MuchMusic.com

You’ve heard that saying about ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’? You know, where someone who is trying to reach new heights is perched on top of the people who have come before? Well, when you’re giants like Kanye West and Jay Z, who can you possibly build off of that can shoulder the weight of such superstars?

Kanye turned to none other than Otis Redding to sample and that collaboration with Jay-Z “Otis” became a hit, introducing a new generation to the song “Try A Little Tenderness.” Clearing samples is often a problem for producers who cannot afford to pay the pricey licensing rights that comes with sampling popular ‘oldies’ but money doesn’t seem to be a problem for people Jay-Z and Kanye.

It is Otis Redding’s family, however, that needed to give permission to use the sample as they’ve guarded Otis Redding’s legacy all this time. Luckily, The Throne was granted permission to use a song, and a modern day hip hop classic was born.

Check out our Black History Month playlist here.