Shefali BeheraSocial media platforms like, TikTok, have given the younger generation a platform to explore the sounds and music from past eras. These platforms have also made it easy to take these songs and mash them up and remix them. With music streaming apps collaborating with these popular platforms, the possibilities are endless. Ultimately, this allows certain artists and songs to remain popular for years, if not decades, after their debut. We’ve put together a list of five different popular songs that get remixed and sampled often.
5 Popular Songs That Get Remixed and Sampled
“Teach Me How To Dougie” by Cali Swag District
Cali Swag District’s first single, “Teach Me How to Dougie” has gained a lot of success. This song was initially released in 2010 and is still trending in 2022. It brought light to a new type of dance called the Dougie, which people still use in recent trending TikTok dances. Having become so popular, this song has been used in countless remixes. Some examples include the mashup with “Come Back…Be Here” by Taylor Swift, and the mashup with “Whatcha Say” by Jason Derulo. Both of the following examples have gone viral on social media.
“Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye ft. Kimbra
Gotye released the song, “Somebody That I Used to Know,” in 2011 and it gained a large amount of popularity immediately afterward. The song itself, actually used a sample from the song “Seville” by Luiz Bonfa. In addition, the beginning contains a familiar nursery rhyme melody, helping to make it so catchy. Countless remixes have been made from this song. One very popular remix is the 80’s mix which has also gone viral on social media. Currently, it has more than 15 million views on YouTube.
“Murder She Wrote” by Chaka Demus & Pliers
This reggae/dancehall song by Chaka Demus and Pliers was released in 1993. The familiar bass line in “Murder She Wrote” has been used in many popular songs that we know today. The song, “El Taxi” by Pitbull uses a very similar bassline to this song. In addition to this, he uses some of the same melodies from the vocals. Omarion and Chris Brown also sing a part of these lyrics in their song “Post to Be,” with Jhene Aiko.
“Still Not A Player” by Big Pun ft. Joe
This old school R&B/Hip-Hop song has been both sampled and remixed countless times. One of the most popular songs that sampled Big Pun’s “Still Not A Player” was, “The Way” by Ariana Grande featuring Mac Miller. This song became very successful, and it made its way to number one on iTunes. Ariana Grande, however, was not the only one to sample the song. Brenda Russel had also sampled the song in her hit, “A Little Bit of Love.” This version created a slower and neo-soul type of vibe to the song, as Ariana Grande’s version was more upbeat and pop.
“U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer
MC Hammer released “U Can’t Touch This” in 1981 and has received tons of success since then. It has been used in more than 20 well-known movies and tv-shows. It was also rated number one for 20 weeks on the charts. This hit sampled Rick James’ “Super Freak,” as he was later sued for using the song without his permission. Nowadays on social media, this song is a major trend and people are making countless remixes to it. The popular remix in fact is a remix with “Super Freak,” which gained a large amount of success on TikTok.
