Five Important Samples on More Life
On Saturday, Drake gave the world his highly anticipated playlist More Life coming full force with 22 new songs. This project was considered a “playlist” rather than a full-length album due to a revolutionary mind-bending distinction, which Drake is always good for (well tries). This playlist features various guest appearances from Travis Scott, Young Thug, Quavo, and more. However, features didn’t make the album special, the samples did.
- “Free Smoke”
Starting with the dominant album introduction, Drake uses vocals from lead singer Nai Palm from Australian Neo-Soul group Hiatus Kaiyote.
When hearing the intro you would of thought that this was your nine year old gifted little sister singing lead for the youth choir on second Sunday. Giving a positive melody that touches your soul and gives you holy chills. With the expectation of a smooth following from Drake you hear the sound bite from Drake throwing shots at the American Music awards saying “and more chune for your headtop so watch how you speak on my name.” Instantly, the whole mood of the song changed and was followed by a hard sample of the 808 production of “Roll Up” by Tony Yayo and Danny Brown. Setting the tone for Drake to assert his dominance over the Hip-Hop industry.
2. “Blem”
With the Caribbean themed background, Drake comes again with another Dance-Hall hit that will probably make you want to cha cha in a private setting. What makes this song special is the sample from Lionel Richie’s 1983’s “All Night Long” this sample is so important that Drake took the time to give thanks to Richie on Instagram the day of the release.
If you want to know exactly where the sample falls it starts at the intro and appears later on the 2 minutes and 3 minute 15 second mark following Lil Wayne with a surprise statement while sparking up a joint.
3. “Teenage Fever”
If you thought Drake took Jennifer Lopez off More Life completely, you thought wrong. Other than Drake touching basis on his fling with “JLo” discussing drunk texting her, he uses a sample of her on Teenage Fever from her hit song “If You Had My Love”.
This sample could be another subliminal message on Drake’s messy transition to JLo from Rihanna, referring to his feeling excited after he received a new fling. Talking about how he met someone new the other night saying he’s going to continue to pursue it due to his “Teenage Fever” or hell, maybe this whole Drake and JLo fiasco was to just get this sample clear. We will never know until Drake actually confirms it.
4. “FMT”
You’re probably wondering, “Is this sample from Sonic the Hedgehog?” Well it is, this sample is a sped-up version of the 2006 version of the original video game. KMT also brought Drake a lot of controversy as well between up- and-coming rapper XXXTencion claimed that Drake stole his flow, also one of the first songs previewed on his “Boy Meets World Tour”. Overall, the sample was effective and set a competitive tone for the song.
5. “Jorja Interlude”
The most amazing thing Drake did with this track is sample himself. Using Stevie Wonder’s solo harmonica appearance from the classical on Take Care’s “Doing it Wrong”. This can be spotted at the 1 minute 12 second mark of the interlude as the track concludes identical to how “Doing it Wrong” is concluded.
These samples prove that Drake has a strong love for music and is a well-rounded individual when it comes to formulating a quality project with various samples that other rappers couldn’t have pulled off. Hopefully, on this hiatus, Drake is taking until 2018, we get another project similar to this.
Collins McClain is a Junior Sociology Major, Journalism Minor from Milwaukee , WI attending Morehouse College.
