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Chaka Khan says she was p***ed about Kanye West sampling her vocals

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ABC/Ida Mae AstuteKanye West‘s breakout single, “Through the Wire,” put him on the map, but Chaka Khan, who was the inspiration behind the record, wasn’t exactly thrilled by it. 

In a recent interview with Andy Cohen for Bravo’s Watch What Happens LiveKhan revealed that she “was p***ed” when the record dropped in 2003 and she heard how her vocals had been altered.  As you’ll recall, “Through the Wire” sampled Chaka’s 1985 hit, “Through the Fire.”

“It was a little insulting. Not insulting, I thought it was stupid,” she candidly admits. “If I’d known he was gonna do that, I would have said, ‘Hell no.'”

Khan originally gave West the green light to sample her song when he called her after surviving a harrowing car accident.

“He called me when he just got out of the hospital,” Khan explained. “He said, ‘You were so instrumental in my healing process. I had to change the words a little bit to the song but I had to eat through a wire…jaws wired shut, [drinking] through a straw, blah blah blah.'”

She continued, “It meant that much to me. It really got my heart, tugged at my strings. I was like, ‘Yeah, use it.'”

When asked if Yeezy knew her thoughts about the record, Khan said, “No,” but feels her silence speaks louder than words. She also admits to making a pretty penny off the song. 

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