Beenie Man says he still gets a handsome check from his sample on Drake’s 2016 single “Controlla.”
In a Nov. 7 Capital XTRA interview, host Manny Norte asked the reggae legend about the phone call he got after Drake sampled his 1995 song "Tear Off Mi Garment" on “Controlla” and whether the song made him rich. The song appears on Drake’s fourth studio album, Views and peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 along with receiving an RIAA five-times platinum certification.
"Well, I get the money," Beenie man said around the four-minute mark of the video below. "We still collecting. The song is still playing so it's still selling."
When Norte pressed for the dollar amount, Beenie Man jokingly brushed it off, telling the radio personality not to “worry about it.” Got kids to feed," he continued.
A version of “Controlla” with Popcaan's verses leaked online on March 29, 2016, although the portion was scrapped in place of a and built in a sample of Beenie Man's 1995 record.
Beenie Man previously told Billboard that Drake's team contacted him to clear the sample and that the five-time Grammy winner later asked him to record an intro.
"For somebody to take a song that I've been done for 15 years, to release and put it out, it's a big deal... For him to idolize me like that, it's a big deal,” Beenie told the publication.
Drake’s known to give a sample More Life, especially for Caribbean artists. On “BBW” from his recent album, Maid of Honour, the Canadian rapper-singer worked in a sample by Soca vocalist Denise Belfon, which provided her royalties for her 1998 song “Work.”
"Because of Drake's team, the producer of 'Work' was forced to say 'yes,'" Belfon told Billboard about “Work” producer Pupa Nas-T. "For 28 years, he had refused to sign off on my receiving my royalties. With Drake adding my vocals on 'BBW,' he agreed that, moving forward, I would receive my appropriate payment."
