may 4
2007

Hit That

The newest M.I.A. song to leak, "Hit That", uses lyrics cribbed from -- I kid you not -- Wreckx-n-Effect's "Rump Shaker." This is interesting to me because it's not a musical sample, but rather a lyrical sample -- and yet not a cover.
4 comments

This is actually fairly common in rap, and the line b/w what I guess you could call "fair use homage" and "biting" isn't always clear. For example, Cam's diss track of Jay-Z "Swagger Jacker" consists of a medley of Jay-Z repeating other MC's lines. Although Jay is IMHO the best MC alive right now, I do think it's treading a thin line to constantly repeat bars from another rapper.

posted by joseph at 2007-05-04 14:01:06

Another quick example: <a href="http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/42539-the-cool-kids-i-rock-and-88-stream" target="_blank">The Cool Kids' song "'88"</a> drops into some Men Without Hats.

posted by Ryan at 2007-05-06 16:41:16

Didn't mean to imply this was extremely unique... anyway, my favorite example: Lifter Puller's "Roaming The Foam," which strangely drops Guns 'n Roses and Salt 'n Pepper next to each other.

posted by Rex at 2007-05-06 16:54:06

There were actually two songs this year that quoted C.R.E.A.M.; Swizz Beatz "It's me Snitches" and DJ Khaleed "We Takin Over." Just saying.

posted by Chris at 2007-05-06 17:07:25