Play is the fifth studio album by American electronic musician Moby. It was released on May 17, 1999, through Mute Records internationally and V2 Records in North America. Recording of the album began in mid-1997, following the release of Moby's fourth album, Animal Rights (1996), which deviated from his electronica style; Moby's goal for Play was to return to electronica, blending downtempo with blues and roots music samples. Originally intended to be his final record, the album was recorded at Moby's home studio in Manhattan.
"Lose Control" is a song by American rapper Missy Elliott featuring singer Ciara and rapper Fatman Scoop. It was released as the lead single from Elliott's sixth studio album, The Cookbook, on May 23, 2005. It contains samples from Hot Streak's "Body Work" and Cybotron's "Clear". The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, number two in New Zealand, and in the top thirty in various countries.
"Work It" is a hip hop song written by American rapper Missy Elliott and her producer Tim "Timbaland" Mosley for Elliott's fourth studio album Under Construction (2002). The song's musical style, and production by Timbaland, were heavily inspired by old school hip hop from the early 1980s. It samples Run-D.M.C.'s "Peter Piper" and Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three's "Request Line".
Gabriel Jackson, better known by his stage name Spoonie Gee, is one of the earliest rap artists, and one of the few to have released rap records in the 1970s. He has been credited with originating the term hip hop and some of the themes in his music were precursors of gangsta rap.
"Like This and Like That" is a song by American singer Monica. It was written by Dallas Austin, Colin Wolfe, and Malik Edwards, and produced by the former two. It was released as the second single along with "Before You Walk Out of My Life" from Monica's debut studio album, Miss Thang (1995). The song is built around a sample of "Spoonin' Rap" (1979) by Spoonie G, written by Gabriel Jackson. Mr. Malik from former rap duo Illegal performs several ad-libs and sings part of the bridge, earning him a place as a featured artist on the track.
"Acceptable in the 80s" is a song by Scottish producer, songwriter and DJ Calvin Harris, taken from his debut studio album I Created Disco. It was released as his debut single on 12 March 2007. The single peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.
"It's Tricky" is the fourth single released from Run-DMC's third album, Raising Hell. It was released early in 1987 through Profile Records and was co-produced by Rick Rubin and the group themselves. The song peaked at No. 57 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 21 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. In the UK, the song reached No. 16 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Mercy" is a song by American rapper Kanye West featuring fellow American rappers Big Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz. The song was released April 3, 2012 through GOOD Music and Def Jam as the lead single from the compilation album Cruel Summer (2012). The song's production was handled by Lifted, with additional production from West, Mike Dean, and Mike Will Made It, and additional instrumentation from Hudson Mohawke. The song heavily samples the dancehall song "Dust a Sound Boy" by Super Beagle. The song received mostly positive reviews from music critics who praised the bombastic production, the varying quality of the verses, and the wordplay of the individual rappers. The song was featured on the soundtrack for NBA 2K13.
"Bound 2" is a song by American rapper Kanye West, featured as the final track from his sixth studio album, Yeezus (2013). It was produced by West and Che Pope, with additional production being handled by Eric Danchick, Noah Goldstein, No ID and Mike Dean. The song features vocals from American soul singer Charlie Wilson and serves as the album's second single. "Bound 2" incorporates samples from "Bound" by Ponderosa Twins Plus One and the lines "Uh-huh, honey" and "Alright" from Brenda Lee's "Sweet Nothin's". The song also interpolates Wee's "Aeroplane (Reprise)" for the bridge, sung by Charlie Wilson.
"Truffle Butter" is a song by rapper Nicki Minaj featuring Drake and Lil Wayne. It is included as an exclusive bonus track on the iTunes edition of Minaj's third studio album The Pinkprint (2014). Produced by Young Money Entertainment with help by Cash Money Records and Republic Records, the song was released as the fifth single from the album on January 23, 2015. "Truffle Butter" is hip hop song and contains a sample of Maya Jane Coles' song "What They Say" (2010). In March 2015, it was sent to urban contemporary and contemporary hit radio.
"100" is a song by American rapper The Game featuring Canadian rapper Drake. The song is the first single from The Game's sixth studio album, The Documentary 2. The song was premiered by DJ Envy on Power 105.1 on June 25, 2015. The title refers to speaking the truth, or "keeping it 100". The main theme of the song is how fame can erode trust among friends. It contains a sample of "Feel the Fire" by Peabo Bryson.
"New York" is the debut single by American rapper Angel Haze released on October 8, 2012. The song was released as a single from their third mixtape Reservation, subsequently featuring on their debut extended play New York and the deluxe edition of their debut studio album Dirty Gold. Produced by The 83rd, the beat samples a clapping loop from Gil Scott-Heron’s track “New York Is Killing Me”. The official music video for the song was directed by Adrienne Nicole.
"Surround Sound" is a song by American rapper JID featuring British-American rapper 21 Savage and fellow American rapper Baby Tate, released on January 14, 2022 as the lead single from the former's third studio album The Forever Story (2022). Produced by DJ Scheme, Christo, and Nuri, it contains a sample of "One Step Ahead" by Aretha Franklin. In late 2023, the song gained a viral resurgence on the video app TikTok after a trend named the "Ceiling Challenge" was created. As a result, more than 57,000 videos were made using the song. The trend caused the song to peak at number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2024, two years after its original release.
"Woah" is a single by American rapper Lil Baby from his second studio album My Turn (2020). The song was released through Quality Control Music and Universal Music Group on November 8, 2019. "Woah" became Lil Baby's third number one on the Billboard Streaming Songs chart, following 2018's "Yes Indeed" and "Drip Too Hard". It also debuted at number one on the Rolling Stone 100.
Casada Aaron Sorrell, known professionally as Sada Baby, is an American rapper and singer. He initially gained recognition in 2018 when the music video for his song "Bloxk Party" went viral, leading to him signing to Asylum Records. A prominent figure of the emerging Detroit rap scene of the mid-to-late 2010s, Sada Baby has become one of the most prolific rappers of the generation. His debut studio album Skuba Sada 2 (2020), a sequel to his 2017 debut mixtape Skuba Sada, peaked at number 125 on the US Billboard 200. In 2020, his song "Whole Lotta Choppas" went viral on TikTok, later receiving a remix featuring Nicki Minaj and peaking at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Ball If I Want To" is a song by American rapper DaBaby, released on June 18, 2021, with an accompanying music video. It was produced by D.A. Got That Dope.
"WusYaName" is a song by American rapper Tyler, the Creator featuring fellow American rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again and American singer Ty Dolla $ign. It was released on June 22, 2021, alongside a retro-themed music video, as the second single from Tyler's sixth studio album, Call Me If You Get Lost. A '90s-inspired R&B record, it samples H-Town's "Back Seat ", and sees Tyler rapping and singing to a mysterious woman he becomes love-struck with while on a road trip. The song was noted for its production and Tyler's delivery, and is the highest-charting track from the album.
"Tomorrow" is a song by American rapper GloRilla. It was released on July 15, 2022 as a single from Collective Music Group's compilation album Gangsta Art (2022). It was written by the artist with Antonio Anderson Jr and produced by Macaroni Toni. On September 23, 2022, the official remix of the song, titled "Tomorrow 2", with American rapper Cardi B was released. The remix brought the song to its peak at number 9 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"Just Wanna Rock" is a song by American rapper Lil Uzi Vert. It was released as the lead single for their third studio album Pink Tape (2023) through Atlantic Records and Generation Now on October 17, 2022. Uzi wrote the song with producers MCVertt and Synthetic. They previously teased it on the video-sharing app TikTok, where the song gained over 500 million views.
"Bandit" is a song by American rapper and singer Don Toliver. It was released on February 1, 2024, through Cactus Jack, We Run It Inc and Atlantic Records as the lead single from his fourth studio album, Hardstone Psycho. The song was written by Toliver and producer ReidMB, with Australian musician Kevin Parker also credited as a songwriter due to the song "One More Hour", by his music project Tame Impala, being sampled. Writing for Stereogum, Tom Breihan felt that the song "works pretty well as source material for the kind of hazy, expansive rap beat that Toliver's label boss Travis Scott would probably love".
