12 Songs You Didn’t Know Were Sampled

To end this list, let's go with one of the biggest songs of the 2000s and how the quintessential tune that plays throughout Crazy In Love is actually from a much lesser known song from the early 1970s.

Close to the start of Are You My Woman (around 9 seconds in), you will hear a little riff that will start to sound all too familiar.

Before being used in this hit song from Beyoncé, record producer Rich Harrison had sampled this tune and had intended it for other works. However, when he played the sample, he only received negative feedback. He then waited for the right opportunity to present itself.

Eventually, he got in contact with Beyoncé who also originally did not like the track. She gave him 2 hours to write a song using that sample giving him the ultimatum that If he could do it, she would use it and if not, she wouldn’t. Luckily for Harrison, and R&B pop lovers, he did.

This gamble paid off and the song reached number one across many different countries, including the UK, US, and the Europe wide charts.