Martin Luther King Jr.'s Most Memorable Samples

Gwen Stefani featuring Andre 3000 - "Long Way to Go" 2004
It's really puzzling to remember that a record as bizarre-sounding as "Long Way to Go" came out on a major label. At a post-"Hey Ya" post-No Doubt time when Outkast's Andre 3000 and Gwen Stefani were given carte-blanche to do whatever they wanted, "Long Way to Go" was the result. Presumably about recognizing racial identity and harmony post-King, Stefani and Andre identify that the struggles King spoke of are still relevant and require an active attention instead of just remembering his work as part of the past.

Common - "A Dream" 2006
This will.i.am produced cut from the Freedom Writers soundtrack was probably the most visible appearance King's voice on rap radio in recent memory. Along with the audio of the famous "I Have a Dream" speech, the video incorporates actual images lifted and reanimated from both the "I Have a Dream" speech and the civil rights movement. King's "I Have a Dream" speech was also named the #1 music video of all time by Black Entertainment Television during their first ever Notarized Top 100 videos countdown on New Years Eve 1999. "Thriller" was #2.

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