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Young Guru Says Stop Criticizing Producers Who Sample Songs From '90s

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JAY-Z’s longtime engineer Young Guru had a lot to say regarding the criticism producers have faced recently for sampling tracks from the late ’90s and early aughts.

“In 94 we sample records that were 20 years old from 74,” the legendary engineer wrote on Twitter. “Please stop critiquing the youth for sampling records that are from 2000 or even the 90’s. Let the youth be the youth!! You 50 trying to argue with a 20 something. Stop!!!”

It’s true criticism of sampling has ramped up in recent years. J. Cole faced a wave of critiques for sampling A Tribe Called Quest and Outkast melodies on his 2013 effort Born Sinner. DJ Khaled got an earful when he used an interloping of OutKast’s legendary 2000 hit “Ms. Jackson” for his 2019 track “Just Us” with SZA, and most recently Jack Harlow was eviscerated by critics who found his sampling of Fergie’s 2006 hit “Glamorous” for his Billboard-charting hit “First Class” to be just a diluted version of the original.

Needless to say, this isn’t the first time Young Guru has expressed a disinterest in the current state of Hip Hop culture. In January, Guru took issue with modern-day’s reliance on braggadocious lyrics.

“At this point you gotta say something,” he wrote on Twitter. “I’m starting to fall out of love with people who rap about how good they rap!!”

The producer’s tweet sparked an onslaught of responses on Twitter, with many divided on the subject of lyrics.

“I said that 40 years ago,” wrote Richard Simmons in response, while King Los wrote, “Factual.” Skillz, meanwhile, offered a different take and said, “I’d rather hear that than a bunch of murder & killing.”