Louisiana emcee Juvenile has recently opened up to hip-hop media outlet TMZ about the use of his 1999 single, ‘Back That Azz Up’ by Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s for their Vultures 1 song, ‘Do It.’
The interpolation of the 1999 track was happily cleared by Cash Money, the New Orleans label that released it. While speaking to TMZ, Juvenile (real name Terius Gray) said about Kanye, “I give everybody a chance, man, and Kanye’s a good dude.”
Elaborating on the controversial figure, Gray continued, “He’s actually one of those cats when we released the Juvie, Wacko and Skip album that showed a whole lot of support. So it’s one of those situations. I’m kind of flattered that the guy chose me to sample my music. It’s how you look at it.”
Speaking about his optimistic ways, Juvenile added, “With me, I try to keep things on the positive, especially with the new artists and the ones that came after me. I’m flattered Drake done sampled my music too, and I treated him the same way. It’s all love with me.”
Gray was asked about whether Kanye West’s behaviour over the past few years and his reputation played a part in his decision to clear the sample, to which he replied, “Nah, not with me. I don’t get into what everybody else get into. I kinda like to stay in my own world and stay out the way.”
Since the videos of Kanye’s Vultures 1 listening parties began surfacing online, several artists have addressed the producer’s use of samples without permission. Last month, Ozzy Osbourne called out the beatmaker.
Taking to Twitter/X, the rockstar wrote, “@KANYEWEST ASKED PERMISSION TO SAMPLE A SECTION OF A 1983 LIVE PERFORMANCE OF “IRON MAN” FROM THE US FESTIVAL WITHOUT VOCALS & WAS REFUSED PERMISSION BECAUSE HE IS AN ANTISEMITE AND HAS CAUSED UNTOLD HEARTACHE TO MANY. HE WENT AHEAD AND USED THE SAMPLE ANYWAY AT HIS ALBUM LISTENING PARTY LAST NIGHT. I WANT NO ASSOCIATION WITH THIS MAN.”
Fortunately, Kanye chose not to use Osbourne’s music. However, Juvenile seemed more than happy that West incorporated his 199 hit into ‘Do It’.
