Brooklyn (5:10)

On the song Brooklyn, a three-movement piece dedicated to Mos’ place of origin in Bedford-Stuyvesant, New York, Mos rhymes three verses over three different beats. The first beat is an original composition, while the second verse is a re-creation of Smif-N-Wessun’s “Home Sweet Home” and the last verse is set to the instrumental of Notorious B.I.G.’s 1995 single Who Shot Ya?

However, Brooklyn’s original soundscape took its concept a bit further. On the original version, the first and third verses are set to the instrumentals of two other 1995 New York rap hits, “Incarcerated Scarfaces” by Raekwon as well as “Give Up the Goods (Just Step)” by Mobb Deep, respectively.

The “Who Shot Ya?” verse, with the same vocal take on the released version, is placed in the middle. It is assumed that the use of these instrumentals could not be cleared for various reasons. One of many being the possibility that the samples used in the original instrumentals were only licensed to be used specifically for those compositions, and any further licensing would require the original artists’ permission (therefore requiring more money on both sampling parties’ ends), or any other number of various music industry troubles. This said version circulates online frequently.