1 Kanye West Song Samples Michael Jackson’s ‘P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)’

TL;DR:

• A Kanye West song from Graduation samples Michael Jackson’s “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing).”
• West always wanted to know what “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” would sound like if he changed it.
• Another musician discussed how West created the melody of the song.

Michael Jackson‘s “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” inspired one of Kanye West’s songs. West changed “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” considerably before sampling it for one of his tracks. In addition, other prominent musicians sampled Jackson around the same time.

Kanye West changed the key of Michael Jackson’s ‘P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)’

DJ Toomp co-wrote and co-produced some of West’s songs. During a 2012 interview with Complex, DJ Toomp revealed what happened while creating West’s album Graduation.

The producer gave fans insight into the creation of the Graduation song “Good Life.” “The making of ‘Good Life’ started off with Ye playing with a Michael Jackson sample, ‘P.Y.T.,’ he recalled. “All of a sudden he was like, ‘Yo, I always wanted to do something with this … I want to hear it in a different key.’ So we just started playing with the sample and he sent it over to me.”

How the rapper made a new melody with the beat of ‘P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)’

DJ Toomp felt West made the sample his own. “Because we were in the same room, he just transferred the sounds over to my keyboard and I started playing with it, then he started singing the melody and started putting the bassline with it,” he added. “It was crazy.”

DJ Toomp recalled when the melody of “Good Life” came together. We just started playing with the sample, and once we got it in the right key we wanted, that’s when he started singing the melody, and I started adding more to the beat. We then had a few players to come in with the synthesizers, and the s*** was crazy.”

Kanye West was not the only major celebrity who sampled a Michael Jackson song in the 2000s

“Good Life” was part of a larger 2000s trend of musicians sampling Jackson’s catalog. Rihanna’s single “Don’t Stop the Music” incorporates elements of “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.” In addition, Jay-Z’s “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” reworks the riff from The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.”

Jackson was the King of Pop and West, Rihanna, and Jay-Z all proved he had a tremendous influence on other artists.