Eminem is back with his eleventh album, Music to Be Murdered By—and his album cut “Yah Yah” samples a memorable hit by Busta Rhymes.
MTBMB’s 10th track takes its name from Busta’s debut single, “Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check.” Not only that, but Em’s track opens with a sample of Busta Rhymes’ monosyllabic refrain, accompanied by Royce da 5’9”’s ad-libs:
Yah, yah, yah, yah, yah (People)
Yah, yah, yah, yah, yah (Bitches)
Yah, yah, yah, yah, yah (Animals)
Yah, yah, yah, yah, yah
The repetitive hook also rounds out the chorus, where Royce pays homage to Ice Cube and Wu-Tang Clan:
‘Cause I’m from Slaughterhouse (People), check yourself
Like Ice Cube said, “Before you wreck yourself” (Bitches)
Like Wu-Tang said, “You should protect yourself” (Animals)
I got 'em goin’
Back in 1996, “Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check” reached No. 8 on the Hot 100. The hit was nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance at the Grammys. Em previously appeared on “Calm Down,” off Busta’s Calm Down: The Clash EP in 2014.
Produced by dEnAun, “Yah Yah” also finds the Shady Records head trading bars with Black Thought and Q-Tip, as his name checks form a whole laundry list:
Now here’s to LL, Big L and Del
K-Solo, Treach, and G Rap
DJ Polo, Tony D, ODB, Moe Dee, Run-DMC
Ed O.G. , and EPMD, D.O.C., Ice-T, Evil Dee
King Tee, UTFO, and Schoolly D, PE, and BDP
YZ and Chi-Ali, Rakim and Eric B., they were like my therapy
From B.I.G. and Paris, Three Times Dope, and some we’ll never see, and PRT
N.W.A and Eazy-E, and D-R-E was like my GPS
Without him, I don’t know where I’d be
Music to Be Murdered By is Eminem’s first full-length since 2018’s Kamikaze. His latest LP includes features by Anderson .Paak, Ed Sheeran, and the late Juice WRLD.
Catch up on all the lyrics to “Yah Yah” on Genius now.
