Denise Belfon Says Drake Helped Her Finally Get Paid for ‘Work’ Sample After Nearly 30 Years – DancehallMag

Denise Belfon finally cashing in on decades-old royalties—and Drake’s 2016 hit “Work” is the reason why. The soca icon revealed she’d been waiting nearly three decades to see proper compensation for her classic “Reprezent” sample, which became a cornerstone of the Rihanna-featured global smash. It took mainstream crossover power to unlock what the industry had kept from her. A reminder that Caribbean artists often get sampled, streamed, and profited from without seeing their fair cut—until a superstar’s involvement suddenly makes the gatekeepers pay attention.

Belfon’s story cuts deeper than one artist’s delayed payday. It’s a systemic issue: how many other reggae, dancehall, and soca creators are sitting on unpaid royalties from samples that went global? The difference here is visibility and leverage. Belfon had leverage through Drake’s platform; most don’t. Her win is real, but it also exposes how broken the system remains for artists without that kind of co-sign.