Swizz Beatz played a major role in helping Clipse clear a key sample for their single “So Be It.”
On Tuesday (July 22), just weeks after the duo dropped their comeback album Let God Sort Em Out, Audiomack co-founder Brian Zisook shared details from his recent interview with Clipse’s manager, Steven Victor, in a thread on X.
Victor revealed that Swizz was instrumental in clearing the 1976 track “Maza Akoulou” by the late Saudi singer Talal Maddah — the same song sampled on “So Be It.”
Interestingly, Zisook noted that the music video for “So Be It” features a version of the song without the Maddah sample.
Pusha T also touched on the track’s origins in a conversation with MSNBC’s Ari Melber, revealing that Let God Sort Em Out executive producer Pharrell Williams first discovered “Maza Akloulou” through an Instagram post shared by Swizz.
“Pharrell heard it and he just called me, like, ‘What the hell is that?’” Pusha recalled.
He went on to explain that Pharrell is “always looking for something futuristic” and “polarizing,” which inspired the decision to sample “Maza.” But clearing it wasn’t smooth sailing — Clipse had to switch gears and drop a version of “So Be It” without the sample during its originally scheduled release last month.
Swizz Beatz stepped in at the perfect moment—just in time for the release of Let God Sort Em Out. Coincidentally, the album dropped the same day Swizz was already headed to Saudi Arabia, the homeland of Talal Maddah, whose song “Maza Akoulou” is sampled on “So Be It.”
“Swizz asked, ‘Why didn’t you call me about [‘So Be It’]?’” Clipse manager Steven Victor told Zisook in the interview. “I told him, ‘I did—I sent it to you.’ He said, ‘I didn’t realize it was that record. Let me handle it.’”
“He said,’‘I’ll connect with the right people in person and get it resolved.’ And that’s exactly what he did,” Victor continued.
Thanks to Swizz’s behind-the-scenes work, the sample clearance for “So Be It” came through shortly after the album’s midnight release on July 11. Roc Nation followed up with a metadata update on streaming platforms to reflect the change.
Alongside Tyler, the Creator’s feature on “P.O.V.,” the original sample didn’t make it onto the first vinyl pressing of Let God Sort Em Out. However, Steven Victor says that’s something he plans to fix for the second pressing.
