DELISA: The psychedelic sounds of the band MGMT have long been a sampling favorite in rap.
And their vocal contributions to Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness” remains one of
music’s most memorable cross-genre collaborations.
So Genius decided to take a look at MGMT’s biggest hip-hop moments.
DELISA: MGMT was formed by Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, during their freshman
year at Wesleyan University.
DELISA: They toured after graduation and eventually signed with Columbia Records, who saw huge
single potential in songs like “Time To Pretend” and “Kids.”
DELISA: In October 2007, MGMT dropped their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Oracular
Spectacular’ - a trippy synth pop album that eventually went Gold.
We wanted it to mean mystic bullshit in a way.
That’s kind of what we thought we were making, this music that was kind of ambiguous
DELISA: Philly duo Chiddy Bang was one of the first rap groups to sample MGMT.
They sampled MGMT’s “Kids” on their breakout track “Opposite Of Adults.”
It landed on their 2009 mixtape ‘The Swelly Express’ which fused hip-hop with indie
rock like Sufjan Stevens, Passion Pit, Ratatat, and more.
When I played him ‘Opposite of Adults’ that beat.
He’s just like, ‘Ah, I gotta rap on that.’
I didn’t even know what MGMT was.
He didn’t even know what MGMT was.
DELISA: A young Mac Miller would also rap on Chiddy Bang’s version of the “Kids”
beat, while interpolating MGMT’s original chorus.
DELISA: But MGMT’s most famous hip-hop contribution would come in 2010 when the band sang the chorus
of Kid Cudi’s anthem “Pursuit Of Happiness.”
A record like "Pursuit of Happiness" was strange and it was sonically compared to all the other music out.
DELISA: The electronic rock band Ratatat produced the record, and member E*vax spoke to Genius
about the song’s legacy.
Cudi’s become this real mythical character for people of a certain age because he was
speaking frankly on his tracks in a way that nobody was used to hearing rappers speak.
DELISA: Jay-Z even tried to recruit MGMT to appear on his 2009 album, ‘The Blueprint 3.'
But they rejected the offer.
DELISA: In 2011, Frank Ocean sampled MGMT several times on his debut mixtape ‘nostalgia,
ULTRA.’
DELISA: “Soul Calibur,” titled after the video game series of the same name, is a short
interlude track with sounds of changing cassette tapes.
The first song Frank plays is MGMT’s “4th Dimensional Transition,"
DELISA: Afterward, Frank rewinds the tape to play “Kids,"
DELISA: Frank rewinds the tape again to “Electric Feel” which is used as the instrumental
for nostalgia ULTRA’s final track, “Nature Feels” – a song about making love outdoors.
MGMT, I don’t know, those guys seem chill.
I heard they heard the record, and they liked it a lot.
DELISA: “Electric Feel” in particular has been sampled by everyone from Jim Jones
to Lloyd Banks and even the late Nipsey Hussle.
DELISA: MGMT followed up their widely-popular debut album with ‘Congratulations’ in 2010.
We wanted to be an album where every time you listen to it, you hear something new in it.
And it’s not just all right there the first time around.
DELISA: It was a departure from the synth pop sound they were famous for and had less
radio-friendly singles, but that didn’t stop Kid Cudi from borrowing once again.
DELISA: Also on his 2013 ‘Indicud’ album, Cudder shouts out the band on the Kendrick
Lamar-assisted track “Solo Dolo Part II.”
DELISA: MGMT has since continued their unique brand of ambitious psychedelic pop on 2013’s
self-titled album and 2018’s ‘Little Dark Age.’
And while their more experimental sound hasn't yielded any recent samples, rappers are still
tripping over their music.
DELISA: I’m Delisa with Genius News bringing you the meaning and the knowledge behind the
music.