Sampling is becoming increasingly popular in modern day music. If you aren’t familiar with the practice, artists take existing songs and “sample” a portion of the original recording. It can be very obvious or it can sometimes be very subtle, but it’s been happening for a long, long time. The hip-hop genre made it way more commonplace in the 1980s, and the method of making new music from old is still very prominent today. Look at any hip hop tracklist these days and you’ll see dozens of samples credited. Interpolation on the other hand, is when you take a song melody or some lyrics (usually both), and essentially repurpose it into a new work. It goes hand in hand with sampling, and the two are often weaved together, but think of songs like Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which takes from J-Kwon’s 2004 hit “Tipsy,” Jake Owen borrowed from Willie Nelson’s “On The Road Again” with his song “On The Boat Again,” and most recently, Morgan Wallen put together a song (that received mixed reviews) called “Miami” that included interpolation of “Miami, My Amy” by Keith Whitley. If a sample or interpolation is done right, it creates something new while also tipping the cap to the music of yesteryear. Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long” was a decent example. So is Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.” If it’s done wrong… then it all just comes off as kind of lazy. But it’s become WAY too common in country music these days, and more times than not, results in a pretty cringey finished product. And on that note, I’ll let you come up with your own opinion about Chris Lane’s new track called “FRIEND” that’s set to come out in just a couple of days. From the artist that brought the world the song “I Don’t Know About You” (which included a line that sings “Girl I know your favorite beer, because you told me, and I bought it”) comes a reimagining of a popular 1980s hip-hop song. Chris Lane took Biz Markie’s smash hit “Just A Friend,” which itself is an interpolation the 1968 song “(You) Got What I Need” by Freddie Scott… it’s interpolation inception… and he decided country-ify it… sorta. And well, it’s certainly something. There’s a chance you think you don’t know the original song, and if that’s the case, I promise that you do. The chorus of the track goes a little something like this: “You, you got what I need but you say he’s just a friend And you say he’s just a friend, oh baby You, got what I need but you say he’s just a friend But you say he’s just a friend, oh baby You, got what I need but you say he’s just a friend.” “Just A Friend” was released by Biz Markie in 1989, and it went on to be his most successful single. Fast forward to 2026, and Chris Lane is trying to get in on some of that song’s success through interpolation. The 41-year-old country artist has been teasing the song’s January 16 release date for a while now, and just recently shared a video which shows him singing the slightly modified chorus that his song will present: “Cause you, you got what I need And I can’t be just your friend No, I can’t be just your friend. Baby, you, you’re all that I need And I can’t be just your friend.” View this post on Instagram What do you think? A fresh take on a classic? Or a song that was probably better off left alone? I guess we’ll have to wait until the song actually drops to make a final conclusion, but I have a hunch we just might have an early front-runner for worst song of the year. Until then… here’s the original: “Just A Friend” by Biz Markie And the OG rendition from Freddie Scott: The post Chris Lane Reimagines Biz Markie’s 1989 Hit, “Just a Friend,” For A Country Remix That Absolutely Nobody Asked For first appeared on Whiskey Riff.