Sting Calls Juice WRLD's 'Lucid Dreams' a 'Beautiful Interpretation' of His Song 'Shape of My Heart'

“Lucid Dreams” is No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week.

“Shape of My Heart” first appeared on Sting’s fourth solo album, Ten Summoner’s Tales, which included the hits “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You” and “Fields of Gold.” Though “Shape” didn’t chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., it has found favor with R&B artists. Both Nas and Carl Thomas also sampled the song, with Thomas’ “Emotional” climbing to No. 8 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in 2001. “It’s interesting to me that the descending minor scale of ‘Shape’ has inspired so many hip-hop artists,” Sting says. “As if it provides a ready-made template for the expression of emotions that are reflective, tender and vulnerable."

The ascent of “Lucid World” marks Sting’s second trip to the summit of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart as a songwriter. He hit No. 1 in 1997 with Puff Daddy and Faith Evans’ “I’ll Be Missing You,” featuring 112, which reworked the Police classic “Every Breath You Take.” For Miller, it’s his first No. 1 on the chart. “It’s a happy accident for me,” Miller says.

Juice WRLD immediately gravitated toward “Shape of My Heart” when his producer brought it to him.“My producer sung me the beat, and then when I heard it, I was like, ‘Oh, wow, that’s a Sting sample,’" Juice WRLD told Billboard in July. “I think it was like eight bars of the song. That was like the beat that carried the whole beat, the melodies, all of it. It all revolved around the sample.”

Sting, who is on tour with Shaggy supporting their 44/876 album, has now worked a mash-up of “Shape of My Heart” and “Lucid Dreams” into their live show with backup vocalist Gene Noble performing the soaring “Lucid Dreams” chorus. “It always gets a great response,” Sting says.

Until Sting and Juice WRLD come face to face, inevitably at an awards show or some other opportunity, Sting says, “We wish him well. I’m sure we’ll meet up down the road.”