Chaka Khan has reflected on being upset about “sounding like a chipmunk” on Kanye West’s track “Through the Wire.”
Chaka Khan has been outspoken over the years about her disappointment over how the rapper sampled her 1985 song “Through the Fire” in his 2003 debut single “Through the Wire.”
During an appearance on Good Day DC, Chaka told host Marissa Mitchell that she had been “upset about sounding like a chipmunk” because Kanye didn’t reveal that he was planning to speed up the sample when she gave him permission to use it.
She explained, “(Kanye) didn’t mention that he was gonna speed it up, you know, three times its normal speed. Had he, I would’ve had something to say. But since I didn’t think of that – believe me, I think of it now – I ask, ‘How are we gonna do this?'”
When asked whether Kanye ever reached out to discuss the sample after releasing the song, Chaka said they haven’t spoken, and she’s not “looking to hear” from him, noting that it happened “a long time ago.”