Behind The Beats, Vol. 4: Lupe Fiasco's "The Pen and The Needlz"

This particular Lupe Fiasco song appeared on one of his first big mixtapes, Fahrenheit 1/15 Part I: The Truth Is Among Us. It's easy to see why Lupe caught the attention of major labels, as his flow was mind boggling even way back when. Dropping lines like, "Make you feel it like I mispronounced 'fillet'" or "I'm back atcha, and I pack like cap backwards." Overall, I'd say the Fahrenheit mixtape series features some of my favorite Lupe material that he's ever done. This track is pretty high on my list. As for the production, I have no idea who flipped this track, but I accidentally stumbled upon the sample when listening to some Marvin Gaye a while back. It's from Gaye's classic track, "Mercy Mercy Me," but you have to wait to the very end of the track to catch the actual sample.

Marvin Gaye: "Mercy Mercy Me"

Behind The Beats, Vol. 1: Brother Ali's "Mr. President (You're The Man)"

Due to my affinity for the old school soul music that gets sampled so often in hip-hop, I've decided to start a new feature for Midwest Broadcast: "Behind The Beats." In this section, I'll be highlighting some of my favorite sampled tracks for you all. Today's inaugural edition of Behind The Beats focuses on the recent, self-produced Brother Ali track, "Mr. President (You're The Man)." As a dedication to President-elect Obama's recent electoral college victory, Ali couldn't have picked a better sample to flip than Marvin Gaye's similarily titled track, "You're The Man, Parts I & II." Gaye's sultry singing and the funky guitar loop at the beginning were perfect selections to chop up, and Ali did so masterfully.

Marvin Gaye: "You're The Man, Parts I & II"