The latest trend in New York drill has been the liberal use of ’90s and early 2000s R&B samples, as heard in regional hits like B-Lovee’s “My Everything,” which flips Mary J. Blige’s “Everything.” Kay Flock is the latest rapper to hop on board with his new single “Shake It,” bringing fellow Bronx native Cardi B along for the ride.
Produced by Elias Beatz, the track samples Akon’s 2005 hit “Bananza (Belly Dancer).” A snippet of the song had already gone viral on TikTok, but anticipation for “Shake It” reached a fever pitch after clips from the video shoot surfaced of Cardi performing her verse while draped out in red — her wig even looks like a red bandana.
That unbridled energy is the perfect fit for the sample drill production: “I gotta step up, bitch, I’m a stomper/ All of my opps get mixed with the grabba/ Broke bitch said she was gon’ touch me/ She lyin’, Hakuna Matata.” Watch the video below.
Best known for his breakout viral hit “Is Ya Ready,” Flock is currently locked up in Rikers on first-degree murder charges. His opening verse sets the tone with lines like “I’m Mr. Hang-Out-The-V/ Tryna flock ’em, pop ’em, drop ’em,” before Bory300 and Dougie B call out their rivals.
“Shake It” isn’t groundbreaking by any means, but recruiting Cardi to close out the track makes it the best attempt at a mainstream sample drill song to date. (Fivio Foreign interpolated Destiny Child’s “Say My Name” for one of his recent songs, but it’s too close to the original.)
After the success of “Is Ya Ready,” Flock slowed it down for the September single “Being Honest,” which received an honorable mention in our Rap Song of the Week column. Last November, he dropped his debut project, The D.O.A. Tape.
Meanwhile, Cardi recently joined Summer Walker and SZA for an extended version of “No Love,” which was named our Song of the Week. Later this month, the My Chemical Romance stan will appear in an episode of Baby Shark’s Big Show! in which she’ll star as Sharki B.