It was fine for Lupe Fiasco to sample Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s 1992 classic track, “T.R.O.Y.”

That’s the resounding answer after XXLMag.com asked hip-hop fans, ‘Was it cool for Lupe Fiasco to sample Pete Rock’s “T.R.O.Y.” Record?’

Sixty-three percent of fans voted, ‘Yes, sampling happens in hip-hop all the time,’ while 37 percent responded, ‘No, some records in rap shouldn’t be touched.’

This poll was triggered by Lupe, whose new “Around My Way (Freedom Ain’t Free)” single sampled Pete Rock’s “T.R.O.Y.,” angered the legendary New York rapper and producer.

“No disrespect to lupe fiasco and i like him alot but TROY should be left alone,” tweeted Pete Rock on Monday (May 21). Produced by Simonsayz and B-Sidet, Lu’s single “Around My Way (Freedom Ain’t Free)” features a sample from Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s 1992 classic “T.R.O.Y. (They Reminisce Over You)” a record that Pete feels shouldn’t have been recreated. “Feel so violated,the beat is next to my heart and was made. Outta anguish and pain. When it’s like that it should not be touched by no one!”

“Man I’m a lupe fan and everything but TROY was my homie man. I think about him and Hev every fucking day!!!! Smh,” tweeted by Pete via his @PeteRock account. “Yo hev and t-Roy I love and miss da shit outta y’all. U guys have been violated with no Vaseline. So fucked up this business smmfh!!! And I don’t care who got something to say about it, kiss my.. I’m not flattered @ all. Dat shit is wack, and the producer should be ashamed of his fuckin self.”

On Tuesday (May 23), Lupe responded to Rock’s Twitter tirade.

“That was a little unexpected seeing that because we had already reached out to him,” Lupe said on WGCI’s Tony Sculfield and The Morning Riot radio show. “Yeah, [we reached out to him] to get his blessings. We wouldn’t had did it if [not]. Especially what it means to him and what it represents for him and how deep and how personal the record is for him.

“At the same time too, Heavy D passing and all that stuff, we tried to be as sensitive as possible with it and make sure we represented correctly,” added Lupe, who was referring to fallen rap legend Heavy D, who Pete Rock counted as a first cousin.

Lupe also reminded fans that he isn’t the first rapper to rhyme over “T.R.O.Y.” Mann’s, J.R. Rotem-produced “Reminisce” sampled the classic, as did the remixed version of the song, which featured Journalist, Mr. Cheeks and Pete Rock and CL Smooth themselves.

Disheartened by Pete Rock’s reaction, Lupe said he wasn’t going to comment on the situation again.

“The friends and family is dealing with that,” Lupe added. “They the ones who put it together. The people who initially reached out to them from my camp to his camp, I guess they was on the phone [Monday] night, trying to figure out what was going on.  I’m kind of a third party. It was a shock to me and it was kind of best to fall back.”—Mark Lelinwalla

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