[1] Written by all three artists and its producer No I.D., "Control" contains samples such as "Where I'm From" (1997) by Jay-Z, "El pueblo unido jamás será vencido" (1974) by Quilapayún and Sergio Ortega, and an interpolation of "Get Bizy" (2011) by Terrace Martin.
[2][1] Lamar's Twitter account and Wikipedia article received increased internet traffic as a direct result of the release of this track.
Rob Kenner of Complex, who named the track the tenth-greatest song of 2013, wrote, "No matter which verse you prefer it's hard to deny that "Control" will go down in history as a milestone in hip-hop, and easily ranks as one of 2013's most important records.
[18] While performing at a cypher at the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards,[19] Lamar rapped: "Yeah, and nothing's been the same since they dropped 'Control' / And tucked a sensitive rapper back in his pajama clothes.
"[20] Media outlets have speculated that Lamar, Drake, and Big Sean have been exchanging disses to each other through their music;[21][22] although rumors were repeatedly denied.
According to Lamar, the best responses came from King Los, Joell Ortiz, Joe Budden and Kevin Hart's hip hop pseudonym Chocolate Droppa.