Elderism #94

“I’m sitting in the house that Wu-Tang built with their money.”

–74 year-old soul singer Syl Johnson, in an article by Ben Sisario in today’s New York Times. Mr. Johnson’s song “Different Strokes” has been sampled more than 50 times, by, among others, the Wu-Tang Clan, Ice Cube, the Beastie Boys, Kid Rock, and Michael Jackson. Over the years, Johnson has offered his friends and neighbors in Chicago money for ratting out the unauthorized use of his music; collecting money for these samples has become a lucrative side career for him.