Sample Saturday: Kendrick Lamar ft Jay Rock - Money Trees

Welcome to Sample Saturday! Where we talk about samples for your favorite song. This week we will be discussing the sample used in Kendrick Lamar’s song “ Money Trees” featuring Jay Rock off his 2012 album, “Good Kid, m.A.A.D City.” 

“Money Trees” shares how Kendrick Lamar had dreams of wealth and a lavish style of rappers even though he’s living life in survival mode. From stealing and robbing just to keep by, Lamar uses “Money Trees” as a cry for hope to exceed in his career while also reminiscing on his old ways of life.

The sample used in this song is “Silver Soul” by Beach House, off their 2010 album “Teen Dream.” The gloomy sound of the song provides an eeriness yet also familiarity to the listener, almost adding a factor of nostalgia. 

Producer DJ Dahi takes the beginning of the sample, changing the key along with the tempo, accompanied with the snare of a drum and kick; the song becomes transformed from a once somber, soothing song, to a track filled with Lamar’s vulnerability and truth on his changes in lifestyle.