Ok I might answer myself here about the need/or not for clearance, since maybe some others wanna know. I’ve been googling it but im no lawyer so correct me if im wrong.

When someone clearly uses a sample without changing it and without permission (and more likely if the record is making a lot of money) they can get sued for copyright infringement. Even if its not making money tho, it can still be ordered to be destroyed.

Theres 2 people to get permission from, the songwriter (in my case thats probably ty dolla sign) and the master owner (thats probably his record label). Only one needs to deny permission and it cant be used.

If the sample is considerably changed - pitched, chopped etc.. - only if someone recognises it and can prove the original sample, they can sue for copyright. Otherwise u might get away with it.

If you re-record the sample with ur own equipment/voice, granted its not the whole song+lyrics, u can maybe get away with it by ‘fair use.’

So i think, its always necessary to get clearance and when dealing with commercial sh*t probably a good idea if u want to keep the track as is or risk having to change/destroy it. in my case, probably ok as long as it stays pretty underground.

I still wonder if anyone has got clearance before and how they did it? people i sample are usually big name artists, i wouldnt even know where to begin