J. Cole’s first single of 2019, “MIDDLE CHILD,” reunites the Dreamville boss with producer T-Minus. The beat is centered on the soul sample, which the duo borrowed from Philadelphia trio First Choice’s “Wake Up to Me.” According to T-Minus, they found it on the music licensing site Tracklib, which assisted them with clearing it for $500.
In a press statement, T-Minus further revealed that having access to the stem containing the horn section made it easier to manipulate the sample. “The special thing about having individual tracks is that you can take something that sounds one way in its original body of work, and completely flip it to a different vibe,” he explained. “You can really change the progression of the music that way.”
“Wake Up to Me” is taken from First Choice’s debut album, Armed and Extremely Dangerous, which spawned Billboard Hot 100 hits including the title track and “Smarty Pants.” The group split in 1980 after releasing six studio albums, but its musical legacy continues through samples by early house and techno music artists such as Jungle Brothers, R&B singers like Mariah Carey, and rap acts including Boogie Down Productions.
Purchasing the all-cleared sample prevented Cole and T-Minus from dealing with headaches in the long run, as samples are often a sticking point with hip-hop releases. Sometimes clearance issues cause songs and albums to be delayed or not released at all. Even worse, releasing a track containing an unauthorized sample can lead to a loss of profits in the future.
For example, Travis Scott had to give up half of the song composer’s share for his 2015 hit, “Antidote,” when he wanted to give it a wider release because he didn’t clear the sample before uploading the track to SoundCloud. More recently, producer Nick Mira claimed that Sting took 85 percent of Juice WRLD’s “Lucid Dreams.”
Read all the lyrics to J. Cole’s “MIDDLE CHILD” on Genius now.
