In an unprecedented and groundbreaking event, Drake released not 1, not 2... but 3 new albums last night at the drop of midnight, gracing us all with almost three hours worth of new material to obsessively comb through. ICEMAN, HABIBTI and MAID OF HONOUR carry three distinct styles and sides of Drake’s artistic expression. He left no room for any fan of his to feel shorted out on the experience.
This impressively large scale release was made possible by dozens, if not hundreds, working in the industry to help make this come to life. Not the least of which is the sample team here at DMG Clearances. Deborah led the way on the 16 sample clearances that spanned the three albums, with the expert helping hand of Nicole Passon. A project like this is an unbelievable undertaking that will continue to live on in our work emails for many, many months beyond this initial release date. The opportunity to be a part of something this grand is a blessing and a privilege.
Enjoy the new tunes, everyone!
mgk and Wiz Khalifa collabed to create an infectiously fun track titled “girl next door”, released just yesterday. This song samples and interpolates “KKMJ” by Sweet Trip. The sound harkens back to that wonderfully blissful era of music from the 2008 - 2014 range where both mgk and Wiz Khalifa came to prominence in. Definitely keep this one in your backpocket for the summer get togethers.
Video games have become one of the most dynamic and lucrative frontiers for music licensing—and one of the most complex. This panel discussion offered lots of takeaways on how to navigate this growing market, regardless of what side of the business you’re in.
Thank you to these panelists for this discussion and for your participation in other programming at the Summit! 💚
🎮 Rachel Lafranconi - @kobaltmusic
🎮 Allison Wright Clark - @tweakmusic
🎮 Deborah Mannis-Gardner - @dmgclearances
🎮 Alex Malcolm - @warnermusic
How lucky are we to be living in the timeline where Snoop Dogg has just dropped his 22nd solo album in 2026? Released last Friday, 10 Til’ Midnight is another notch on Snoop’s belt, which is the length of the Mississippi at this point. This latest album is chock-full of everything we love about D-O-Double-G. Beats that reflect the West Coast state of mind and the smooth lyricism of a master craftsmen who is aging like the finest wine in the cellar.
DMG worked on four clearances for this album including:
Step sampling “Candy” by Cameo
17 Rules sampling “Heat of the Moment” by After 7
No Ticcet Needed sampling “I Found Love (When I Found You)” by The Spinners
Released March 28, 2006, King is T.I.’s fourth studio album. King reached critical acclaim by debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 and earned T.I. a grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance with the major hit “What You Know”. This album’s success cemented T.I.’s status as a Southern rapper and brought Atlanta’s trap sound into the mainstream national hip-hop market.
DMG was involved on 9 songs, with some standouts being:
King Back sampling “Sting Of The Serpent” written by Ray Davies
Front Back sampling “Front Back Side To Side” by UGK and “Boyz-N-The-Hood” by Eazy E
What You Know interpolating “Gone Away” written by Donny Hathaway, Curtis Mayfield, and Leroy Hutson
Why You Wanna sampling “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)” by Crystal Waters and interpolates “Find A Way” by A Tribe Called Quest
Get It sampling “Mollo Tutto” by Loretta Goggi
March 2026 marks three years since De La Soul’s catalog was made available on streaming for the first time ever. This was a joint effort between DMG and Reservoir to bring these classic works into the modern age. A project like this is too tremendous a task to describe, and one very few were even willing to attempt through the decades that passed from the initial release. This will stand as one of the most important works that Deborah and the supporting team poured their hearts into. Some notes about 3 Feet High And Rising specifically:
De La Soul’s best-selling album to date, 3 Feet High and Rising, released March 3, 1989, is popularly acclaimed as a revolutionary hip-hop album, particularly because of it’s use of heavy sampling. This album hit number one on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart and was even featured on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list. 3 Feet High and Rising made space outside the genre of hardcore gangsta rap and pionered not only sample usages, but also use of sketches and humourus skits.
DMG was involved on many of the clearances, with some standouts being:
(3 Is) The Magic Number sampling “5 Feet High and RIsing” by Johnny Cash
Can U Keep A Secret sampling “Got To Get A Knutt” by Newbirth,
Description sampling “Poet” by Sly & The Family Stone and “Midnight Theme” by Manzel
Excited to be apart of this history making moment for the @titans 🏈 shot out to @sonymusicpub and @stephen.wilson.jr for making the music clearance process a breeze!! Check out our latest work 🎼
#titansfootball #musicclearance #nashville_tn #explorepage
Happy March, everyone! We have some great throwbacks to post this month, starting with an absolutely timeless record from Ghostface Killah.
Released March 28, 2006, Fishscale is Ghostface Killah’s widely praised and acclaimed album, which is now considered a beloved hip-hop classic. Fishscale featured versatile samples from influential artists alongside powerful and innovative production from J Dilla, MF Doom, Pete Rock, Cool & Dre, and several other iconic producers. This album ultimately mixed cinematic storytelling with hardcore and commercially successful hip-hop. “Big Girl” is one of the most fun and impressive continuous rap verses in hip hop history.
DMG was involved on several songs, with some standouts being:
-“Big Girl” sampling “You’re a Big Girl Now” by The Stylistics and “Strung Out” by William Bell and Mavis Staples
-“Momma” feat Megan Rochell sampling “Wandering Star” by David Axelrod
-“Three Bricks” feat. The Notorious B.I.G and Raekwon sampling “Somebody’s Gotta Die” and “Niggas Bleed” by The Notorious B.I.G.
Omar Courtz is a superstar in orbit. Today his second full length album, POR SI MAÑANA NO ESTOY, was released via Mr. 305 Records / Rimas Entertainment. This album is an infectiously good time and is guaranteed to be the soundtrack we need as the weather warms up and Spring continues to reach us. It was a great honor to be a part of the clearances for this album, which included 11 in total. Some stand outs:
SI ESTAS CON ALGUIEN interpolating “Por Amar A Ciegas” by Arcangel
$UELTA GATITA $UELTA interpolating “Si Estoy Facil” by Hector & Tito
VAMOaCOCHI interpolating “Cochinear” by Cochinola
Don’t waste time getting your ears to this one. They won’t be disappointed.
Today’s #tbt post is taking us back into the 90s. A Prince Among Thieves, released on February 23, 1999 by Prince Paul, was a landmark and foundational hip-hop concept album that pioneered the sound of “rap opera”. This work showcased Prince Paul’s skills as both an ambitious storyteller and producer and went on to influence future works in the realm of cohesive narrative rap. A Prince Among Thieves features innovative skits and narratives alongside major artists such as Everlast, De La Soul, Big Daddy Kane, Kool Keith, Xzibit, RZA, and Chris Rock.
DMG cleared at least 7 samples on this album, including:
Steady Slobbin’ sampling “Reach Out” by the Average White Band
More Than U Know sampling “I Like It (Corn Flakes)” by Extra T
Macula’s Theory sampling “Wind, Blow Her Back My Way” by Syl Johnson
What U Go sampling “I’ll Play The Blues for You” by Albert King
If you’re a fan of hip-hop or music innovation in general, please spend some time with this incredible artifact for an education in sampling excellence.
J. Cole’s new album The Fall-Off is out today. This is an epic release spanning 24 songs and 100 minutes of music. DMG cleared an exorbitant amount of samples for this record. My latest count has the total sample / interpolation clearances at 28! A project this large is only made possible with the all star team that is DMG Clearances, led by Deborah Mannis-Gardner, Nicole Passon and Rachel Tyler, and with the cooperation from our amazing partners across the music industry. Thank you to everyone who helped bring this album to life!
Released on January 31, 2020, Funeral was Lil Wayne’s fifth studio album to reach #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. This album, which featured artists such as Big Sean, Adam Levine, Jay Rock, 2 Chainz, and Lil Baby, continued to showcase Lil Wayne’s skillful flow alongside themes of death and resilience. Funeral presented resonating lyrics and sounds that connected with audiences, particularly Lil Wayne’s moment of silence for Kobe Bryant and his posthumous song with XXXTentacion.
DMG was involved on the following clearances:
Mahogany sampling “Bass Song” by Eryn Allen Kane
Clap for Em sampling “Drag Rap (Triggerman)” by The Showboys and “Nola Bounce Breaks” by FlyBoi Keno
