One of the most popular songs from The Illz, “Cover Me (I’m Going In)” dropped in the Summer of 2010. Anyone who is familiar with the original sample probably knows about the 20+ rap songs that use the same exact sample. Because of that, The Illz and I made a decision to dead all promotion of the song, despite it actually getting some airplay and at the time being his most popular song. The following is the story of how the song came to fruition.
At the end of April 2010, The Illz was going through a “dub-step” phase. I personally don’t understand the appeal of rumbling bass frequencies and Roland TR909 drums but that’s what he was into at the time. He came across a La Roux remix and asked me if I could do something with it. Anyone that knows me, knows I hate making beats that way but he insisted. I replayed the main melody and added several other layers of instruments. The only portion of the beat that was sampled is the vocal for the hook. I sent my initial version which had a dirty-South sound. He sent his feedback and asked for some smoother drums. I updated, and the version that exists today was created.
The Illz recorded the song in mid-May and planned on releasing in August. Right before releasing, an episode of Entourage aired that played the La Roux remix during the credits. I guess a lot of rappers watch the show because what happened next is ridiculous.
When Cover Me started gaining traction in early September, we were bombarded with comments/questions about all the other songs using the same La Roux song. La Roux was getting looped more than James Brown “Funky Drummer” for god sakes. The Game, Jim Jones, Styles P, Swollen Members, Chris Webby, and over 20 other underground/ unknown rappers all used the same loop. Some sampled the dub-step version, some rapped over it, and some others replayed the beat. By October we decided the song was officially dead and time move on to something else.
I won’t go out and say we were the first to use the sample, because there obviously isn’t a way to prove that. However, I will say that the beat was made in May and we didn’t hear anyone else using it prior to the Entourage episode.