There’s a cool scene in the TV Movie “The Jacksons – An American Dream” showing Michael in the studio recording “Human Nature.” It’s at around 6:58 and unfortunately the sound isn’t lined up too closely.

Here’s a cool fan video:

SWV samples “Human Nature” for their song “Right Here (Human Nature Mix.)

“Human Nature” is extensively quoted, if not actually sampled, in Tupac’s “Thug Nature.”

Miles Davis played it a lot his last few years, unfortunately not while he was at the peak of his game. Still, it’s intriguing to hear his interpretation.

A sample of “Human Nature” runs under the verses in Nas’ song “It Ain’t Hard To Tell.”

The track was produced by Large Professor. It also includes samples of “NT” by Kool and the Gang, “Why Can’t People Be Colors Too?” by the Whatnauts, “Slow Dance” by Stanley Clarke, “What Do You Want From Me Woman” by The Blue Jays, “Long Red” by Mountain and “Sorcerer Of Isis” by Power Of Zeus. Nas himself sampled “It Ain’t Hard To Tell” in his later song “Nas Is Like”. He isn’t the only one. “It Ain’t Hard To Tell” has been sampled in “Killing Fieldz” by Gravediggaz, “Invasion” by Jeru the Damaja, “Survival Of The Fittest” by Mobb Deep, “Half Man Half Amazin” by Pete Rock and others. Here’s a diagram of all the samples Nas used on Illmatic:

Where else is “Human Nature” out there in pop culture? Any other samples or covers I should be aware of? Hit me in the comments.

Here’s a mashup including many of the tracks mentioned in this post:

Human Nature Megamix by ethanhein

And here’s a mashup with Björk’s “Human Behaviour.”

Human Nature And Behaviour by ethanhein