SAMPLED: Kid Cudi – "Young Lady"

by Aaron Zorgel

April 18, 2013

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SAMPLED examines the skeletal production of a contemporary rap, R&B, hip-hop or pop song — Where did the loop, sample, or chopped up vocal providing the backbone originate? SAMPLED gives you the history, the context, and the insight.

This week, we’re breaking down the sample used on Kid Cudi’s “Young Lady,” an album cut from his third studio album, Inicud:

There’s a good chance Kid Cudi’s iTunes library is 90% indie-rock. In the past, he’s sampled songs by MGMT, Band Of Horses, Vampire Weekend, and St. Vincent, and this time around, he’s flipped a sample from Baltimore folk-rocker J. Tillman’s catalogue.

Before recording as Father John Misty, Joshua Tillman released seven albums as J. Tillman, performing extensively in the Seattle music scene, and touring internationally, both independently and as a member of Fleet Foxes. In 2012, Tillman made the switch in character to Father John Misty, releasing Fear Fun on Sub Pop records on April 30th, 2012. “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” appears on Fear Fun, and is a jangly, boomy anthem referring to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, one of the oldest and largest cemeteries in Los Angeles.

“Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” by Father John Misty was recently sampled in Kid Cudi’s “Young Lady”:

Could Kid Cudi’s departure from G.O.O.D. Music have something to do with his indie-rock leanings? That seems unlikely, based on Kanye West’s affinity for folk-warbler Bon Iver, but you’ve gotta wonder what sort of creative differences resulted in the split. Maybe it’s the unrelenting sadness that seems to pour out of Cudder these days.

Cudi has had success sampling guitar-based folky, indie-rock before, and on this self-produced track, he once again captures the moody, ethereal vibe that dominates his post-WZRD output. On “Young Lady,” he lowers the pitch, and increases the tempo of the Father John Misty original, preserving Misty’s “Jesus Christ, girl” as the song’s hook.

Tags: Music, News, Father John Misty, Kid Cudi

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