Nearly two years ago I wrote a post about songs that had sampled older tracks or were covers of previous songs. You can read that here: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2021/08/samples-and-covers.html
I've had the idea for a while to do a follow-up post, so here are more samples and covers! :)
Note: As with the first post, I've listed the original song first.
Case feat. Foxy Brown and Mary J. Blige- Touch Me, Tease Me
American singer Case (full name Case Woodward) released the R'n'B song Touch Me, Tease Me back in April 1996. It was the second single from his self-titled debut album, which came out later that year. In addition, it featured on the soundtrack from the 1996 film The Nutty Professor (a remake of the 1963 film), starring Eddie Murphy.
Touch Me, Tease Me featured rapper Foxy Brown and singer Mary J. Blige, as well as backing vocals by Vernell Sales aka Vee from the American duo Koffee Brown. Vee also worked with the group Next on their single Too Close (see below).
The song itself samples the 1985 single P.S.K 'What Does It Mean'? by the rapper Schoolly D (considered the first gangsta and hardcore rap song).
Touch Me, Tease Me is one of Case's most successful singles to date, getting to No. 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and 26 here in the UK. It has been sampled and covered several times, most recently by King Combs (son of P. Diddy) on his 2018 single Love Me Better featuring Chris Brown. See below for the 3SL version.
You can also watch the explicit version here: https://youtu.be/MvHZ_eSbPBU
3SL- Touch Me, Tease Me
Touch Me, Tease Me was covered by 3SL. They were a short lived British (Welsh specifically) pop group made up of brothers Steve, Anthony and Andy Scott-Lee. They are the younger brothers of Lisa Scott-Lee, a member of hit pop group Steps.
Interesting info: Andy was once married to Michelle Heaton, a member of the group Liberty X, which consisted of the runners up from Popstars, one of the first UK reality music shows).
Touch Me, Tease Me was the boys' 2nd single, following their debut Take It Easy. (They only released those two singles and were then dropped by their record label.) It came out in October 2002 and reached No. 16 in the UK Singles Chart. There is also a remix featuring British singer Estelle.
I used to like this song. I don't recall hearing the original till later, but I may have heard it/seen the video in the 90s and not made the connection.
Watch the version with Estelle here: https://youtu.be/zcN13VIuj-k
Next- Too Close
American R'n'B trio Next were most popular in the 90s and early 00s. The group consists of Robert Hugger (known as R L.) and brothers Terry Brown (T. Low) and Raphael Brown (Tweety). Their most well known singles include Too Close, Wifey (another one I like) and Butta Love.
Too Close was released in January 1998 and was the second single from the group's 1997 debut album Rated R. It was a hit, reaching No. 1 in the American charts. The song itself samples another one, the 1979 single Christmas Rappin by American rapper and singer Kurtis Blow.
It's a very "sexy" song about getting too close to their female dancers! Additional vocals were provided by Vee (Vernell Sales), who also worked with Case (see above), but she was uncredited at the time.
Blue- Too Close
Popular British boy band Blue did a cover of Too Close in the early 00s. It's one of my favourite Blue songs!
Too Close was the second single from Blue's debut studio album All Rise. It came out in August 2001, preceding the album's UK release in November. The song was the group's first UK No. 1, also doing well in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
Too Close is so nostalgic for me! Reminds me of the "glory days" of music channels, lol. I think I heard this version first and then the original later.
Low Deep- Straight Flush
British musician/grime artist Low Deep (real name Rueben Abraham; not to be confused with the songwriter and producer Low Deep T) released his debut single Straight Flush back in 2005. He was only 17 at the time and the song was made as part of a production challenge in an online forum. The original version didn't have vocals.
It was sampled by the Kray Twinz (see below) and I first came across it in 2014, after seeing comments on YouTube that this was the original song. I listened to it as part of my 1000 Songs in a Year challenge in 2014
I don't listen to a lot of grime but I like this as well as the Kray Twinz' song.
Kray Twinz feat. Twista and Lethal Bizzle- What We Do
British music producer and DJ duo Kray Twinz (nothing to do with the gangster duo the Kray twins !) teamed up with American rapper Twista, British rapper Lethal Bizzle and British dancehall artist Gappy Ranks for the song What We Do.
Kray Twinz was made up of twin brothers Jaz and Jat Singh Hayer but older twin Jaz sadly passed away in 2021, after contracting Covid.
What We Do was the twins' debut single and was released in October 2005.
Please note that the song is explicit. :)
Aaliyah- One In A Million
The late Aaliyah (full name Aaliyah Houghton), who sadly died in a plane crash in 2001, released the single One In A Million in November 1996. It was the third single from her second album of the same name, which came out in August that year.
The song was written by rapper Missy Elliott and producer/rapper Timbaland, who both often worked with Aaliyah. In the UK it was released as a double A-side single, along with If Your Girl Only Knew. One In A Million is also on the 2005 compilation album Ultimate Aaliyah, which was released after her death.
Normani feat. Cardi B- Wild Side
In July 2021 American singer Normani (member of girl group Fifth Harmony turned solo star) released the single Wild Side, which samples One In A Million. The song features rapper Cardi B.
I shared the video in the post New Mabel and Normani Videos which you can see here (also features Mabel's Take It Home):
Check out my first Samples and Covers post for another song by Aaliyah (which used a sample)- A Girl Like You feat. Treach: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2021/08/samples-and-covers.html
Fergie feat. Ludacris- Glamorous
American singer and rapper Fergie (real name Stacy Ferguson), who is a former member of the Black Eyed Peas, released Glamorous in January 2007. It was the 2nd/3rd single (apparently it was her 2nd single in the UK) from her debut solo album The Dutchess, which came out in 2006.
Glamorous is about Fergie staying true to herself and where she came from, despite her now glamorous life. Rapper Ludacris also appears on the track.
Jack Harlow- First Class
American rapper Jack Harlow sampled Glamorous for his 2022 single First Class. It's from his second album Come Home the Kids Miss You and was released in April last year.
The title refers to a line in Glamorous- "First Class, up in the sky". Jack and Fergie performed together at last year's MTV Video Music Awards.
First Class came out in April 2022 (the second single from Come Home the Kids Miss You). It had gone viral on TikTok before it was even released and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was Jack's second No. 1 single (after his 2021 Lil Nas X collab, Industry Baby).
Plus, visit this post to watch Jack and Fergie perform First Class/Glamorous here: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2022/09/2022-vmas-jack-harlow-feat-fergie-and.html
Tom Tom Club- Genius of Love
American new wave band Tom Tom Club (which was founded in 1981 by couple Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, who were also part of the band Talking Heads ) released the single Genius of Love in the early 80s. It was the second single from their self-titled debut album and was released in September 1981 in the US, and the following month in the UK.
Genius of Love is one of Tom Tom Club's most well known songs. It is one of the most sampled rhythm tracks of the 80s, particularly in hip hop and R'n'B songs. One of the most famous tracks to sample it is Fantasy by American singer Mariah Carey back in the 90s (see below).
Other songs which sampled it include Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's It's Nasty, Mark Morrison's Return of The Mack (see below), Cam'ron's Me, My Moms and Jimmy (feat Kenny Greene) and The X-Euctioners' Genius of Love. Most recently rapper Latto sampled it for her popular single Big Energy (also see below).
Mariah Carey- Fantasy
My favourite singer Mariah Carey released Fantasy back in August 1995. It was the lead single from her 5th album Daydream, which came out a month later.
Fantasy is one of Mariah's most successful singles, reaching No. 1 in America, the UK/Europe, Australia and New Zealand. It's also probably one of the most well-known dings which samples Genius of Love. There is a remix by the late rapper O.D.B.
I was 11 when Fantasy came out, so it reminds me of my childhood/pre-teen years! I featured it in my Top 10 Mariah Carey Post 10 years ago! (No. 3 on the list):
Mark Morrison- Return of the Mack
British singer Mark Morrison's single Return of the Mack was a hit in the mid-90s. It was the third single from his debut album of the same name, which came out in April 1996.
The single was released in March 1996 in the UK and some other countries. It was a No. 1 here and did well abroad, including other European countries, the US and Australia.
Return of the Mack's beat is sampled from Genius of Love and the song also samples Games by Chuckii Booker and parts from UFO by ESG, Rocket in the Pocket by Cerrone and Feel The Heartbeat by Treacherous Three Three. It's really interesting to hear the different elements in songs and how they come together. :)
It was a Weekly Music Video back in 2013:
Latto- Big Energy
American rapper Latto released Big Energy in September 2021. It's considered her breakthrough song and was the lead single from her second studio album 777, which came out the following March.
Like Mariah Carey's Fantasy, Big Energy samples Genius of Love. Latto also teamed up with Mariah and DJ Khaled for a remix of Big Energy, which samples Fantasy (see below!).
This is the explicit version. :)
Latto and Mariah Carey feat. DJ Khaled- Big Energy (Remix)
In March 2022, Latto released a remix of Big Energy which sampled Mariah Carey's Fantasy and features vocals from Mariah herself! They also worked with DJ Khaled on the track.
Watch the video here:
Hope you enjoyed the post. It ended up being quite long! :) What are your favourite songs that have been sampled and/or cover songs?
P.S. For more songs covered/recorded by multiple artists, check out these posts:
Same Song, Different Singer: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2021/11/same-song-different-singer.html
Bollywood Covers/Remakes: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2022/04/bollywood-coversremakes.html
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