There’s nothing quite like nostalgia. Just about anything can trigger a memory of your younger years, whether it’s a picture, a fire ’fit or, as often happens, a song. Music, especially hip-hop, is connected so close to memory that the two go hand in hand; the songs you liked at a certain age serve as the soundtrack for plenty of memories. Adulting is great (OK, sometimes it sucks), but looking back to the carefree days of being a teenager is special. Luckily for hip-hop fans, the era where songs of yesteryear are being reworked and presented in a brand new fashion is happening now. There are plenty of rap tracks over the last few years that sample these songs from the past, and it’s time to highlight some of the best.

It wouldn’t be fair not to show Saweetie some love when considering she had hit songs in back-to-back years that sampled rap songs from the past. She caught fire with “My Type” in 2019, which samples Petey Pablo’s name-dropping 2003 club classic “Freek-A-Leek.” For rap fans who were born between 1984 and 1990, you’d be between 13 to 18 years old when “Freek-A-Leek” came out. In 2020, Saweetie did it again with “Tap In,” which flips Too $hort’s 2006 smash song “Blow The Whistle.” Fans born between 1987 through 1993 remember that song well. Saweetie’s catalog is more than samples, of course, but she made these two tracks work for her in a very specific way. Also, it can’t just be any song that gets sampled—it has to be something that was beloved in order for it to work.

While it’s the ultimate sign of paying homage when a newer rapper samples or interpolates an older rapper’s track for a new record, it isn’t always rap songs that are getting sampled. 2 Chainz‘s “Rule The World” featuring Ariana Grande reworks Amerie’s 2002 spring love song “Why Don’t We Fall In Love.” Hip-hop loyalists with birthdays between 1983 and 1989 know that track all too well. Jack Harlow and his good friend Bryson Tiller made “Thru The Night,” which directly samples Usher’s 2002 banger “U Don’t Have To Call,” a song that was inescapable in its time. 1980s and early 1990s babies know Ursh was everywhere back then.

Hip-hop stars are finding new ways to honor the good ol’ days with throwback samples, and there is power in the familiarity with that. Check out These Hip-Hop Songs That Sample Your Favorite Tracks as a Teenager.

  • “Thru The Night”

    Jack Harlow featuring Bryson Tiller

    Sample: Usher’s 2002 song “U Don’t Have To Call”

  • “My Type”

    Saweetie

    Sample: Petey Pablo’s 2003 song “Freek-A-Leek”

  • “Rule The World”

    2 Chainz featuring Ariana Grande

    Samples: Amerie’s 2002 song “Why Don’t We Fall In Love”

  • “You Stay”

    DJ Khaled featuring Jeremih, Meek Mill, Lil Baby and J Balvin

    Samples: Puff Daddy’s 1997 song “Senorita”

  • “CrasH”

    ScHoolboy Q

    Sample: Royce Da 5’9″‘s 2001 song “Boom”

  • “Go Loko”

    YG featuring Tyga and Jon Z

    Sample: Trillville’s 2004 song “Some Cut”

  • “Need Me”

    J.I

    Sample: Mya’s 1999 song “Best of Me, Pt. 2” featuring Jay-Z

  • “Whole Lotta Choppas”

    Sada Baby

    Sample: Tag Team’s 1993 song “Whoomp (There It Is)”

  • “Need It”

    Migos featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again

    Sample: 50 Cent’s 2005 song “Get In My Car”

  • “Tap In”

    Saweetie

    Sample: Too $hort’s 2006 song “Blow The Whistle”

  • “Farewell”

    Eminem

    Sample: Serani’s 2008 song “No Games”

  • “Letter From Houston”

    Rod Wave

    Samples: Vistoso Bosses’ 2008 song “Delirious”

  • “Franchise”

    Travis Scott featuring Young Thug and M.I.A.

    Sample: Dem Franchize Boyz’s 2004 song “White Tee”

  • “Buss It”

    Erica Banks

    Sample: Nelly’s 2002 song “Hot In Herre”

  • “Many Men”

    21 Savage and Metro Boomin

    Sample: 50 Cent’s 2003 song “Many Men”

  • “Need You Most (So Sick)”

    The Kid Laroi

    Sample: Ne-Yo’s 2006 song “So Sick”

  • “Friday Night Cypher”

    Big Sean featuring Tee Grizzley, 42 Dugg, Kash Doll, Sada Baby, Cash Kidd, Payroll, Drego, Eminem and Royce Da 5’9″

    Sample: Clipse’s 2002 song “Grindin'”

  • “1995”

    Juicy J featuring Logic

    Sample: Project Pat’s 2001 song “Chickenhead” featuring La Chat and Three 6 Mafia

  • “T.D”

    Lil Yachty featuring Tierra Whack, Tyler The Creator and A$AP Rocky

    Sample: Teriyaki Boyz’s 2006 song “Tokyo Drift”

  • “That Way”

    Lil Uzi Vert

    Sample: Backstreet Boys’ 1999 song “I Want It That Way”

  • “What You Know Bout Love”

    Pop Smoke

    Sample: Ginuwine’s 2001 song “Differences”

  • “Triggered”

    Aitch

    Sample: Destiny’s Child’s 1999 song “Bills, Bills, Bills”

  • “Nice For What”

    Drake

    Sample: Lauryn Hill’s 1998 song “Ex-Factor”

  • “Circles”

    Megan Thee Stallion

    Sample: Jazmine Sullivan’s 2010 song “Holding You Down (Goin’ In Circles)”

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