Over the weekend, Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) finally did what he’s been teasing, delaying, and reshaping for what feels like forever: he dropped Bully. His 12th studio album actually delivers. Stacked with bangers and impeccable production, the project is (dare we say) the controversial artist’s strongest body of work since Donda. The real standout, though, is All the Love, featuring André Troutman. Built around a haunting loop from Fairouz’s 1963 classic Fayek Alaya, the track serves as a staunch reminder why Fairouz remains untouchable. That’s why then, for decades, artists across genres, languages, and continents have pulled from the iconic Lebanese singe’s catalogue. Below, four other times artists sampled Fairouz.
Macklemore — ‘Hind’s Hall’
Released in 2024, Hind’s Hall is stripped back, direct, and politically charged. Sampling Fairouz’s Ana La Habibi, Macklemore uses the track to openly support pro-Palestinian protests, call for a ceasefire, and criticize both U.S. policy and the music industry’s silence on Gaza.
Drake – ‘Iceman’
drake is actually insane for sampling the legend FAIRUZ 🤯🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/rTcTNsJMY8
— أ (@drizzyys) September 5, 2025
Drake’s forthcoming album Iceman is already shaping up to be one of his most talked-about projects in years. It marks his first proper solo release since For All The Dogs in 2023, and instead of a traditional rollout, he’s been feeding the internet snippets, which included an unreleased solo track built around Fairouz’s Wahdon. It’s worth noting that Drake’s longtime collaborator and right-hand man, Noah “OVO 40” Shebib, has been producing alongside him for over a decade, and just happens to be Lebanese.
Kidwild & Nemzzz — ‘Redemption’
Drake isn’t the only one pulling from Wahdon. UK rappers Kidwild and Nemzzz tapped into the same Fairouz track on the 2025 track Redemption, a song all about the grind, getting rich, cutting off fake friends, and finding someone to keep you grounded when everything else feels shaky. That tension sits against an eerie loop of Wahdon, creating a contrast between ambition and reflection.
Madonna — ‘Erotica’
Madonna’s 1992 track borrows from Fairouz’s Christian hymn El Yaoum ‘Ouloulak. The nature of the record clashed so violently with the sacredness of the Lebanese singer’s song that it turned into a full-blown scandal. A lawsuit followed, religious leaders spoke out, and the whole thing set off conversations about what it means to borrow from another culture, especially when it’s one as fiercely protective of its icons as Lebanon is of Fairouz.
