"Devil's Pie" served as a departure for D'Angelo from the urban contemporary style of his previous commercially successful singles to the more experimental, "jam"-like sound that is predominant on Voodoo, as well as the use of sampling in his music.

Its distinctive sound consists of vintage P-Funk harmonies and contains several samples managed and programmed by Premier, including those from soul singer Teddy Pendergrass's 1977 "And If I Had", rapper Fat Joe's "Success", Pierre Henry's 1967 composition "Jericho Jerk", and "Interlude" by Wu-Tang member Raekwon.

[5][6] The song is a sparse funk diatribe on the excess of money and materialism in hip hop, with a minor reference to Five Percenter philosophy ("85 are dumb and blind/A third of people compromise").

[7] A Spin magazine columnist later cited "Devil's Pie" as the album's centerpiece, while also describing it as a "sweaty, head-nodding sermon against the evil seduction of hip-hop materialism.

"[8] According to producer and drummer Questlove, the song was written to address the issues of "the money hungry jiggafied state of the world we're in, which you can't eat without dough, cream, ice, cheddar, and bread (the key ingredients) and how the devil will destroy those who will sell their souls to him.