What would hip hop even look like if we lived in a world where Prince never existed? It'd be much less colorful and funky, I"m sure, and some of its most vibrant artists would never have had the courage to step out of the box were it not for one of the weirdest artists of all time. André 3000, Kanye West, Pharrell, The-Dream, and Young Thug (so basically, all of The Life Of Pablo's squad) in particular have Prince to thank for some, if not most, of their musical and/or fashion styles, and the rest of the rap game isn't far off either. For a genre that's so often afraid of knocking down the facade of tough-guy masculinity, hip hop is made up of some massive Prince fans. Even 2Pac, one of the hardest to ever do it, fucking loved Prince.
Prince never really made straight-up hip hop (though his "helium voice flow" is traceable from Three Stacks to Kendrick Lamar in the present), but he's almost unquestionably one of the top five most influential artists in terms of shaping the genre, and not just in its early days. Not a year goes by without some new artist repurposing some part, no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential, of Prince's steez, whether it be posing nude on the cover of your own album, or claiming that you're about to act "like Prince in the club" on a new track. His influence is incalculable, so absorbed into the fabric of modern music that describing something as "Prince-esque" is almost meaningless now.
But enough with the unquantifiable. Prince has also been sampled and interpolated hundreds of times by some of hip hop's biggest artists. Today, we're looking back at ten of the best instances of this. Unfortunately, Prince ensured that most of his music was near-impossible to find online, so we can only include videos and streams of the songs that sample him.
Jay Z & Beyoncé "'03 Bonnie & Clyde"
Interpolates Prince's "If I Was Your Girl Friend"
In 2011, music mogul LA Reid gave Kanye West the ultimate compliment: a Prince comparison. "Now people love Kanye for sure," he told Access Hollywood, "But he's great great. I mean on the level of Prince." Ye's innovations and influence certainly are approaching the Purple One's, and we know he'd love to hear that, because he's revealed himself to be quite a big Prince fan in his career. In '03, he finally had the budget to afford his first interpolation of a Prince track, and gifted hip hop's future biggest power couple an anthem for the ages.
Jay and Bey's iconic "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" cribs lyrics and melody from Prince's pitch- and gender-bending Sign O The Times cut "If I Was Your Girl Friend," namely the title phrase, which Beyoncé sings around the song's 2:19 mark. Funnily enough, Ye sampled the beat from a song by another huge Prince fan...
2Pac "To Live & Die In LA"
Samples Prince's "Do Me, Baby"
Believe it or not, 2Pac is probably the rapper who sampled the most Prince songs ever. Pac and Prince are usually presented at opposite ends of the masculine spectrum-- one rugged and tough, the other sensitive and effeminate-- but the amount of respect that the gangster rap icon had for the Purple One was unparalleled. In 1995, he told MTV, “I love women. I’m not gonna lie, I love women with a passion. I do, I do, sometimes, now, I just wanna call Prince and just be like, ‘can we hang ’cause I love women like you love women.’”
The song that formed the backbone of "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was his track "Me And My Girlfriend," which also played off of Prince's "If I Was Your Girlfriend," but that's only the tip of the iceberg. This Don Killuminati cut flips Prince's spiritually sexy "Do Me, Baby" into a cautionary ode about the City of Angels.
Lil Troy Feat. Fat Pat, Youngstar, Lil Will & Big Hawk "Wanna Be A Baller"
Samples Prince's "Little Red Corvette"
This one hit wonder of a Houston anthem still gets play on throwback rap radio, and it gets its minimal robotic stomp from none other than Prince. 1999's "Little Red Corvette" was really revolutionary in the drum department (inspiring a good deal of The-Dream and Tricky Stewart's much-coveted late 2000s sound, especially "Yamaha"), and Prince's programming still sounded fresh 16 years after its release, in the actual year 1999.
Lil Wayne Feat. Curren$y "Diamonds & Girls"
Samples Prince's "Diamonds & Pearls"
When Lil Wayne was on his legendary mixtape run of '06-'08, most of his freestyle came in over beats of songs that were currently hot, but every now and then, he'd flip a classic on its head. The Drought Is Over 2's "Diamonds & Girls" is a pretty straight rip of Prince's 1991 track "Diamonds & Pearls," and its sparkling soundscape forms the perfect backdrop to Weezy and Spitta's luxury-oriented bars.
The-Dream "Fast Car"
Samples Prince & Sheila E.'s "Erotic City"
The-Dream and his go-to producer Tricky Stewart usually opt for just imitating Prince and filtering his slinky '80s style through their ATLien stunner shades, but on Love/Hate's "Fast Car," they went for it. If Little Richard invented the concept of woman-as-car in pop music, Prince perfected it with "Little Red Corvette," and "Fast Car" is just a cherry on top of his "When Doves Cry" B-side, "Erotic City."
Nicki Minaj "Blow Ya Mind"
Interpolates Prince's "Darling Nikki"
Another thing that The-Dream stole from Prince was the character Nikki, who's introduced as a "sex fiend" on this Purple Rain cut, and later inspired tracks on both Love/Hate and Love King. When Nicki Minaj released her first album, Pink Friday, she wisely inserted herself into this legacy by interpolating "Darling Nikki" on the bonus cut "Blow Ya Mind."
Talib Kweli Feat. will.i.am "Hot Thing"
Interpolates Prince's "Hot Thing"
One of the smoothest songs on Kweli's 2007 album Eardrum is basically a rewrite of a Sign O The Times cut. both are titled "Hot Thing," and the hooks are almost identical, but for the rest of the song, Talib makes it his own.
Lil B "Fed Time"
Samples Prince's "I Would Die 4 U"
Among the Prince songs that are the most painful to listen to today is "I Would Die 4 U," a Purple Rain highlight in which Prince pledges his undying love for Apollonia. Oddly enough, the most stirring tribute to this particular track comes from Lil B, who dedicates a freestyle over the track to all of his friends and family serving federal time. Who else would even attempt rapping over this?
2Pac "Heartz Of Men"
Samples Prince's "Darling Nikki"
I'd be remiss to not include one more Pac track on here, so here's a highlight from All Eyez On Me. "Heartz Of Men" pulls from the same song as Nicki's "Blow Ya Mind," but to a very different effect. Here, Pac rips eerie vocals from the song's outro to form a haunting backing for another one of his chilling tales.
Kanye West "Big Brother"
Interpolates Prince's "It's Gonna Be Lonely"
To close us out, another Kanye track. This Graduation cut was propelled to "stadium status" by copying the riff and central groove of "It's Gonna Be Lonely" from Prince's self-titled 1979 album, with the ever-impressive Mike Dean tasked with recreating it in the studio. Needless to say, it's a worthy tribute.