Who Is The Man Sampled On Ariana Grande’s ‘The Light Is Coming’?
20 June 2018, 11:00 | Updated: 20 June 2018, 11:58
The song samples the words: "You wouldn't let anybody speak and instead..." but who's voice is saying it?
After an intense Twitter countdown, unofficial UK Prime Minister Ariana Grande just dropped the second single from her upcoming fourth album Sweetener (released on August 17) called 'The Light Is Coming'. It's already a certified bop but there's one part of the song that's been driving everyone CRAZY - the spoken word sample of a man's voice that repeats throughout the entire track.
The sample on the song says: "You wouldn't let anybody speak and instead..." but who's voice is it?
While it's not a new thing, there's definitely been an epidemic of spoken word samples hitting some of the biggest tracks in music over the past couple of years. Beyoncé did it with both 'Flawless' (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) and 'Formation' (Big Freedia), Jay-Z and Kanye did it with Blades of Glory on 'Paris', Drake's done it... and now, Ariana has done it too.
Many fans on Twitter believed the soundbite to be the voice of Gilbert Gottfried, a stand up comedian who bares a striking comedic resemblance to Ariana's fiancé Pete Davidson (👀) but, thanks to MTV's Madeline Roth, it's been sleuthed that the voice is actually that of a man shouting at Senator Arlen Specter at a town hall meeting in Pennsylvania in 2009.
soo, the sample in @ArianaGrande’s #TheLightIsComing (“you wouldn’t let anybody speak!”) appears to be from a CNN archive clip of a man shouting at Sen. Arlen Specter at a Pennsylvania town hall meeting in 2009 pic.twitter.com/z8Cz9sVLbm
— Madeline Roth (@madfitzroth) June 20, 2018
The song was produced by Pharrell Williams, who also sampled the same town hall meeting in N.E.R.D. ft Rihanna's 'Lemon'. Remember that "Wait a minute!" soundbite that was scattered throughout the song? That's Specter's voice from the same CNN clip.
No one quite knows why Pharrell chose to sample that particular moment on the track but we're going with it. The same can't be said for some of the fandom though... people are complaining that the repetitive nature of the sample is annoying AF.
Me trying to jam to The Light is Coming but hearing that screechy ass “YOU WOULDNT LET ANYBODY SPEAK” sample every 20 seconds pic.twitter.com/VPzwr3bk5f
— Tonya Harding’s Crispy Bangs (@amdeeeeeee) June 20, 2018
the vocal sample in the light is coming is...like very annoying
— Marge Equality (@sachatweets2u) June 20, 2018
whatever that sample of that guys voice throughout the light is coming is really just is not it
— larisha (@manhattanzayn) June 20, 2018
the light is coming would be a certified banger if that annoying sample of a man saying some shit wasn’t on repeat constantly throughout the whole fucking song. because of this i’ve demoted it to just a regular banger
— alisa #1 lebron fan also i like the cavs too (@alisam___) June 20, 2018