2018's "Song of the Summer" is unquestionably CARDI B'S PETE RODRIGUEZ-sampling boogaloo-trap heater "I Like It Like That." Impressively, this followed "FINESSE," her "In Living Color"-ish collaboration with BRUNO MARS, to the top of the Billboard charts. If I wasn't 40 years old, I'd be impressed by how quickly Cardi evolved from one-hit wonder to superstar. But, because I'm old enough, I know better. Moreover, I have had NICKI MINAJ's latest album, QUEEN, on repeat for two days now, and in hearing Nicki sample NOTORIOUS B.I.G.'s "Dreams""and collaborate with 1998's favorite hip-hop femme fatale FOXY BROWN for album closer "Coco Chanel," the replication of a notorious notion inspired me to break down exactly what was happening and why it was working so well. Indeed, I've heard it all before. Between 1993 and 1998, SEAN "PUFFY" COMBS reformatted MOTOWN scion BERRY GORDY's "Sound of Young America" concept into hip-hop-age success. Inundating middle America, and then the universe, with edgy yet party-ready New Jack rap and R&B infused by samples of ubiquitous pop singles of a decade prior allowed BAD BOY RECORDS the commercial freedom to evolve into a pop-music dynamo. One listen to my aforementioned current playlist showcases Sean Combs' strategy being borrowed and uniquely twisted to morph dynamic performers like CARDI B and NICKI MINAJ into digital age Rumplestiltskins capable of turning streams into the golden dollars that are helping popular music recoup a decade of declining income. It's an impressive twist of fate. Want a related bonus track? Check out LIL' KIM and Diddy’s turn-of-the-century hit "No Matter What They Say." Between the use of steel drums, Cheo Feliciano sample, old school breakdown, the video featuring MISSY ELLIOTT, EVE, THE LOX, and more, it’s a SMASH. And it's the connective tie between two eras. It makes it readily apparent that we've likely always "liked it like that," and we almost assuredly always will.