Five classic hip-hop songs that sample Roy Ayers
Jazz-funk pioneer Roy Ayers passed away on March 4th at 84. The legendary musician, best known for songs such as ‘Everybody Loves the Sunshine’, died after suffering a long-term illness.
“It is with great sadness that the family of legendary vibraphonist, composer, and producer Roy Ayers announce his passing which occurred on March 4th, 2025 in New York City after a long illness,” the Ayers family said in a statement, describing him as “highly influential and sought after as a music collaborator.”
They aren’t wrong. Hip-hop has had an affinity for Ayers over the years, with rappers sampling his music since the early ’90s. From Common to The Game to Tyler, The Creator, the Los Angeles musician’s legacy can be heard across every generation.
Speaking to Bonafide Magazine in 2021, Ayers shared his appreciation for being sampled in hip-hop. “A lot of people sample my music, a lot of artists,” he said. “And I’m very happy they sampled it because I feel good about it. I feel very good about it.”
Below, check out our list of five classic hip-hop songs that sample music from the late, great Ayers.
Five Roy Ayers samples that made hip-hop great:
A Tribe Called Quest – ‘Bonita Applebum’
A Tribe Called Quest sampled Roy Ayers for their classic 1991 song ‘Bonita Applebum‘, which appeared on their debut album, People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. The record uses ‘Daylight’ by RAMP (Roy Ayers Music Productions), the soul/jazz band founded by Ayers, who wrote and produced songs for their only album, Come Into Knowledge. It was recorded at Electric Lady Studios and released in 1977.
Originally made in 1985, ‘Bonita Applebum’ was one of Tribe’s earliest demos and saw Q-Tip rapping about his love for a woman, rumoured to be about a girl from the rapper’s high school.
Junior MAFIA – ‘Get Money’
Ayers reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1996 after he was sampled on ‘Get Money’, a Junior MAFIA track from their Conspiracy album. It samples Sylvia Striplin’s 1981 song ‘You Can’t Turn Me Away Song’, which was written and produced by Ayers. Biggie Smalls and Lil Kim spit bold verses on the EZ Elpee-produced track, peaking at number 17 and spending 20 weeks on the chart.
Biggie raps in the song, “Disrespect my clique, my shit’s imperial/ Fuck around and made her milk box material/ You feel me? Suckin’ dick, runnin’ your lips/ ‘Cause of you, I’m on some real ‘fuck-a-bitch’ shit.” Classic Notorious.
Naughty by Nature – ‘Hip Hop Hooray’
Like the Junior M.A.F.I.A. track, Naughty by Nature’s ‘Hip Hop Hooray’ also samples Sylvia Striplin’s song for a bonafide hip-hop anthem. The track was released in 1992 and contains other samples from James Brown, the Five Stairsteps, the Isley Brothers, and Peter Gabriel—not a shabby lineup. It also boasts a music video directed by Spike Lee, filmed in Brooklyn, New York City.
Naughty member Vin Rock once said the song “will love forever,” adding, “‘Hip Hop Hooray’ sums up what hip-hop culture is: a celebration of the inner city’s ability to endure and create one of the largest music and art cultures in the world.” The song is certified platinum and reached number eight on the Hot 100.
Nas – ‘Life Is What You Make It (ft. DMX)’
Nas collaborated with DMX on ‘Life Is What You Make It’ in 1999, sampling Ayers’ ‘Vittroni’s Theme – King Is Dead’ from the soundtrack to the 1973 movie Coffy, starring Pam Grier. Appearing on his I Am… album, the song finds the New York rappers rapping about living life to the fullest.
Nas spits in the first verse, “Can’t believe how my life changed/ From the hood, the first time in my life/ I can say I did the right thing.” L.E.S. produced the song and other album tracks, ‘Favor for a Favor’, ‘I Want to Talk to You’, ‘K-I-SS-I-N-G’ and ‘Undying Love’.
Redman – ‘Creepin’
Redman released his beloved Muddy Waters album in 1996, which was applauded so much that he dropped a sequel, Muddy Waters Too, in December last year. One of the highlights of the original LP was ‘Creepin’, a self-produced track that samples Ayers’ ‘Shining Symbol’, also from the Coffy soundtrack. A fierce Funk Doc is at his lyrical best on the record.
Wasting no time getting into the self-produced song, he raps from the first line, “To my no good n*ggas and my no good bitches/ Sorry if I left somebody leavin’ out with stitches/ Seems y’all too grown for ya britches/ Enslaved your mind like cotton pickers for runnin’ wit some rotten n*ggas.”