During a performance at New York’s Apollo Theater on Tuesday night, Lauryn Hill cut the music for “Ex-Factor” and started playing the beat to Drake’s recent hit, “Nice for What,” which samples the song’s hook. Hill’s remix of Drake’s No. 1 hit directly acknowledged the sample, resulting in a kind of meta-remix.
She rapped: “See how we spiced it up on this rhythm” and “See this is ‘Ex-Factor’/He took the sample/My shit is classic/Here’s an example.” Watch it below.
Hill is gearing up to celebrate the 20th anniversary of her multiplatinum solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. In a series of dates from July to September, Hill will tour the country to perform songs from her iconic album, but because it’s goddamn Lauryn Hill, you can be sure to expect clever remixes like the above to spice up her performances.
“Ex-Factor” has become a hitmaking machine. Drake isn’t the only one to sample the track recently: Cardi B pulled lyrics from the song for her latest single, “Be Careful,” off her No. 1 album Invasion of Privacy. In a Breakfast Club interview from April, Cardi said Hill’s approval was crucial.
"A lot of people was criticizing me when it came to the 'Be Careful' record. Then I said, wait a minute—it don’t matter what these people say, Lauryn Hill approved this song," she said. "If she didn’t approve it, I would have to change so much from it."
"I heard she’s very spiritual when it comes to [approving samples], and she approved it," Cardi added. "It made me feel super confident at the time."
