Photo: Scott Dudelson/Getty; Karwai Tang/WireImage
Chris Kirkpatrickis fully behind*NSYNCcollaborating withDrake.
While chatting withVariety, the 49-year-old musician opened up about working with the “One Dance” hitmaker, 34, after he sampled one of their deep cuts on his recently released album,Certified Lover Boy.
“He’s on another level,” Kirkpatrick toldVariety. “I would just sit back and go, ‘Tell us what you need us to do and we’ll figure it out.'”
“It’s things like this song that really puts it in perspective,” Kirkpatrick added. “We were five guys having fun and things just happened to go crazy and we got to do all these amazing things without really understanding what was happening… it really hits and you’re like, ‘It wasn’t just five guys goofing around. It was very meaningful.'”
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*NSYNC.Bob Berg/Getty
Kirkpatrick also shared that it flatters him when contemporary artists sample the group’s work, such asAriana Grandeon her song “Break Up with Your Girlfriend,” even if it makes him feel old.
“It’s flattering when things like this happen and with us, it doesn’t happen that often,” Kirkpatrick said. “It’s neat that I can tell friends who don’t know I was ever in a band, ‘Hey, I’m in this new record. Check it out!'”
“It’s like whenEminemwrote a [lyric] about me and at first I was like, ‘Wait, I have beef?’ Then I thought, ‘I’m in an Eminem song. That’s amazing,'” Kirkpatrick added. “And Ariana [Grande] did it [sampling *NSYNC’s ‘It Makes Me Ill’ in ‘Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored.'] It makes you feel old, but also makes you go, ‘At least we affected music today.’ It’s cool we had a little hand in the landscape of music today.”
Karwai Tang/WireImage
Kirkpatrick shared withVarietythat he was initially a bit confused as to why Drake chose that specific song to sample from.
“At first, it didn’t make sense because ‘Sailing’ was a cover,” he said. “It’s Christopher Cross’ song. So, when I heard he sampled our version, I was like, ‘I’m gonna go home and listen to it on some real speakers tonight and get excited.’ I love it.”
“If I could guess why Drake does what he does, I could be Drake,” Kirkpatrick added. “I guess he had an idea, went with it and it worked perfectly.”
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CLBwas originally scheduled to be released earlier this year in January but was postponed due to health issues Drake had been facing at the time.
The album marks the Canadian native’s first full-length project followingScorpion. Drake previously released other new material in between, including 2020’sDark Lane Demo Tapesand the EPScary Hours 2, which was released in March.
source: people.com