Mariah Carey attends Varietys 2019 Power of Women: Los Angeles presented by Lifetime at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on Oct. 11, 2019 in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Mariah Carey has responded to a recent sampling of her hit song "Shake It Off" in true Mimi fashion, leaving many wondering if shes being serious or just kidding around.
On Friday (May 7), RNB Radar CEO Tommy Banks tweeted a snippet of Baltimore rapper YTKs new track "Let It Off," which samples Carey’s 2005 hit "Shake It Off" that peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
RNB Radars tweet caught the attention of Carey less than 24 hours later, who seemingly threatened that YTK needs to clear the sample of her song. "How about yall have 24 hours to respond to my lawyers," the superstar singer captioned a GIF of her 2018 song "GTFO" on Saturday (May 8).
A quick look through RNB Radars tweets, however, reveals that the back-and-forth may be a playful joke -- and that Questlove is involved in helping clear the sample.
"Hey I want to reiterate that Mariah was joking, please stop saying rude s--- to her," RNB Radar wrote alongside a screenshot of what appears to be a DM with Questlove about clearing the sample. "She told that same joke to Quest Love hours before she responded to the tweet and put us in contact with the people who can help us clear it! so it’s not a problem on her end."
Questlove also chimed in on social media, recalling a similar situation over a decade ago when Erykah Badu needed to a clear a Wings sample with Paul McCartney for her song "Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long."
"I’m DYIN. I helped w the Mariah sample cause 11 years ago we were in the same situation in which Erykah has 24 hours to clear Gone Baby Don’t Be Long w Paul McCartney & Lenny Kravitz saw the tweet & hit up Stella to hit her pops & the song was saved!" The Roots drummer tweeted, adding the hashtag #PayItForward.
Whatever the case, RNB Radars attempt to create a viral sensation with YTKs "Let It Off" has worked like a charm. "In 24 hours: I was able to get YTK 5 million impressions Almost 1 million views 100’s of celebrities retweeting it and Mariah herself responded," Banks tweeted.
