Kanye West and Lil Pump’s hit single "I Love It" is bookended by some brief yet striking audio provided by comedian and actress Adele Givens. The repeated excerpt barely lasts 10 seconds, but it may be just as memorable as the song itself. The lines come from Givens’ 1992 routine for Def Comedy Jam.
Skip ahead to the 29-second mark to hear the part Kanye sampled from her set:
Billboardspoke to the woman behind it all to see how she ended up on one of the biggest songs in the country today.
"One of his producers called and asked if I’d like to be featured on a song he had, asking me if I’d want to recreate something I did on Def Comedy Jam," Givens explained. "They sent the song and I couldn’t help but laugh. Kanye later called and told me the concept of the video and it was even more creative, so I said of course I’d love to and that’s how it happened."
Givens said she ended up going into the studio to try and recreate the lines she delivered 26 years ago. “I don’t think my voice has changed that much,” she said. “I probably wouldn’t say it in that exact way these days, but it wasn’t a problem redoing it.”
Givens says Kanye told her that he loved watching her material growing up. It was a sentiment she didn’t recall hearing from him when they met many years ago. “He flattered me and I was shocked he thought of me that way,” she admits. “I had met him years and years ago on the set of Def Comedy Jam when it was in Los Angeles, though he seemed nice and meek and quiet and didn’t express that at that time.”
Head over to Billboard to read the full interview.
