Swizz Beatz played a key role in resolving a sampling problem the Clipse encountered with their song “So Be It” from Let God Sort Em Out. The track, which includes lines aimed at Travis Scott, contains a sample of Talal Maddah’s 1976 piece “Maza Akoulou”.
The group initially couldn’t get the necessary clearance for the sample. During a conversation with Brian Zissook, Steven Victor, Pusha T’s longtime manager, shared how Swizz Beatz intervened to fix the issue.
Clipse dropped the video for “So Be It” on June 17. But the song didn’t hit DSPs until after they released their new album on 7/11.
That was not their original plan.
To get the backstory, I spoke with @Clipse’s manager @StevenVictor.
It turns out Swizz Beatz saved the day pic.twitter.com/IaBDhwhLNo
— Z (@BrianZisook) July 22, 2025
“Swizz asked, ‘Why didn’t you call me about [‘So Be It’]?’ Victor said to Zisook. “I told him, ‘I did—I sent it to you.’ He said, ‘I didn’t realize it was that record. Let me handle it.’”
Swizz, who was on his way to Saudi Arabia, said: “‘I’ll connect with the right people and get it resolved.’ And that’s exactly what he did.”
Although the clearance wasn’t finalized in time for the album’s initial release, the original version of the song was later uploaded to streaming platforms once approval was secured.
Due to the late clearance, the physical editions of the album include a version of “So Be It” without the sample, though that will be updated in future printings.
The track drew attention for Pusha T’s pointed lyrics directed at Travis Scott:
“You cried in front of me, you died in front of me / Calabasas took your bitch and your pride in front of me / Her utopia had moved right up the street / And her lip gloss was poppin’, she ain’t need you to eat.”
Speaking to GQ, Pusha T said the reason for the diss was Travis Scott’s slight toward Pharrell Williams on the track “Meltdown”, which includes a Drake verse targeting the iconic producer.
He explained: “The true context of that is we were in Paris, literally working, and he was calling to play P his new album. He came to [Pharrell’s] studio. He interrupted a session,”
“He sees me and Malice there. He’s like, ‘Oh, man, everybody’s here,’ he’s smiling, laughing, jumping around, doing his fucking monkey dance. We weren’t into the music, but he wanted to play it, wanted to film [us and Pharrell listening to it]. And then a week later you hear Meltdown, which he didn’t play. He played the song, but not [Drake’s verse].”