You might know singer and rapper Mack Wilds as actor Tristan Wilds of “The Wire” & “90210” fame. While he does have things in common with Drake, such as being a child actor and a recording artist, the one thing he and Drake do not have in common is the way he honors the Hip Hop artists that influenced him. The Staten Island native won’t be making any jawns called “Wu-Tang Forever” devoid of drums that are essentially love songs. Instead on Mack Wilds’ debut album “New York: A Love Story” he not only features homages to his New York Hip-Hop influences, but he does them justice.
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Let’s break down some of the classic and influential tracks which provided the skeleton for much of the production on his Grammy nominated album.
1. “Wild Things” – “Wild Things” is built off of the foundation of the “Underdog” cartoon sample, the “Hihache” drums and the beat from the 1993 RZA produced classic “Wu Tang Clan Ain’t Nothin’ Ta F*ck Wit” off Wu Tang Clan’s debut LP “Enter The 36 Chambers.” So it only made sense that Method Man road shotgun on this.
2. “My Crib” – The foundation of the beat for “My Crib” comes from the Bink! produced banger “You, Me, Him & Her” by Jay-Z featuring guest appearances from Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel & less than 8 bars from Amil off Jay-Z’s 2000 release “The Dynasty: Roc La Familia.”
3. “Henny” – The beat for “Henny” comes from the Havoc produced Mobb Deep hit “Burn” AKA “The Learning.” “Burn” was the lead single from Mobb Deep’s 2001 album “Infamy.”
4. “Own It” – Mack Wilds’ single “Own It” is built off of Eric B. & Rakim’s 1986 classic single “Eric B. For President” which was produced by none other than the legend Marley Marl.
6. “Keepin’ It Real” – Group Home’s “The Realness” might not be considered a classic to anyone else but underground Hip-Hop heads but DJ Premier’s production on Group Home’s 1995 debut “Livin’ Proof” certainly was influential. “The Realness” was the B side to their last single off the aforementioned album “Suspended In Time” and it provided a great backdrop for Mack Wild to sing over.
8. “Don’t Turn Me Down” – Salaam Remi & Rico Love produced “Down Turn Me Down” but it involved an interpolation of the Bob James staple “Nautilus.” “Nautilus” is one of the most sampled compositions in Hip-Hop history and it’s only right given the theme of “New York: A Love Story” that it would be used on this album.
9. “The Sober Up” – This James Poyser & Salaam Remi co-produced gem features the drums from A Tribe Called Quest’s classic “Butter.” “Butter” was on A Tribe Called Quest’s classic offering from 1991, “The Low End Theory.” The drums are from the beginning of Chuck Jackson’s 1968 composition “I Like Everything About You.” It doesn’t get more New York than that.
12. “Remember The Time”– Sure, “Remember The Time” is a remake of a Michael Jackson and Teddy Riley collaboration, but this particular version employs both the drums and patterns from two different bangers of Mobb Deep’s 2001 LP “Infamy.” The drums and sequence/patterns are lifted from “Burn” and “Clap” respectfully. In many ways I prefer this Havoc co-produced version to the original hit song.
13. “Duck Sauce.” The Pete Rock produced “Duck Sauce” gives Mack an opportunity to rhyme the entire track. The hook is built around the Boogie Down Productions 1988 classic “My Philosophy.” “My Philosophy” was the lead single off BDP’s sophomore LP “By Any Means Necessary” and it was co-produced by KRS One & the legendary Ivan “DJ Doc” Rodriguez.
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