"Devil's Pie" is a song by American R&B and

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

musician

D'Angelo Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" ...

, released October 31, 1998, on

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

. It was issued as a

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

for his second studio album, 2000's ''

Voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

''. The song was composed by D'Angelo and

hip hop producer Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music in a recording studio. While the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music creation, including recording the rapping of an MC, a turntablist or DJ providing a beat, playing samples and "s ...

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop duo ...

of the group

Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American hip hop duo, consisting of Texas record producer DJ Premier and Massachusetts rapper Guru. For the entirety of their association, they were based out of Brooklyn, New York. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 20 ...

. "Devil's Pie" served as a departure for D'Angelo from the

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...

style of his previous commercially successful singles to the more experimental, "

jam Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and entertai ...

"-like sound that is predominant on ''Voodoo'', as well as the use of sampling in his music. The song appeared on the soundtrack to the 1998 film ''

Belly Belly may refer to: Anatomy * The abdomen, the part of the body between the pelvis and the thorax; or the stomach ** A beer belly, an overhang of fat above the waist, presumed to be caused by regular beer drinking ** Belly dance * The fleshy, cent ...

''. DJ Premier originally made the track for

Canibus Germaine Williams (born December 9, 1974), better known by his stage name Canibus, is an American rapper and actor. He initially gained fame in the 1990s for his ability to freestyle, and eventually released his debut album Can-I-Bus in 1998. ...

but later offered it to D'Angelo after Canibus rejected the song.

Background

A part of the musical collective Soulquarians, J Dilla aka Jay Dee served as a frequent collaborator of theirs.Touré
Untitled Document: D'Angelo, May 2000
''Rolling Stone''. Archived fro

on April 2, 2011.Columnist

Drummerworld Drummerworld is a Swiss drum website created by Bernhard Castiglioni in 1997. The site focuses on the biographies of prominent rock and jazz drummers and drum lessons, along with a discussion forum. Popularity and awards Half of ''Drumme ...

. Retrieved on 2008-08-09. Although album tracks such as "Left & Right" and "Devil's Pie" help to bring this claim to light, Dilla himself was not officially credited for production. However, he contributed significantly to ''Voodoo''s overall sound, specifically the rhythm and percussion.

Composition

Produced by D'Angelo and

, "Devil's Pie" is one of the more hip hop-oriented recordings on ''Voodoo'', featuring extensive sampling and

drum programming Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These mus ...

. Its distinctive sound consists of vintage

P-Funk Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive ...

harmonies In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However, ...

and contains several samples managed and programmed by Premier, including those from soul singer

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. He was born in Kingstree, South Carolina. Pendergrass spent most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initially rose to musi ...

's 1977 "And If I Had", rapper

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper from New York City. He began his music career as a member of hip hop group Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.), then forged a sol ...

's "Success",

Pierre Henry Henry at his home (January 2008) Pierre Georges Albert François Henry (; 9 December 1927 – 5 July 2017) was a French composer and pioneer of musique concrète. Biography Henry was born in Paris, France, and began experimenting at the age of ...

's 1967 composition "Jericho Jerk", and "Interlude" by Wu-Tang member

Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon The Chef, or simply Raekwon (), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success ...

.Rap Samples Faq: D'Angelo
The Breaks. Retrieved on 2008-10-13. The song is a sparse

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

diatribe A diatribe (from the Greek ''διατριβή''), also known less formally as rant, is a lengthy oration, though often reduced to writing, made in criticism of someone or something, often employing humor, sarcasm, and appeals to emotion. His ...

on the excess of money and materialism in hip hop, with a minor reference to

Five Percenter The Five-Percent Nation, sometimes referred to as the Nation of Gods and Earths (NGE/NOGE) or the Five Percenters, is a Black nationalist movement influenced by Islam that was founded in 1964 in the Harlem section of the borough of Manhattan, ...

philosophy ("85 are dumb and blind/A third of people compromise").Lewis, Miles Marshall
Review: ''Voodoo''
''The Village Voice''. Retrieved on 2008-12-25. A ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' magazine columnist later cited "Devil's Pie" as the album's centerpiece, while also describing it as a "sweaty, head-nodding sermon against the evil seduction of hip-hop materialism."Peisner, David.
Body & Soul
". ''

'': 64–72. August 2008. According to producer and drummer Questlove, the song was written to address the issues of "the money hungry jiggafied state of the world we're in, which you can't eat without ''dough'', ''cream'', ''ice'', ''cheddar'', and ''bread'' (the key ingredients) and how the

devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...

will destroy those who will sell their souls to him."Thompson, Ahmir 'Questlove'.
Review: ''Voodoo''
. ?uestcorner/Okayplayer: 1999. Archived fro
the original
on 2008-08-09. The song's first and second verse continue the overall theme of the dangers and excesses of hip hop, as D'Angelo's lyrics comment on the image of prison and death used by hip hop artists, as well as lack of artistic integrity and

selling out "Selling out", or "sold out" in the past tense, is a common expression for the compromising of a person's integrity, morality, authenticity, or principles by forgoing the long-term benefits of the collective or group in exchange for personal gai ...

. The theme of materialism in hip hop music and culture is introduced in the second rendition of the chorus:

Sample Credits

Complete list of samples used for "Devil's Pie"; acquired from TheBreaks.com and ''Voodoo'' album liner notes.Williams (2000), pp. 5–24. * Contains a sample from "Success" performed by

* Contains a sample from "Interlude" performed by

* Contains a sample from "Jericho Jerk" performed by

* Contains a sample from "And If I Had" performed by

* Contains an excerpt from "Fakin' Jax" performed by INI * Contains an excerpt from "Big Daddy Anthem" performed by Natruel

Track listing

A-side #"Devil's Pie (DJ Premier's RAW Mix)" – 5:20 #"Devil's Pie (DJ Premier's RAW Instrumental)" – 5:20 B-side #"Devil's Pie (Clean Version)" – 5:20 #"Devil's Pie (Raw

A Capella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

)" – 4:57

Chart history

Personnel

Credits adapted from album booklet liner notes. * Produced by D'Angelo and DJ Premier * Programming by DJ Premier * All other instruments: D'Angelo

Notes

References

* {{authority control 1998 singles D'Angelo songs Song recordings produced by DJ Premier 1998 songs Songs written by Jay-Z Songs written by DJ Premier