E-Trends Buzzword Samples or Covers?

By Iyke Bede

In the music world, it isn’t uncommon to come across terms such as covers, and samples. In everyday use, there is a temptation to use them to describe music interchangeably. This confusion could stem from the fact that, in both cases, an original song is presented in a new format.

Now, if a portion of a copyrighted song is infused into a piece of recording in its original format, it is called a sample. An example is Burna Boy sampling an audio recording of Pat Boone’s ‘Twice as Tall’ on ‘Level Up (Twice as Tall). However, samples, oftentimes confused with replayed samples, aka interpolation.

To better understand replayed samples, Ayra Starr’s ‘Sare’ serves as a good example. Here, she records the chorus of Lijadu Sisters’ ‘Orere Elejigbo’, and positions it as her outro while retaining the lyrics and melody.

Covers, on the other hand, are done when an artiste takes an already existing song not originally performed by them and rerecords it in its entirety for their project. It can also be a case where they only perform it to an audience. In both cases, they may retain or change the instrumentation or melody but keep the original lyrics.