The Persuasions co-founder Jimmy Hayes weighs in on ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)’.

Update: Billboard says a rep for Jamie xx confirmed that the sample was in fact cleared by Universal; when reached for comment, Jimmy Hayes said, “I was told about it but forgot.”

Jamie xx teamed with Young Thug and Popcaan for In Colour cut (and song-of-the-summer candidate) ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)’, a song based around a sample of The Persuasions’ 1972 a cappella classic ‘Good Times’.

However, The Persuasions’ Jimmy Hayes says the group was never contacted about clearing the sample, and he heard about the song through the grapevine. “I don’t want to think that these people just went on their own to sample our music without any notification to us,” he tells Billboard.

“One of the guys in [The Persuasions] was telling me that we talked to somebody from Jamie’s camp a few years ago over in England during a concert,” he says. “They were talking about how they had an artist who was interested in the Persuasions, that he liked the Persuasions’ music, and was interested in maybe doing some rap along with one of our songs, in sampling.”

Hayes hadn’t heard anything since, and a rep for Jamie xx did not reply to Billboard by press time. However, Hayes isn’t against the sampling, in principle. “I like the idea of the younger artists going back in time and dealing with what they call ‘old-school,'” he says. “It doesn’t bother me that they wanted to sample, but the thing is we have to sit down with management and make sure that everything is recognized and on the up-and-up.”

For his part, Hayes would like to meet Jamie xx (and presumably Young Thug and Popcaan). “I’m sure these guys are gonna be going on tour soon. If they’re going on tour, I’d like to go out with them. I’d like to be the opening act. We can do that same song on the stage, live.”

Stream ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)’ and ‘Good Times’ below.