frictionlessly translate into consumption at a time when listening to catalog tracks on streaming platforms is as easy as pulling up last week’s releases. And now that artists’ name and likeness rights have become a more desirable commodity for the investor class, a new wave of listeners raises the value of those rights.
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Getting a credit for a sampled vocalist isn’t easy, though. “Most people don’t want to credit samples [in that way],” says Rob Sevier, co-founder of Numero Group, which gets about three sample requests a week.
To prevail in clearance negotiations, the sampled artist needs leverage and a good lawyer. And negotiations can be charged. “All clearances are emotional,” explains Deborah Mannis-Gardner, president of DMG Clearances. “Someone either wrote this song or they recorded it — it’s their baby. [In many cases,] it’s up to them to decide, do they want it altered by it being incorporated into another song?”
They can benefit by saying yes. Sampled artists who get co-billing raise their profile on streaming services. On Spotify, if an act is credited as a collaborator on both the “product level” (where the artists are listed under the title of the single) and the “track level” (where the artists are listed below and to the right of the “play” button), any plays count towards their “monthly listener” number. For an estate that no longer puts out previously unreleased music, this is a way to pump up an often-cited metric on a popular platform.
And in recent years, many legacy artists have sold part or all of their name, image and likeness rights, including Stevie Nicks, the Beach Boys, Bryan Ferry and Pink Floyd. If a sample clearance is done right, those “NIL rights can get boosted through new audience recognition,” says Jason Boyarski, an entertainment attorney who handles the estates of Donny Hathaway and Antônio Carlos Jobim, among others. That in turn can “help boost brand-related projects like biopics, documentaries and musicals.”
In Mannis-Gardner’s view, though, awarding a sampled singer co-billing is unseemly — the sampler is giving away the farm, paying more than they need to for a license. “When I do sample clearances, I work very hard on behalf of my clients not to grant feature credit,” Mannis-Gardner adds, unless her client directs her otherwise.
Some sampled artists don’t request to have their name in the lights. Kendrick Lamar‘s “luther” borrows a piece of Cheryl Lynn and Luther Vandross‘ “If This World Were Mine,” a tender lover’s duet originally written by Marvin Gaye in 1967. Although Vandross’ voice, glistening like fresh snow, is the first vocal on “luther,” he is not billed as a featured artist on the track.
David Gottlieb, who manages the Vandross estate, says it “didn’t ask for any sort of credit” in exchange for clearing the “If This World Were Mine” sample. “You don’t hear Luther and Cheryl a tremendous amount [on Lamar’s track],” he explains. “It would be obnoxious to ask for a feature.
“There’s always a discussion [internally],” Gottlieb continues. “We have our set of guidelines for samples [called] W.W.L.D. — What Would Luther Do? If someone is using Luther singing ‘Never Too Much’ in the chorus, we would raise our hand and say you need to put a feature in, if that was something we wanted.”
Primary Wave acquired a stake in Vandross’s publishing, master royalties and name and likeness rights in 2021. The company also works with Mark Morrison, the man behind “Return of the Mack,” a thunderous ’90s R&B single that reliably incites sing-alongs.
“In the last week, I’ve seen a license request for ‘Return of the Mack’ come across our desk,” says Justin Shukat, president of publishing at Primary Wave. “When we spoke to Mark, he’s like, ‘Yeah, I definitely want the feature.’”
While the music world mourns Roy Ayers, the Godfather of Neo-Soul and a jazz-funk pioneer who died at age 84 on March 4, the hip-hop community will always remember him as one of its brightest inspirations.
“Everybody Loves the Sunshine,” the enduring hit from Roy Ayers Ubiquity’s 1976 album of the same name, became the highlight of his legacy — and everybody loved it so much they couldn’t help but borrow a bit of its brilliance. The New York Times‘ obituary for Ayers reported that “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” has been sampled nearly 200 times.
“Well, I have more sampled hits than anybody,” he said in a 2004 interview with Wax Poetics. “I might not have more samples than James Brown, but I’ve had more sampled hits. Oh, man, and there’s a few I don’t know about.”
Mary J. Blige — who sampled “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” for “My Life” from her 1994 album of the same name, which was later interpolated on “MJB Da MVP” featuring 50 Cent, on her 2005 LP The Breakthrough — opened up about the song’s indelible impact on her in her 2021 documentary My Life. “I don’t know what’s in that record, but it was something in it that just cracked open everything in me. That was the first music as a child that stuck with me because it made me forget that we lived where we lived,” Blige said in the film. “‘My life in the sunshine’ was something I wanted.” The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul also heavily sampled Ayers’ 1976 track “Searching” on her 1997 album Share My World.
Like Blige, Dr. Dre, TLC, Juvenile and Joe Budden also have songs titled “My Life,” while Scarface and Naughty by Nature have songs called “Sunshine.” Thirty years after he sampled “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” on “Book of Life” from his 1994 album Resurrection, Common dug back in the crates and dusted off the sample for the Grammy-nominated song “When the Sun Shines,” featuring Posdnuos, from his and Pete Rock‘s 2024 Grammy-nominated joint LP The Auditorium Vol. 1.
Outside of being sampled and interpolated by hip-hop heavyweights, Ayers also collaborated with Tyler, the Creator on “Find Your Wings,” also featuring Syd and Kali Uchis, from Tyler’s 2015 album Cherry Bomb; Erykah Badu on “Cleva” from her 2000 LP Mama’s Gun; The Roots on “Proceed II” from the deluxe version of the band’s 2005 album Do You Want More?!!!??!; and Talib Kweli on “In the Mood,” also featuring Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), from his 2007 album Eardrum as well as on “Something Special” from Kweli and Madlib‘s 2024 joint LP Liberation 2.
“Roy Ayers called me like ‘tyler, hey man, those changes are amazing, your chord selection is just beautiful my man’ OMG MY HEART MELTED,” Tyler tweeted in 2015. The Chromakopia rapper also sampled Ayers’ 1982 track “Ooh” on “Pothole,” featuring Jaden Smith, from his 2017 album Flower Boy. Later that same year, Ayers performed at his Camp Flog Gnaw festival. Questlove hailed him as “the cat who birthed us all in the ‘vibes only’ movement. The Soundtrack that ALL the incense you ever burned was truly made for. Thank You Roy Edward Ayers Jr for EVERYTHING you gave us. taught us. showed us. soothed us.”
Billboard rounded up 21 hip-hop and R&B songs that have sampled and interpolated Roy Ayers Ubiquity’s “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,” in order from newest to oldest.
Common & Pete Rock feat. Posdnuos, “When the Sun Shines Again”
HipHopWired Featured Video
Roberta Flack, an enduring voice that the world got to know through her chart-topping and soul-stirring ballads, was a source of sound for several Hip-Hop producers over the years. As we continue to honor the life and legacy of the legendary vocalist, Hip-Hop Wired has compiled 10 songs that sampled Roberta Flack’s music.
My first time hearing Roberta Flack occurred when I was in elementary school via the song “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” a beautiful ballad written by the late Gene McDaniels. As I was still quite young, I didn’t know what the lyrics meant but what I could tell you then is that it sounded like what I imagined falling in love deeply was like. Roberta Flack’s serene, even-keeled voice sounded as if it descended from the heavens and few singers have had that effect on me.
As I aged, so did my pursuit of music which is where my devotion to Hip-Hop strengthened and learning about the intricacies of sampling in music production. However, few songs have captured the essence of Flack’s sonics to the level of The Fugees’ 1996 rendition of “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and the beauty of it all is that The Fugees had the honor of having Flack perform the global hit with them.—D.L. Chandler
Flack’s music just didn’t boost the sonic profile of The Fugees, but also gave strong backdrops to the likes of Scarface, Gang Starr, T.I. Ye, Memphis Bleek, Lil’ Kim, Biz Markie, and countless others. Below, we’re featuring 10 songs that sampled Roberta Flack’s classic music. Let us know on social media or in the comments if we missed any of your favorites.
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Photo: Getty
02/14/2025
Billboard rounded up rap, R&B and Afrobeats songs by Rema, MF DOOM, Snoop Dogg, Burna Boy, Ashanti, Nipsey Hussle and Queen Latifah that sample and interpolate Sade.
02/14/2025
Universal Music Group wants a federal judge to dismiss a copyright lawsuit claiming Mary J. Blige’s 1992 hit “Real Love” used a famed 1973 funk sample without a license, arguing the accusers have popped up “out of the blue” to sue over two tracks that “sound nothing alike.”
The case, filed in earlier this year by Tuff City Records, claims Blige’s track borrowed from “Impeach the President” by the Honey Drippers — a legendary piece of hip-hop source material with a drum track that’s been sampled or interpolated by Run-DMC, Dr. Dre, Doja Cat and many others over the years.
But in a response on Tuesday, UMG argues that Tuff City’s case is deeply flawed and must be tossed out of court at the outset.
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“Now, more than 30 years after ‘Real Love’ was released, plaintiff appears out of the blue alleging that ‘Real Love’ contains an uncleared sample from ‘Impeach the President,’ with no allegations concerning the works’ substantial similarity,” the music giant wrote. “The absence of that allegation is fatal.”
One key claim in Tuff City’s lawsuit is that UMG’s recorded music unit (UMG Recordings, Inc.) has already reached a settlement regarding the use of the “Impeach” sample on the “Real Love” sound recording, but that UMG’s publishing arm is unfairly refusing to do the same for the musical composition.
In Tuesday’s response, UMG confirmed the existence of that earlier settlement over the sound recording, but said it was entirely separate and complete “irrelevant” to a dispute over the composition. UMG’s attorneys said the settlement did not admit that “Real Love” infringed “Impeach” — but that even if it had, Tuff City was “confusing” a basic distinction that lies at the heart of music copyright law.
“Plaintiff … insinuates that defendant infringes simply because non-party UMG settled plaintiff’s claim of infringement [over] the sound recording,” the company wrote. “Because there exist two separate copyrights in music … a work can readily infringe one without infringing the other.”
Blige’s “Real Love” spent 31 weeks on the Hot 100 in 1992 and reached a peak of No. 7 on the chart. It has remained one of the star’s most enduring hits, with more than 105 million spins on Spotify and a movie adaptation released by Lifetime last year.
Tuff City sued UMG over the track in April, claiming it had “advised defendant repeatedly” about the allegedly uncleared sample, but that Universal had done nothing about it: “Defendant has repeatedly refused to engage plaintiff in substantive negotiations to rectify the foregoing, let alone agreed to compensate plaintiff for the past infringement or on an ongoing basis.”
The lawsuit did not name Blige herself as a defendant nor accuse her of any wrongdoing.
Tuff City, which owns a large catalog of old songs, is no stranger to copyright litigation – filing cases over tracks by Jay-Z, Beastie Boys, Christina Aguilera, Frank Ocean with claims that they featured unlicensed samples or interpolations. The company has even already sued over “Impeach the President,” claiming in a 1991 complaint that it had been illegally sampled on the LL Cool J tracks “Around the Way Girl” and “Six Minutes of Pleasure.”
The company has won plenty of rulings and settlements, but the litigation process has not always gone smoothly. In 2014, a judge dismissed one Tuff City case over Jay-Z’s “Run This Town” on the grounds that any alleged sample was “barely perceptible” after multiple listens. In that ruling, the judge chided Tuff City over its approach to the case, saying it “incorrectly … assumes that every copying of any part of another artist’s protected work is infringement.”
In Tuesday’s motion seeking to dismiss the “Real Love” case, UMG directly cited that 2014 ruling – arguing that the two songs “sound nothing alike” and that Tuff City had failed to argue otherwise.
“Unwilling to learn from the lessons of its past, plaintiff again seeks to assert copyright liability without plausibly pleading substantial similarity with respect to the musical compositions at issue here,” the company wrote. “The copyright claim must accordingly be dismissed.”
An attorney for Tuff City did not immediately return a request for comment.
Many of Burna’s most celebrated songs have borrowed elements from some recognizable U.S. pop, soul and hip-hop favorites.
04/15/2024
Future & Metro Boomin, Drake, Young Thug, Lil Baby, Big Sean and French Montana all have this thing in common in their discography.
04/15/2024
Beyoncé doesn’t just drop albums, she drops incredibly dense, multilayered bodies of work that pull from decades of musical history across genres and regions to fashion something wholly new and idiosyncratic from the legacies of those who came before her. With the release of her eighth solo studio album, Cowboy Carter, on Friday (March 29), […]