Road to the Grammys: 5 Times GloRilla Bodied a Sample
It’s safe to say sampling is becoming a lost art, or at least doing it the right way is. These days, a lot of artists lean on nostalgia to do the heavy lifting, but memories alone don’t make hits. A sample still has to be flipped with intention, shaped to the artist’s tone, message, and audience. GloRilla gets that. With three Grammy nominations to prove it, she’s one of the newer artists who knows how to body a sample.
To celebrate her nods for Best Rap Artist and Best Rap Song, here are five times Glo did exactly that.
Wanna Be featuring Megan Thee Stallion
“Wanna Be” dropped as a single from GloRilla’s EP "Ehhthang Ehhthang," released ahead of her debut album as a temperature check. The track pulls from Project Pat’s “Don’t Save Her” and Soulja Boy’s 2010 hit “Pretty Boy Swag.” The samples are instantly recognizable, but Glo and the girls flip them into an anthem that is completely their own.
Yeah Glo!
When this record dropped, it was clear GloRilla wasn’t going anywhere. The video feels like a moment of reflection as she cruises through Memphis as her present self, then crosses paths with her past life working at Checkers. Built around a sample of DaBanggaz314’s “Run Up Get Done Up,” the song turns a local classic into a full-circle moment.
Whatchu Know Bout Me featuring Sexyy Red
We all know “Wipe Me Down” is basically a negro spiritual, so sampling it and getting the reaction she wanted meant she had to come correct — and she did. Bringing in Sexyy Red, GloRilla gave the girls a summer anthem that’s still in heavy rotation. Mission accomplished.
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Never Find featuring K Carbon
Some of y’all might be too young to know Something for the People, but trust, they were one of the best R&B groups of the late ’90s. “My Love Is the Shhh!” captures the feeling of being irreplaceable in an intimate sense, and GloRilla and K Carbon agreed. They sped up the beat, gave it a modern spin, and it bangs.
HOLLON
When GloRilla teased this sample on social media, fans were ready for it to drop that same day. Instead, she waited, letting the anticipation build, and released it when no one expected. Flipping UNK’s classic “Hold On Ho,” she added a few new instrumental elements and made it completely her own.
