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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.

Mack Wilds “New York: A Love Story” Samples & Inspiration  was originally published on theurbandaily.com

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