Jack Harlow’s ‘Lovin on Me’ Is Built Around an Obscure Soul Sample That Shocked the Original Artist

variety.com:

Mike Wass 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.” 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.