T.I’s Urban Legend is one of hip-hop’s greatest, and helped earn the ATLien the well-deserved title of King of The South. One of Tip’s biggest records was the Swizz Beatz crafted “Bring ‘Em Out.” In a recent interview with XXL T.I. reveals he wasn’t comfortable sampling one of Jay Z’s cuts for the 2004 track.
“You know, this was the beginning of when that was made popular. This was the very beginning of when people started sampling other people’s voices and taking pieces of other people’s verses and putting them in hooks. Before then I think nobody but [DJ] Premier was doing it,” the Atlanta rapper explained. “I remember I didn’t want to make it because it had a Jay Z sample [from “What More Can I Say”] and I was like, ‘Have y’all cleared this with dude?’ I just didn’t ever want to just take somebody’s voice,”
T.I. says he was cautious about sampling HOV because he wasn’t sure of his reaction.
“So at that point I was like, ‘Hey, wait a minute, how does dude feel about me using his voice? I don’t know if I need that,’ T.I. recalls. “And [Swizz Beatz] was like, ‘Man, listen. Let me deal with Jay. You just record the song.’ So I went on and did the song and it was one of my biggest hits up until that point.”
T.I.P then said it’s quite “flattering” the song has become so mainstream.
“I mean, I know it’s been licensed and used for so much, it’s definitely flattering. I don’t know if I have any added feeling because it’s at a sports arena, you know what I mean? I know a lot of comedians and a lot of people who come out on stage and have to be introduced, they step out to it. Which is cool, man. Whatever people see fit to use it for, man, except for balancing the coffee table.”
Thank God T.I.P listened to Swizz.