Is it possible to outdo Goo Goo Dolls’ classic “Name”? No. Is it a lot of fun to pay homage to one of my favorite songs of all time? Yes. I asked my Dad to learn this song on guitar. He learned it and I recorded it. I learned the chords of the song on the keys and filled in a drum pattern, a bassline, and atmospheric elements to build the beat. I don’t know if “Name” is known by enough people in the hip hop audience that the interpolation alone could make this beat a hit, but the chords are so good that it doesn’t matter. This beat is as ripe as any for an artist to make an inspiring introspective song and cap a classic album. Those types of songs are always my favorites on albums and I feel like Bone Thugs n Harmony figured out a successful blueprint to a hit by exploiting this sound when they shocked the world with “Tha Crossroads.” Tupac also did a great job capitalizing on this type of record with “Changes” and many of his other timeless masterpieces. DMX’s soulful “Slippin,” Scarface’s “Mary Jane,” the list can go on and on. I would love to see a resurgence of this gritty introspective style as a force in popular music. I design beats like this with that type of result in mind. And as those types of songs often wrap up an album, so does “Name (2o11)” wrap up mine!