Greg Lake is still not over Kanye West’s King Crimson sample: ‘It’s a strange thing’

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Greg Lake marvels at how current “21st Century Schizoid Man,” recorded during his co-founding stint with King Crimson in 1969, continues to sound some four decades later. So much so, in fact, that it was sampled by Kanye West.

Not that the legendary prog-rocker has completely come to terms with “Power,” even though it served as the lead single for West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy back in 2010.

“It’s a strange thing,” Lake tells O2 Academy TV, “because it’s sort of snatching it and using it out of context.”

“21st Century Schizoid Man” has also been covered by April Wine, Voivod and Ozzy Osbourne, among others. “Power,” which included additional vocals from Dwele, uses a snippet of the King Crimson song as a key element in the chorus.

Whatever Greg Lake thinks of Kanye’s version, he’s proud that the original song’s message continues to resonate.

“What I was pleased with was, is the relevance of ’21st Century Schizoid Man’ today,” the founding King Crimson frontman said. “You know, it still sounds current. It still sounds relevant. That’s really gratifying after all of these years. I mean, that record is what — 40, 50 years old? I don’t know, but very old. Old like me! But it’s lovely to hear a really contemporary artist doing it.”

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