"Universal Mind Control" is the first single released by Common from his 2008 album of the same name. The single features vocals from Pharrell Williams, who co-produced the song with Chad Hugo under their production team The Neptunes. The music video premiered on Common's official YouTube channel on October 6, 2008. In a recent Microsoft Zune commercial, Common tells Afrika Bambaataa that, when writing this song, he was influenced by Bambaataa's song "Planet Rock", which the song samples.