I honestly think this is a very cool concept and especially in the way that it has been implemented in the last few years where the artist whose song got leaked gives the song to another artist to make their own version of. However it has been done tastefully and shamefully and there are two perfect examples.

First example: Proud of Me by Lil Keed & Young Thug. Originally this was just a great Thug leak from years prior but Keed was able to add himself to the song and stayed with the vibe of the original and the theme as well. It feels like a great passing of the torch moment and both versions are equally enjoyable in their own way. Plus they utilized the hook (IMO the best part of the song) and it was a nice blend of old and new.

Second example: Dolly by Lil Tecca & Lil Uzi Vert. The original was a solid Uzi leak from 2018 that was made as a love letter to Thugs family (Dolly is Thugs sister and she is the focus of the hook of the song), but the new version basically only exists as a stain on the original. They remade the beat and none of the original lyrics or hook remains but 80% of the melodies and flows from the original are present. This is where it fails completely because if they were going “remix” the song it should be different enough to stand on its own or be respectful of the OG but it completely fails at that. Tecca just lays down lower energy verses than the OG and Uzi’s new verse sounds so phoned in like he did it in one take and called it a day. The worst part too is how it’s marketed, “DOLLY IS FINALLY GETTING A REAL RELEASE BUT WITH TECCA” when Dolly’s name doesn’t even come up at all! Why not f***ing rename the song if the topic of the song is completely different. In all ways it is just a worse version than the original and absolutely leaves a stain on the OG because Uzi co-signed this f***ery.

I hope we get more Proud Of Me’s in the future as music seems to be leaking more and more frequently than ever before.

F*** the new Dolly.