Lizzo is making it clear that she sees sampling as more than just a creative tool. For her, it is the foundation of hip hop and a vital part of Black artistry. While visiting the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast, she opened up about her upcoming release My Face Hurts When Smiling, before steering the discussion toward why she feels so strongly about sampling and how it has been misrepresented.
She recalled how the practice first gained prominence decades ago. “The first time people started sampling was who? It was rappers in the 80s and 90s,” Lizzo told the hosts. She emphasized that young artists of that era often lacked access to professional studios and traditional training, so they turned to their parents’ vinyl collections. By pulling sounds and reworking them, they created the backbone of a brand-new culture. “They created the genre of hip-hop through sampling records in their parents’ vinyls.” For her, that was the moment a cultural revolution took shape. “Hip-hop was born, and it was this beautiful thing.”
Yet, Lizzo believes the narrative took a damaging turn. Instead of celebrating the ingenuity, she said the focus shifted to accusations of wrongdoing. “I just feel like the theft of it all, putting theft on Black culture, that’s the part that kind of turns me off.” She pointed out that the very medium that birthed hip hop is now treated with suspicion. “Hip-hop’s medium was sampling. Sampling is a Black art that bred hip-hop. Hip-hop was born from sampling. And now sampling is synonymous with theft.”
Lizzo also placed blame on the system itself. “It was policing Black art,” she stated, arguing that copyright and sampling laws have historically targeted Black creativity. Lizzo admitted that protections are necessary, but she rejects the extremes outright. “When you’re suing people off of a vibe, it’s like, man, that’s the vibe of my song.”
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