In the creative community, inspiration can come from virtually anywhere. We often wonder what might have influenced the artists who shape modern music. Sometimes it’s as simple as looking to the past.
There’s a long list of stone-cold classics that rearrange older songs that were themselves classics – the Fugees’ remake of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” for instance, or Run-D.M.C’s collaborative cover with Aerosmith for “Walk This Way,” or Snoop Dogg’s take on Slick Rick’s “ La Di Da Di,” “Lodi Dodi.” Today, we’re witnessing a new era of covers, surely inspired by the fact that the music of the world has been made so widely available.
Take Lil Uzi Vert’s “CS,” for example – a not-so-obvious nod to System of a Down’s “Chop Suey!” – or Metro Boomin’s collab with the Weeknd, “Creepin',” which reaches back to 2004’s “I Don’t Want to Know” by Mario Winans. Take a ride through a huge range of covers breathing new life into classic tracks, from artists including Tems, T-Pain, Snoh Aalegra, and Pusha T.
LISTEN TO THE COVERED: REIMAGINED TRACKS PLAYLIST ON SOUNDCLOUD NOW
Lil Uzi Vert - CS
On his latest full-length, Uzi takes a sharp left turn with this faithful nu-metal cover of System of a Down’s 2001 TK “Chop Suey!” “Covers are always the biggest compliment,” SOAD frontman Serj Tankian posted on his socials.
Pusha T - White Lines (Cocaine Bear Remix)
This remake of Melle Mel’s classic hip-hop cautionary tale was the perfect bump for the “Cocaine Bear” soundtrack. Who else to chop it up but Pusha T, the King of Coke Rap?
Silk Sonic - Love Train
Silk Sonic – the slick mashup of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak – is in all ways a bighearted tribute to the classic funk, soul, and R&B both artists adore. This remake of Con Funk Shun’s 1982 hit is a luxury car on the love train of come-on songs.
Tems - No Woman No Cry
Temilade Openiyi broke out with features for Drake and Future. The Nigerian singer came into her own with this gentle version of one of Bob Marley’s most popular songs, recorded for the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” soundtrack. Dry your tears, I say.
Metro Boomin, The Weeknd, 21 Savage - Creepin'
The trail of Metro Boomin’s “Creepin’” is a long and winding road. The song remakes Mario Winans’s “I Don’t Wanna Know” (2004), which samples the Fugees’ “Ready or Not” (1996)... which was inspired by both Enya and the Delfonics. Capice?
Robert Glasper - Everybody Wants To Rule The World (feat. Lalah Hathaway & Common)
Robert Glasper has utterly remade jazz in his own image since his arrival. Here, with some help from Lalah Hathaway and Common, he utterly reimagines Tears for Fears’ 1985 smash as a daydream.
robyn - Buffalo Stance (feat. Mapei)
“Buffalo Stance” was a big, bold dance hit for Neneh Cherry in 1988. More than 30 years later, she hit that pose again, enlisting Robyn and Mapei to contribute to this reimagined version of her own song.
SNOH AALEGRA - DO 4 LOVE
“Got a thing for you, and I can’t let it go.” The late Bobby Caldwell’s great 1978 song “What You Won’t Do for Love” still sticks in the craw, as it clearly does for Snoh. Her version slows the tempo way down – the better to lose yourself in.
Teyana Taylor - Gett Off
Teyana Taylor was tasked with this remake of Prince’s 1991 hit for the soundtrack of “Coming 2 America.” Prince’s own version of “Gett Off,” in turn, owed a clear debt to James Brown’s “Mother Popcorn”: “You got to have a mother for me.”
The Weeknd - Jealous Guy
John Lennon’s somber, self-aware ballad gets the spaced-out Mike Dean treatment in the Weeknd’s modernized-but-still-true cover.
WanMor - I Call Your Name
The brothers who make up the new R&B group WanMor have a close connection to previous generations of the music: Their dad is Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men. Here they cover a tune by another R&B group with pedigree: the original Switch featured two of the DeBarge brothers.
Halsey - Die 4 Me
After contributing a verse to Post Malone’s “Die for Me” in 2019, Halsey expanded that into a full-fledged track of her own. These verses are all her, she has said: “Spit them right out like a bad taste in my mouth.”
Baby Tate - Hey, Mickey!
Baby Tate wormed her way into your heart with this 2016 electro cover of Toni Basil’s “Mickey,” the cheerleader chant that lit up the airwaves back in 1981. Tate’s version picks up the naughty innuendo right where the original left off.
Coco Jones - Until The End of Time
“I’ve been a fan of the song since it first came out,” said Leon Thomas when his duet with Coco Jones released earlier this year. When Justin Timberlake re-recorded his 2006 song with a certain somebody named Beyonce, we were all fans.
Sevyn Streeter - It's A Man's World
Former girl-grouper Sevyn Streeter takes on the Hardest Working Man in Show Business with her recent cover of James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World.” The song, of course, makes it clear that “it wouldn’t mean nothing without a woman or a girl.”
T-Pain - Don't Stop Believin
The Auto-Tune king’s recent joint, “On Top of the Covers,” is a collection of – you guessed it – covers. What you may not have guessed are the songs he’s chosen, including this straight-ahead version of Journey’s empowerment anthem.
LISTEN TO THE COVERED: REIMAGINED TRACKS PLAYLIST ON SOUNDCLOUD NOW
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