Heartbeat (I'm ready)

One of my hobbies which I developed fairly recently is researching/learning of the origin of the music that I like, specifically, its production - what the producer sampled and what went into the making of the sound. Yesterday, I came across Rita Ora's song, RIP, which has reached mass appeal with almost 13 million views. It immediately rang reminiscent of Nneka's Heartbeat which I had spent a few days listening on repeat not too long ago. It also drew me back to Drake's unofficially released song Ready for You on his mixtape, So Far Gone. The story appears to be that Drake sampled Chase and Status's dubstep remix of Nneka's Heartbeat. Drake says that Ready for You was written for Rihanna to use on her album Loud but Rihanna did not want it and Rita Ora asked/bought the song (Drake talks to Kiss FM), thus RIP by Ora. Check out the original, remix and samples below. I think they are all fascinating and I will explain why I like each.

  1. Nneka's original is masterpiece. My ears, heart, feet, and arms feel something impeccable whenever I listen to this. Her voice, the lyrics, the drums!

2. In this live performance of the song at World Cafe Live, Nneka explains her inspiration for the song. The emotion with which she speaks about the events/motivations surrounding the song deeply moved me. "To Feel", Nneka, "To Feel"! & "To Love" because love heals everything.

3. Chase & Status's dubstep remix is a sure party jam for me. Love it!
 

4. Drake's Ready for You is a deeply personal song for me and is especially pertinent to where I am in life. RIP to the girl that you used to see. I am ready for you!

5. Rita Ora's track makes Drake's lyrics in Ready for You make sense in that the lyrics in his version appears to be written from a woman's perspective to a man. I would rather Nneka or Drake's version but I can understand why people like her version.

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