All hell broke loose on social media when Drake released his new album Views and dancehall fans found that the Canadian rapper replaced Popcaan with Beenie Man on “Controlla.”
Dancehall fans were surprisingly upset particularly Popcaan fans. The “Unruly Boss” deejay has a verse on the original version of the single which was leaked online last month. But there was no signs of any corn popping on the album version. Instead, Drizzy and his producer 40 injected a two decade old Beenie Man sample from the dancehall legend’s single “Tear Off Mi Garments.”
Beenie Man Builds A Church In His Community
In response to his critics, Beenie Man says that it is a good look for dancehall when Drake sample his 1995 hit.
“They reached out to me to clear the sample then he reached out to me to do an intro for the song,” Beenie said. “It’s a big deal. 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. It’s always great. For him to idolise me like that, it’s a big deal.”
Beenie Man has worked with a lot of international artists in the past including Moya and Janet Jackson.
Dancehall music saw a decline on the international stage over the last decade but the genre is now seeing a resurgence back into the mainstream of music.
“Dancehall is in the mainstream now,” the dancehall icon added. “No. 1 Billboard song (Rihanna Work). Dancehall is a culture that everyone wants to be a part of. Nobody wants to be part of a culture with no meaning in it. Right now, everybody tries to kick it with the dancehall.”
