Universal Mind Control (song)
| "Universal Mind Control" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Common featuring Pharrell | ||||
| from the album Universal Mind Control | ||||
| Released | July 1, 2008 | |||
| Recorded | 2008 | |||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||
| Length | 3:33 (album version) 2:52 (radio edit) | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | The Neptunes | |||
| Common singles chronology | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| Pharrell singles chronology | ||||
| 
 | ||||
"Universal Mind Control" is the first single released by Common from his 2008 album of the same name. The single features vocals from Pharrell Williams, who co-produced the song with Chad Hugo under their production team The Neptunes. The music video premiered on Common's official YouTube channel on October 6, 2008. In a 2008 Microsoft Zune commercial, Common tells Afrika Bambaataa that, when writing this song, he was influenced by Bambaataa's song "Planet Rock", which the song samples. It is Common's second highest-charting single in the U.S. as it peaked at #62 on the Billboard Hot 100. Common uses an interpolation from Gil Scott-Heron's song "No Knock" at the end of his first verse.