Drake, "Best I Ever Had"

I'm not opposed to sampling. I roll my eyes when samples are used in excessively obvious ways (see: Puff Daddy's mid-'90s karaoke), but I admire the creative potential of the form and wish licensing weren't such a damn hassle. (Flo & Eddie, I'm looking at you.) Repurposing existing material is an art in its own right.

But I get really, really disappointed when an old song I love is sampled in a novel way - and wasted on a horrid new song that doesn't deserve such a production assist.

L&Gs, I present Drake's current Top 10 hit "Best I Ever Had," a worst-of-year candidate except for that inspired interlacing of (if my ears aren't failing me) the billowing bass and tinkling piano of the opening notes to Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds' "Fallin' in Love." (Note that I've substituted the "clean" version of Drake's hit - not because I'm a prude, but because it's too depressing a trend in 2009 that someone should go Top 10 with a chorus hook that goes "You tha fuckin' best.") At least the sentiment of the sample is retained, if not the dignity.