Kanye West 'Inspired' By Lady Gaga's 'Poker Face' For Kid Cudi Single
May 28 2009 6:51 AM EDT
Kanye West says he's been there before. "I've had girlfriends who had girlfriends," he said. So when he discovered what Lady Gaga was actually singing about on "Poker Face," he was attracted to the record. Then when he saw her perform a different version of the song on the Internet, he was hooked. Kanye sampled the song for Kid Cudi's next single, "I Make Her Say," which was formerly titled "I Poke Her Face."
"It's a single for Cudi," Kanye explained. "Due to radio, the name of the song is called, 'I Make Her Say.' When I saw that YouTube, that's what made me fall in love with the song — when I saw her play it the acoustic version. I could hear all the melody lines. On the 'Poker Face' single, she sings it straightforward, almost, like, ripping it or chanting it. But this [acoustic version], you hear the Broadway melodies run up and down. I was inspired by that. I wanted to sample it. I thought it was really dope — just on some hip-hop, 'Say when I p-p-poke her face.'
"All the backstory to the song is really controversial," he continued. "When I found out that her actual song is about her making love to her boyfriend but really thinking about her girlfriend, I was like, 'Oh, that's crazy.' For us to even flip it to another level and challenge people's opinions, that's it."
MissKeriBaby: COMPLEX mag cover shoot! Not quite AS sexy as you've all been seeing from others (hehe)...but sexy nonetheless. My way!
12:02 PM May 27th
imcudi: @MissKeriBaby yeaaaa babe kill it, did mine the other day p.s. i kno i was shittin on twitter before when u asked me to join but wutev's ha
1 day ago
imcudi: @MissKeriBaby jealous of kanye in knock me down video, jus sayin.
about 18 hours ago
MissKeriBaby: @imcudi CUDI!!!!!! *flattered* when we workin homie?! and I'm glad u finally gave into twitter...I told u they love yo ass
about 16 hours ago
imcudi: @MissKeriBaby they do and i love them. u HAVE to b on my album. i want dat miscommunication keri, dat knock u down shittttt.
about 15 hours ago
MissKeriBaby: @imcudi you got it.
about 14 hours ago
imcudi: @MissKeriBaby oh, and ur gonna win best new artist at the BET awards. trust. me bein in that catogory was a mistake or typo i think haha
about 14 hours ago
imcudi: @DatNewCuDi its like a mini single before sky might fall. thats droppin soon. waitin on the final mix
about 18 hours ago
datnewcudi: @imcudi oooo dope, so just a promo type single, but its not on the album?
about 18 hours ago
imcudi: @DatNewCuDi its on the album but my official next single is sky might fall. remember poke her face was very random, not planned at all
about 18 hours ago
