Singer, songwriter and instrumentalist Bruce Hornsby has made his way into Hip Hop’s subconscious via being sampled by the likes of Wyclef Jean, E-40 and most notably Tupac Shakur. All three artists have either sampled or interpolated the 1986 hit “The Way It Is,” which was originally written and performed by Hornsby while he was a member of The Range. As part of their Tupac Week series, LA Weekly caught up with Hornsby and discussed how he felt about one of his more memorable tunes being co-opted into ‘Pac’s catalogue.
According to Hornsby, he was notified that his work was being used on one of the many posthumous 2Pac albums when a cassette with “Changes” on it arrived in his mail. There was a statement from the Shakur Foundation enclosed, which was apparently more of a notice than a request telling Hornsby that the song would be on ‘Pac’s Greatest Hits collection.
“The original [‘Changes’] was a lot dirtier, had a lot of the n-word,” Hornsby tells LA Weekly. “They took that out for the single. I didn’t request it; it’s their creation, it wasn’t my place to say anything.”
Hornsby added that the experiencing the song made him a 2Pac fan, and that due to the song’s message, he’s okay with the words on his now infamous chorus being changed around.
“And I must say I like the checks,” Hornsby said of the royalties he receives from “Changes.” “I was sort of floored by [2Pac’s creativity]. I thought he was so clever, and really profound, and deep. There’s a lot of gravitas to Tupac’s music, to me.”
For the entire interview, including a story about when two valet drivers parked Hornsby’s car while “Hit ‘Em Up” was playing in his car stereo, check out LA Weekly’s website.
RELATED: Producer Mike Mosley Recalls His Historic Work With 2Pac, E-40
Changes was probably one of the realest songs Pac ever made. The song is still relevant years after his death.
i hate the way dx writes out an entire transcript of an interview and then post the video anyway. just write a small intro then post that shit.
totally agree
1 of my fav all-time 2pac tracks and Hip-hop tracks..2pac really came thru on dat song and preached a message most rappers cud nvr do
I think this dude was in Robin Williams flick World’s Greatest Dad, that was some funny shit. Anyway, regardin’ this Pac joint, I think it’s bullshit. I can understand why people outside our scene take umbrage with rappers jackin’ other types of music, as exemplified by the terrible Changes. Simply pillagin’ some one’s music verbatim is not an art form. The way to do it is like Premo – take something like Weather Report, but don’t use the obvious hook. Only Pac joint I bump in my iPod is Got My Mind Made Up.
so you have a go at sampling and then praise premo. you’re an idiot.
classic track and interesting to hear the opinions of someone look at it from a different perspective.
Whats the name of Wyclefs track sampling Bruce Hornsby?
Damn if I didn’t just finish playing both of these songs today (Hornsby and Pac). It used to always irk me when people bashed sampling, because I’m one of those guys who can not only tell you what the original version was, but I can pull it up and let you hear it because I’ve already bought it.
I miss that ni#@a/Playboy