"Regulate" by Warren G. & Nate Dogg broke new ground by sampling a mellow, melodic hit from the '80s: "I Keep Forgettin'" by Michael McDonald.
"Paper Planes" was inspired by M.I.A.'s hassles trying to get a visa to enter America.
Beck's "Where It's At" is a nod to the early years of hip-hop, when DJs would use two turntable to loop drum breaks, and a microphone to hype the crowd.
"Rhythm Of My Heart" by Rod Stewart is about a soldier at war - his heart is beating like a drum because he's in battle.
"I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)" by Jay-Z borrows four bars from Notorious B.I.G's "The World Is Filled." Jay-Z and Biggie Smalls attended Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in Brooklyn, New York, at the same time.
The Sam & Dave classic "Soul Man" was re-recorded by Sam Moore and Lou Reed for the 1986 movie Soul Man, about a white guy who pretends to be black so he can get a scholarship to Harvard.
The singer/bassist for Concrete Blonde talks about how her songs come from clairvoyance, and takes us through the making of their hit "Joey."
Phil was a songwriter, producer and voice behind many Philadelphia soul classics. When disco hit, he got an interesting project: The Village People.
Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.
Tyler talks about his true love: songwriting. How he identifies the beauty in a melody and turns sorrow into art.
The man who created Yacht Rock with "Sailing" wrote one of his biggest hits while on acid.
Pete produced Dwight Yoakam, Michelle Shocked, Meat Puppets, and a very memorable track for Roy Orbison.