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Robin S. is no stranger to having her music sampled.
Specifically, her signature song, Show Me Love, which became a No.
1 dance hit in 1993 thanks to a house remix by Swedish producer StoneBridge.
(All she had to do was check Twitter, where she was trending.)
It was meant for us to share.
1s on Billboards Dance Club Songs chart during that time.
The younger generation takes it to a different level.
And thats what shes done.
(Im a businesswoman, and Im not a dummy, she says.
Ive been around the block a couple times.)
What have you been up to these past few days?
[Laughs] As one could imagine, a great emotional roller coaster.
Maximizing my emotions and reevaluating life and the whole thing.
It was a wonderful surprise.
When I woke up, my phone was going off like crazy.
It was my son: Mom, Mom!
Mom, wake up!
Im like, What is it?
Look at your phone!
I was in disbelief.
I was sitting there with my mouth hanging wide open.
I was happy, I was elated, I was stunned, I was everything.
So what did you think when you heard Break My Soul?I think it complements Show Me Love.
What they did, it was just enough.
It was enough to honor, it was enough to give homage and then add her flavor.
It was enough for me!
The words are so raw in what we are dealing with.
To me, its the modern-day Show Me Love.
You didnt give it to me, so you cant steal it from me.So it just matches the moment.
And I imagine you were into Beyonce before this.Oh, of course!
Shes in an era now where shes totally in control and shes doing the darn thing!
And shes doing it the way she wants to do it.
And shes showing young women that it can be done.
Youre reflecting a lot on when the song first came out.
Take me back to the day when you first heard it.
What was that like for you?Oh, this is gonna be really funny, okay.
Cause I live on the corner of truth and transparency when it comes to my emotions and my feelings.
I came from an R&B, Top 40type band, where I was just doing cover songs.
Now, I would party to dance music.
But I never imagined myself doing that.
Thats too fast for me; I dont know how to do that.
And I was told to just take it and listen to it.
But they asked me to hey take it home and to listen to it again.
So I decided that I had to give it my all.
What does it do to you?
When it was time for me to do this song, I came down with the flu.
So the one that people hear now is me with the flu.
And I knew that this had to be a one-shot deal.
I did not wanna do that song over again.
I just wanted to sing it and go back and lie down.
After that, when did you realize how big the song had gotten?It took a minute.
This is how it went down.
After StoneBridge did it and it started playing all over the place, I got a call.
Rob, Rob, the song entered at No.
They said, You know, when it goes to No.
Yeah, but its not there yet.
Rob, youre not gonna believe this, and they started laughing.
[In a monotone voice] Okay, well, call me when its No.
But youre gonna have to start packing cause youre gonna have to go to Paris.
Then two to three weeks later, they call me cracking up, laughing.
You got your bags packed?
What do you mean, I have my bags packed?
That was my first instinct.
Not even the fact that it was No.
It still didnt hit me.
And at that point, I started relaxing, because I had a veteran talking to me.
And I flipped to another radio station, and they were playing it.
I flipped to all the radio stations, and they were all playing it simultaneously.
Thats when I really got nervous, and I said, Uh-oh.
And I had to pull my car over and get a grip on what was going on.
The third time was when I did a show with Nancy Wilson, the R&B singer.
She took me underneath her wing, and she said, Let me tell you something.
No matter what you do and no matter where you go, always keep it classy.
And that was all I needed.
Thats when I said,Okay, Im gonna enjoy this thing right here.
I dont know whats gonna happen, but Imma ride this wave and Imma keep it classy.
Were there moments that I was just tired of singing the song?
I told you, I live on truth and transparency.
Did I want to forget the words?
And then you have the LGBTQ community coming to you saying, I came out on your song.
I found out who I really was listening to your song.
I found out what my purpose was listening to your song.
Then it becomes not about you.
So it didnt matter how I felt about the song anymore.
It only mattered who was listening to the song and the effect that the song had on people.
But my flowers were not given to me.
This right here is so special to a seasoned artist like myself because Show Me Love is my legacy.
Thats the gift that keeps on giving.
So, yeah, it kept me relevant.
I was a little beside myself, Ill be honest.
Then I said,Its better than nothing, so ride that wave.
I dont care if you are I will go back as far as to say an infant.
An infant needs love; thats the way they grow, thats the way they turn into happy individuals.
If youre a toddler, you need love.
If youre a teenager, you need love.
Young adult, you need love.
Someone who can accept love and then give love.
It takes you away so that you forget all about whats happening.
We just came out of well, were still in a pandemic, okay.
But we just came out of being confined.
And dance music takes your soul, and it moves it to a whole nother level.
And its always done that its just that dance artists have never really gotten their accolades.
We were the underdogs.
Have you ever seen a dance person that gets off the floor and is not happy?
[Laughs] Nope.No.
We carry you to a whole nother level of life and make you feel good.
How are you feeling about getting back out and performing after this?Im loving it.
This aint nothing to me.
Ive been performing all my life.
But now that Im able to get out lets be clear, I never left.
But Im back in business now.
And youre still doing it.Yeah.
Imma do it until He says, You cant do it no more.
And hopefully thats a long time.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
