Lil Wayne Floats The Banana Boat
By now, if you have heard Lil Wayne's latest single "6 Foot, 7 Foot", then you have heard an interesting "voice" in the background. It's not a chipmunk. It kinda sounds like someone is saying "la la la lala", but in a weird "Honey I Shrunk The Kids" kinda way. Then, there is the hook, ("6 foot 7 foot, 8 foot") that sounds like something out of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory. Well, the song was made using samples from Harry Belafonte's "The Banana Boat Song".
"6 foot 7 foot" producer Bangladesh told Complex Magazine how the beat came about
“I wasn’t in the mind state to [one-up ‘A Milli’]. Its just the sample made me do it. The song’s sample comes from Harry Belafonte’s [“Day-O (Banana Boat Song)”], you know, “Daylight come and me wanna go home.” It’s in there but it’s flipped a certain way. The, ‘Six foot, seven foot’ is the main part in that song. It took me a while just to get that right. Everything gotta be in pocket so even though it sounds simple, it takes a while to get the genius to marinate.
A lot of people were actually shocked to hear Lil Wayne on a Bangladesh beat after what happened with the two over "A Milli". Bangladesh has banged out beats for tons of artists like Nelly (Move That Body), Ke$ha (Sleazy), Nicki Minaj (Did It On Em) and many, many more. He is reportedly working with Beyonce on projects for her next album. Check out more on Bangladesh, his drama with Cash Money, and reports that he STOLE the now famous beat here.
Now for your viewing pleasure. OUR favorite renditions of "The Banana Boat Song" featured below.