Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera has discussed the sample track Kanye West used in his own song.
Manzanera tackled genres such as progressive rock, jazz fusion, and Latin music throughout his career. In 2011 he found himself in the hip-hop world when one of his riffs found its way into Kanye West’s ‘No Church in the Wild.’
In his new book ‘Revolución To Roxy,’ the guitarist talked about the track that boosted his career. Apparently, Kanye West’s 2011 track helped him make more money than his entire career with his band. He wrote:
“Who knew that I would earn more money from a short guitar riff that I wrote one evening on a sofa in front of the telly in 1978 than I ever earned in the entire 50 years as a member of Roxy Music? Thank you, Kanye West, thank you Jay-Z, thank you Virgin and Universal, and thank you to the capricious mistress that is rock’n’roll.”
Manzanera Thought It Was A Misunderstanding
‘K-Scope’ was an instrumental from his 1978 solo album until West sampled it. Earlier, Manzanera told UCR that received a surprising phone call while he was in the car with his son.
Manzanera received the call from a Roc-A-Fella Records representative in New York one day. He believed there had been a mix-up when he was informed that the artists had used his riff for an album. The album was set to be released the following week. He responded to the news in his phone call:
“I appreciate you reaching out, but I’m afraid there might be a misunderstanding. Sometimes I’m mistaken for Ray Manzarek from The Doors. I believe you’re referring to him.”
But it wasn’t a misunderstanding. The Kanye West track did really have the riff from ‘K-Scope.’
The album was released on 8 August 2011 and went platinum in the US and Denmark. It also went gold in the UK and was used in two car advertisements.
You can hear both songs below.