Kanye West's 10 Greatest Samples Of All-Time
2. Take Me For A Little While – The Royal Jesters
There’s little doubt that, compared with his previous albums, West’s 2018 album Ye was slightly lacking in the samples department. Although there are a few interesting choices peppered throughout the album, on the whole the number of memorable samples just doesn't compare to his previous work.
However, the use of The Royal Jester’s Take Me For A Little While in the album’s penultimate track Ghost Town was a brief return to form.
Since the original track's 1965 release, it has been covered by Dave Edmunds, Dusty Springfield and Vanilla Fudge at different times. However, West has certainly been the first to transform it into a hip-hop classic.
Upon its release, Ghost Town was received with significant praise with many critics remarking on West's unusual use of electric guitars and optimistic lyricism throughout the track.
Interestingly, the song, which featured guest vocals from PartyNextDoor, 070 Shake and Kid Cudi, was originally intended for release on West and Cudi's collaborative album Kids See Ghosts.
However, due to the collaborative nature of the two albums, the track was moved onto Ye whilst its second part, Freeee (Ghost Town Pt. 2), remained on Kids See Ghosts' eponymous debut.
Thankfully for West, this decision later proved to be fortuitous as the song was also widely singled out as Ye's best track.