G. Dep has admitted that he was initially unhappy when he heard Lil Wayne had flipped his hit single “Special Delivery” on “Uproar.”
The Swizz Beatz– and Avenue-produced song, released in 2018 as part of Tha Carter V, doesn’t technically sample Dep’s 2001 hit but instead uses the same source material, “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” by The Moog Machine, in almost identical fashion.
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Appearing on the BagFuel podcast, Dep recalled his initial reaction to “Uproar” — and it was not a positive one.
“I was like, ‘Yo, Wayne, what happened, man?’ I ain’t gonna lie, at first I was like, ‘Damn! Why would they make a single off of a single?’ It took me a minute to kinda dissect what was happening,” he said.
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The New York native also revealed that he did not get paid for “Uproar” due to it not actually sampling “Special Delivery,” despite the obvious similarities in the production.
Despite his initial gripes, G. Dep he has since changed his tune on the song, saying: “After a while, I was like, ‘This is kinda dope.’ The dude took the time to get on one of my joints. I was like, ‘Wow.’ I was honored.”
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He added: “After a while, I was like, ‘Well, damn, the song been out for a minute so this is a blessing.’ It was in all kinds of movies and all that. I was like, ‘Yo, they just brought the song back!'”
Dep also noted how he has brought things full circle by jumping on Weezy’s “Uproar” beat and dropping a remix he dubbed “Deproar (Look What You Made Me Do).”
The original producer of “Special Delivery,” EZ Elpee was also not happy when he heard “Uproar” and previously claimed that he was not credited by Lil Wayne and Swizz Beatz.
Speaking exclusively to HipHopDX after its release, he said: “They stole my shit.”
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“I went into the comments or whatever, and [Swizz] is trying to downplay it,” he added. “It’s just like if I took ‘Ruff Ryders Anthem’ and did it over and didn’t give him a credit for it.
“I know you need a record. I understand that. I know you’re trying to reinvent yourself. That’s dope. There’s nothing wrong with that. But, like, damn, my n-gga. You trying to act like you never heard ‘Special Delivery?’”
G. Dep was released from prison earlier this year after spending 14 years behind bars for shooting and killing a man in 1993 when he was 18-years-old.
In 2010, Dep turned himself in long after the case had gone cold and was handed a lengthy prison sentence two years later.
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The 49-year-old spoke to the New York Post about his decision to confess to the crime, saying: “Maybe at the end of serving time or after looking back, someone might feel differently. But now I feel what I did was right.”
