Songs Released In 2016 That Have Sampled 80s/90s/00s Hits

There is new, original, and amazing music being created everyday by your favorite artists. BUT, these artists also can appreciate and honor the work of many of the hit songs from the past -- one-hit-wonders or not. What's happened a lot this year, is that quite a few popular songs from the 80s, 90s, and early 00s are being reinvented, transformed, and sampled to become a brand new version. 

Last Friday (Oct. 14), Machine Gun Kelly released his new single "Bad Things" featuring Fifth Harmony's Camila Cabello. The song is anything but a bad thing -- the rapper and the singer actually make a great team on this track. "Bad Things" itself samples Fastball's 1998 single "Out of My Head," and after listening to it, we couldn't help but wonder -- is this trend in music becoming more popular? 

Across several genres, including pop, hip hop, R&B, and EDM, artists are recreating and putting a new spin on many hits from the past. Take a look at some of the songs released this year alone, that have given some of these older tunes a new life.

Machine Gun Kelly feat. Camila Cabello - "Bad Things" samples Fastball's "Out of My Head"

In case you're not familiar with Fastball, their song "Out of My Head" was featured on their second studio album called All the Pain Money Can Buy. The song hit No. 3 on the US Billboard Adult Top 40 chart, No. 8 on the Top 40 Mainstream chart, No. 10 on the Top 40 Tracks chart, and No. 20 on the Hot 100.

For their part, MGK and Camila sampled the song's melody, even using similar lyrics for the chorus. Fastball starts off "Was I out of my head or was I out of my mind?" and "Don't matter what I say, only what I do/I never mean to do bad things to you," while in "Bad Things," Camila sings, "Am I out of my head? Am I out of my mind?" and "No matter what you say/Don't matter what you do/I only wanna do bad things to you." 

Tory Lanez's "Luv" samples Tanto Metro & Devonte's "Everyone Falls In Love"

We can all thank Tory Lanez for bringing back everyone's middle school dance anthem. For his 2016 hit, Tory sampled Jamaican dancehall duo Tanto Metro & Devonte's hit from 1997, "Everyone Falls In Love." The melody and lyrics from "Everyone Falls In Love" are refreshed in Lanez's "LUV" -- and honestly, it's hard NOT to love "LUV." 😍

Nevada featuring Mark Morrison & Fetty Wap refreshes Mark Morrison's classic "Return of the Mack"

This year, Mark Morrison's 1996 R&B classic "Return of the Mack" turns 20 years old -- that's two decades! The track became a No. 1 or a Top 10 hit in several European countries that year, and also reached No. 2 in the US in 1997. To celebrate the song's anniversary, 25-year-old, Stockholm-based songwriter/DJ/producer, Nevada reinvented the track by using Morrison's well-known sample, also adding a verse from Fetty Wap -- complete with plenty of "SQUAWs." 

Zendaya featuring Chris Brown "Something New" samples TLC's "Creep" 

Earlier this year, Zendaya released a single featuring Chris Brown called "Something New." Well, that "Something New," featured something a little older -- TLC's 1994 hit "Creep" from the trio's CrazySexyCool album. Back in March, Zendaya told us in an interview that when she first heard the song, the sample was already in it, and is what drew her to it. "I think [that's what] drew me to the song. I had to cut it." 

Zendaya also told us, "T-Boz, I wanted to make sure that she was cool with the song, and get her blessing, I guess you could say in a sense. Because you gotta respect artists and their art, and what they do. And you can't sample a song like that, or do your take on a song and not get the blessing if that person is here. And so, I was like, let me make sure I go through the proper protocol and everything, because you don't wanna be disrespectful. I happen to have a good relationship with her anyway, because we connected on charity and Sickle Cell Anemia. She was doing a benefit concert for Sickle Cell [Anemia], and that's kind of how we connected, was through our other passions for charity work. And then it just happened, this was the song I wanted [to release] first, so I wanted to play it for her, and she was so into it."

Jonas Blue's "Fast Car" gives a fresh update to Tracy Chapman's 1988 version

Tracy Chapman's 1988 song "Fast Car" is a classic. It was the lead single from her self-titled debut album, and the song became a top 10 hit in the US following the singer/songwriter's appearance on the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium. Fast forward to 2016, and producer/DJ Jonas Blue put his own spin on the tune in an updated and addicting tropical house version featuring the vocals of singer/songwriter Dakota.

Back in March, Jonas told us of his take on "Fast Car" during an interview that the track was actually one of his mother's favorite songs, and she would often play it in the car on long drives, which ultimately inspired him to recreate it in his own way. He said, "It was a good song in London [during] that time when I was growing up, so it was always on the radio. And it just kind of stuck with me. It was that song on the long journeys, and I loved it."

David Guetta, Cedric Gervais & Chris Willis teamed up to put their own spin on Charles & Eddie's "Would I Lie To you?"

Let's throw this one back to 1992. American pop-soul duo Charles & Eddie may have only released two full length albums, but they are best known for their hit song "Would I Lie To You?" The track was a big international success for them reaching No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks, and becoming a Top 20 hit in the US (it peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100). 

This year, star producer/DJs David Guetta and Cedric Gervais, along with singer/songwriter Chris Willis, decided to refresh Charles & Eddie's 1992 smash in a more upbeat way, and it's pretty awesome -- we wouldn't lie to you. 😉

Mandy Jiroux's "Insane" is a new take on Blind Melon's "No Rain"

You may remember Mandy Jiroux from her YouTube videos with Miley Cyrus "The Miley and Mandy Show." But since then, she's had an incredible career as a dancer/choreographer, and this year she released a single called "Insane." The song is sampling Blind Melon's 1993 hit single "No Rain," which is the band's most successful song (the track went multi-platinum and reached No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100). The melody and guitar riffs in "No Rain" are so well-known, and for her take on the tune, Mandy sampled them both, but kicking it up a notch, turning it into an upbeat dance song.

Back in August, Mandy told us during an interview how her version of the song came about:

"I was in the studio with one of my producers, and we were thinking of what we could do that's super cool and different, and single material. So, he picked up a guitar and just played that classic 'No Rain' guitar riff, and I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, I love that song.' Everyone else in the studio felt the same, and then I just kind of said where I think we should take it, and hopefully the Blind Melon guys would let us use it. And it turned out that they loved the song so much. I'm the only artist that they've ever let use that classic hook."

Cheat Codes & Dante Klein's "Let Me Hold You" gave Kevin Lyttle's "Turn Me On" an update

In 2004, Kevin Lyttle teamed up with dancehall artist Spragga Benz, and they created a version of "Turn Me On" that became a worldwide hit, peaking within the top 10 in 15 countries! The song actually samples R&B group 112's song "All My Love" from their sophomore album Room112 (SAMPLE INCEPTION). This year, electronic music group Cheat Codes and producer/DJ Dante Klein recreated Lyttle's hit from 12 years ago, and now we have a brand new tropical EDM version.

Belgian DJ/producer Lost Frequencies gives us the 2016 version of Haddaway's "What Is Love"

WHAT IS LOVE? BABY, DON'T HURT ME, DON'T HURT ME. NO MORE. 

While this song may make you think of Will Ferrell and Chris Katan as the awkwardly head-bobbing, nightclub-obsessed Butabi brothers from the "Saturday Night Live" sketches and 1998 flick A Night at the Roxbury, the track from Eurodance artist Haddaway was released in 1993 for his debut album The Album, and became an international hit. If you're a dance music fan of any capacity -- this is a commercial classic. 

Now, the track (while still staying true to its memorable qualities like the melody and lyrics) got a complete makeover from Belgian producer/DJ Lost Frequencies -- "What Is Love 2016." This new version of the song is included on LF's debut album Less Is More.

All we have to say is, if less is more, then this must be what love is. ❤️