Mariah Carey Shades Rapper Who Sampled ‘Shake It Off’: “Respond To My Lawyers” + Questlove Intervenes

Mariah Carey Shades Rapper Who Sampled ‘Shake It Off’: “Respond To My Lawyers” + Questlove Intervenes

Mariah Carey is known for speaking her mind when it comes to the music industry and new artists that emerge, so it’s no surprise the legendary singer was not too happy with a recent sampling of one of her hit songs. On Friday (May 7), Baltimore rapper YTK released his song “Let if Off” which allegedly uses an  uncleared sample of Carey’s 2005 hit song “Shake it Off” from her album “The Emancipation of Mimi.” RNB Radar CEO Tommy Banks tweeted a snippet of the song and music video. He captioned the post,

“Mariah Carey has 24 hours to respond”

In the video, rapper YTK is seen wearing a ski mask, smoking and flashing a pistol while rapping to the sampled track.

Mariah Carey has 24 hours to respond. pic.twitter.com/t3tbDu6K96

— Tommy Banks (@rnbtommy) May 7, 2021

The Grammy-winning singer caught wind of the video on Saturday (May 8) and quickly responded, seemingly giving a warning to the rapper.

“How about y’all have 24 hours to respond to my lawyers”

How about y'all have 24 hours to respond to my lawyers ? https://t.co/53Jg01jINK pic.twitter.com/bO0HC36x2z

— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) May 8, 2021

While most took this as Mariah Carey throwing her infamous shade, it appears this exchange may have been a playful one. RNB Radar CEO Tommy Banks later tweeted that Carey was just joking and that The Roots member, Questlove is involved in helping clear the sample. In addition to his Tweet, he also shared a screenshot of what appears to be a DM with Questlove about clearing the sample.Banks wrote,

“Hey I want to reiterate that Mariah was joking, please stop saying rude sh*t to her. 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.”

hey I want to reiterate that Mariah was joking, please stop saying rude shit to her.

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 pic.twitter.com/na96mWyVBz

— Tommy Banks (@rnbtommy) May 8, 2021

Questlove also took to social media to help clarify the apparent misunderstanding. He recalled a similar situation over a decade ago when Erykah Badu needed to a clear a sample with Paul McCartney for her song “Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long.” Questlove wrote,

“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! #PayItForward.”

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! #PayItForward

— B.R.O.theR. ?uestion (@questlove) May 8, 2021

While Mariah Carey has not confirmed if she was joking or being serious, we’re glad to see that Questlove was able to step in and help assist in the matter. It’s safe to say, this attention definitely helped garner more attention for YTK and RNB Radar. “Let It Off” has already received 5 million impressions Almost 1 million views.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!