Otis Redding’s Daughter Talks Jay-Z & Kanye’s”Otis” Single
For those that still aren’t in the know concerning Jay-Z and Kanye West’s new single “Otis,” the song is named after and samples legendary soul singer Otis Redding.
In a recent interview with Billboard, Karla Redding-Andrews, the daughter of the late great singer, talked about the background story surrounding “Otis.”
“We first heard about the song in early July, end of June,” Redding-Andrews said.
“Concord Music Group has the masters and Bill Belmont and Michele Smith from Concord brought it to us.
“There was a back and forth about whether the name of the song would be “Otis” or “Otis Redding.”
And we just wanted to make sure lyrics and references in the song worked with the legacy of my father.
“To have two current, legendary” artists use the legendary music of Otis Redding-we were quite honored.”
Karla Redding-Andrews also talked about clearing the Otis Redding sample produced by Kanye, who also sampled Redding for “Gone” from Late Registration album.
“It always amounts to respect to Otis,” she said.
“It always depends on how it’s used and what the artist has going on at the time. All of that goes into play.
“It all went through the record companies,” Karla said when asked if she met personal with Jay-Z and Kanye about the sample.
“That’s the nature of the business and it’s probably better that way.
“[If we met with them], we would probably bring more personal considerations into it.
“But this is a wonderful opportunity.
“We really like the song and the swagger elements that are in the song. It speaks to the star that Otis was in his day.”
Jay-Z and Kanye’s Watch The Throne album is scheduled to be released digitally on August 8th, and in stores on August 12th.
Listen to “Otis” here.
