Yahoo Lifestyle Jack Harlow’s ‘Lovin on Me’ Is Built Around an Obscure Soul Sample That Shocked the Original Artist
Jack Harlow turned a retro sample into a No. 1 single with 2022’s “First Class” — which flips Fergie’s “Glamorous” — and did the same earlier this year with “Lovin on Me,” a riff on Cadillac Dale’s 1995 single “Whatever (Bass Solique).” “Lovin” went viral on TikTok before it was released, and then became the Kentucky rapper’s third chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100.
The “Lovin on Me” story begins in 2023 when producer Sean Momberger — who also worked on Kendrick Lamar’s smash “Not Like Us” — stumbled on Dale’s deep cut while combing the internet for sounds. “It just sounded really catchy,” he says. “I took what’s now the hook, chopped up the sample, structured it with verses and added a bass line to it.”
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Momberger sent the demo to Swiss producer Ozan “Oz” Yildirim, who, as fate would have it, was scouting for ideas for Harlow. “I listened to literally hundreds of samples, melodies, loops and vocal chops until I came across [Momberger’s] sample,” Oz says. He fleshed out the sound, “creating a piece of music that has a futuristic bounce while still maintaining the perfect dose of nostalgia.” Harlow’s team then took the baton.
His longtime manager Chris Thomas coordinated the recording of the track and aided in clearing the sample, while Harlow’s label, Generation Now, acted as a sounding board for Harlow. Over at Atlantic, Angelique Jones led the streaming strategy. Prerelease activities such as appearances on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast and a viral dog-dad teaser proved critical. “Using the digital success, we applied pressure on streaming and radio,” Jones says.
As for Cadillac Dale? Well, he couldn’t be happier. “This fell in my lap, man,” the long-retired R&B artist, who now works in interior design, told The Detroit News. “I was just blown away.”
Songwriters: Nik Frascona, Delbert M Greer, Jack Harlow, Sean Momberger, Reginald Nelton, Oz, Nickie Jon Pabón
Producers: Sean Momberger, Nik D, Oz
Label: Generation Now/Atlantic Records
Hitmakers:
•Generation Now (Don Cannon, DJ Drama, Leighton “Lake” Morrison)
•Angelique Jones, EVP, sales & streaming, Atlantic Records
•Sean Momberger, songwriter/producer
•Chris Thomas, managing partner, Range Media Partners
•Ozan Yildirim, songwriter/producer
Publshers: Harlow Happenings, These Are Songs of Pulse, Nik Frascona, Sean Mom Publishing, 300 Rainwater Music, Kobalt Music Publishing, Sony Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell
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