When you find yourself trying to remember a show (or any works) that's on the tip of your tongue but just out of reach, come here - the collective brain of the TVTropes community can probably help. Post all the details you can remember (examples help). If you're looking for a trope, head over to Trope Finder. Have general questions about tropes? Visit Ask The Tropers!
The only one that comes to mind is "Every Breath You Take," by "The Police," which Shaggy used in his song "Angel." There's a part of "Angel" that mentions prison:
Now life is one big party when you're still young And who's gonna have your back when it's all done It's all good when you're little, you have pure fun Can't be a fool, son, what about the long run Looking back Shorty always mention Said me not giving her much attention She was there through my incarceration I want to show the nation my appreciation
Is it 80's rock/pop/new wave turned to R&B/hip hop/rap? or was the cover in the same style as the original? As with the above comment- WHEN and WHERE she heard it could help find out if it's on the radio or popular...
If you can find out either song or artist, you may check out www.whosampled.com which has a large database of covers and cover artists.
If you can read this, please tell me to get OFF tv tropes and do my homework.She heard the song the night before I first posted, in a club in Second Life. She is pretty sure the original was from the 80's. It at least "feels" like the 80s.
It's not Shaggy's song Angel. It was a cover, not a song being sampled.
The cover was basically in the same style as the original, as I said she thought it WAS the original until the singing started.
This might help a bit... http://www.inthe80s.com/covers/index.shtml

This is REALLY vague, I apologize in advance. I won't bump this or anything, I am just seeing if anyone here can hazard a guess.
A friend of mine heard a song last night, and she was sure she was going to remember what it was, but she didn't.
Here's what we know for 100% certain:
It was a cover. The intro sounded so much like the original that she didn't realize it was a cover until the singing started. Both the original and the cover had men's voices singing.
Here are the "probables":
Probably,
It was mostly electronic. It was "pop" or "rock" (but not too hard) The original was by a British group. The original was by a white group. The original was from the 80's. The cover was by a black group. The subject of the song had to do with illegal activities, crime, jail, and/or prison.
The original was not by a band that she knew the name of, so we are thinking some sort of one hit wonder band of the 80s.
Does this inspire anyone to make a guess?