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Breanna Bailey

Prof. Tyler

English Composition II

13 September 2020

Summary of My 25 Songs Article

“How Dozens of People Own a Slice of a Hit” by Jonah Weiner in The New York Times

Magazine is about how thirty people influenced and took part in a single song. Thirty song

writers received credit for Travis Scott’s Sicko Mode. This number is influenced by the change in

appreciation towards collaboration and artistic shift in rap music. The song switches between

three different beats that six different producers created. The song also includes three different

vocalists along with multiple different samples from older songs.

The first section of the song was created by Roget Chahayed, who is a producer and

pianist. The bass line and percussion were created by Chauncey Hollis. Drake is the very first

voice you hear when the song starts. After Drake’s verse, about a minute into the song, Travis

Scott appears. When Travis Scott says “gimmie the loot”, 14 people get credit for that line. He is

quoting Notorious B.I.G, Guru, DJ Premier, Fingaz, Chyskillz, Sonny Seeza, Fredro Starr, Kidd

Hood, Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Trevor Smith, Bryan Higgins and James Jackson.

Swae Lee, from Rae Sremmurd, sings the hook “someone said”. A cappella bars featured

in the song are from Big Hawk, who was killed in 2006. Travis Scott mentions “Uncle Luke”,

who was a part of 2 Live Crew, and uses a sample from his song “I Wanna Rock”. Before the

song moves to its final section, the beat switches over to a series of kick drums created by Mike
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Dean, a producer on Travis Scott’s album Astroworld. Tay Keith is the creator of the final

section of beats, including the drum pattern. Cydel Young helped Travis Scott create the lyrics

for the song.

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Works Cited

Weiner, Jonah. “How Dozens of People Own a Slice of a Hit.” New York Times Magazine.

March 2019. www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/03/07/magazine/top-songs.html#/travis-

scott. Accessed 10 September 2020.