I’m a big fan of sampling when it’s creatively employed in pop music. Think Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation,” which borrowed the guitar vamp from Sly & The Family Stone’s “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),” or Rihanna’s “SOS,” largely built upon Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love.” In both cases, whether cribbing a tiny snippet or a big chunk, the new tunes sounded, well, new.

But Hilary Duff‘s latest, “Reach Out,” which samples Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus,” is a wholly unimaginative and uninspired piece of crap:

Hearing Duff bleat “Reach out and touch may!” is more irritating than the squeak of Styrofoam packaging. Who shall be blamed for this travesty, this example of sampling gone so terribly wrong?

Though I expect the 21-year-old Duff has some say in her choice of material at this point, One Republic frontman Ryan Tedder produced and co-wrote “Reach Out” for the actress-singer. (Don’t get me wrong; Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love,” also produced and co-written by Tedder, is a brilliant tune, but it contains no sample.)

True, Depeche Mode’s stomping “Personal Jesus” would appear ripe for re-appropriation, but it’s already been done and done better. Check out “Beware Of The Dog,” a 2006 UK top ten hit for R&B/pop singer-songwriter, Jamelia:

“Beware Of The Dog” is two years old and yet still trumps much of what’s been heard on Top 40 radio since. The song appears on Jamelia’s third LP, Walk With Me, which I highly recommend to fellow pop devotees.

Jamelia is reportedly set to release her fourth album sometime in 2009. I hope that some smart record exec or radio programmer in the States — someone who hears my prayers, someone who cares — will finally give her some well deserved attention here.