Wu-Tang Clan – Clarifies Beatles Usage, Shifts CD Date

Billboard.com reports: The WU-TANG CLAN has clarified a statement posted yesterday (Oct. 2) on its MySpace.com site that claimed the group had secured the “first-ever” authorized BEATLES sample for a song on its upcoming album, “The 8 Diagrams.”

Rather than a sample of THE BEATLES‘ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” the CLAN’s “The Heart Gently Weeps” actually features an “interpolation” of the track, with new recordings by George Harrison’s son Dhani, the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS‘ John Frusciante and soul vocalist Erykah Badu.

“(Harrison) himself helped secure the reuse license,” WU-TANG says in a statement, adding that its song will be streamed tonight on Loud.com and will serve as the first single from “The 8 Diagrams.”

The album, the group’s first in six years, was expected Nov. 13 via Loud but will now arrive Dec. 4.

Artists have had little luck securing permission to sample or interpolate elements of THE BEATLES‘ music over the years. However, rapper Ja Rule obtained permission to sample “Elanor Rigby” for the song “Judas,” which will appear on his Nov. 13 album “The Mirror.”

“We got the clearance — that’s a win in itself,” he tells Billboard.

(+51 rating, 17 votes)

• Digg
• Facebook
• del.icio.us
• RSS Feed
• Email This Post