American rapper Eminem has used a sample from the flipside of a 50-year-old hit single by Dutch duo Mouth & MacNeal on his new album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace).

The Greek jingle incorporated in Land of Milk and Honey by songwriter Hans van Hemert (79) appears on the Eminem track Lucifer, which has been streamed over eight million times on Spotify since the album’s release on Friday.

The A-side of the Dutch duo’s single, How Do You Do, went on to become a worldwide hit and reached the number eight spot on the American Billboard Hot 100 in 1971.

“It’s the cherry on the cake,” Van Hemert told broadcaster NOS. “I didn’t think much of the song at the time, it wasn’t really hit material.

“But there’s always something there and in this case it was a catchy Greek tune. I have always liked to use exotic instruments, a bouzouki in this case.”

Van Hemert said he liked to think that producer Dr Dre listened to the record as a child and remembered the tune, but NOS said, the truth is that Van Hemert’s publishing company is constantly touting his music collection to the international music industry.

But it can’t be all coincidence, Van Hemert joked. “Mouth and MacNeal is M and M. And Roel Smit, the chairman of the Mouth & MacNeal fan club, was a roadie for Margriet Eshuijs band. And that was called Lucifer.”

Van Hemert said the sample is not going to make him rich. “It’ll be €10,000 at most and I’ll have to share it with eight others,” he said.