Ctrl C Ctrl V

"Ctrl C Ctrl V"
Song by Mike Shinoda
from the album Ziggurats
Recorded:	2020-2021
Released:	December 3, 2021
Format:	Digital
Length:	2:17
Tempo:	95
Writer:	Mike Shinoda
Producer:	Mike Shinoda
Label:	Kenji Kobayashi Productions
Ziggurats tracklist
Genius Bar Richard Bachman Cheat Codes Ctrl C Ctrl V

"Ctrl C Ctrl V" (stylized as "CTRL C CTRL V") is a song created by Mike Shinoda, released as one of four tracks on his Ziggurats (stylized as ZIGGURATS) "generative mixtape" in December 2021.

Background

On April 3, 2020, Mike made a jam on Twitch called "The Brooklyn Way", which was a 90s hip hop track. At the end of the session, he rapped unreleased lyrics over the jam. These lyrics ended up being released on "Ctrl C Ctrl V" and appear in the middle of the song starting with "I don't follow you dudes, I just move different", etc.

The main version of "Ctrl C Ctrl V" samples at least three known Mike's Twitch jams:

1) "One Hundredth Stream" from September 25, 2020. Mike explained that it was not his one hundredth actual stream, but it was his one hundredth jam he had created. He decided to make a freestyle track using a sample redemptions by the fans with five Sounds.com samples. This jam turned into one of the most popular jams Mike made during the pandemic with fans. The full version of the song is unreleased but this is the second official release of the song in some capacity, as Mike sold 37 seconds of the track in September 2020 as an NFT.

2) "Trail Mix" from July 30-31, 2020 (titled "7.31 Bhangra Zeppelin Boom Bap 2" by Mike). That day, Mike sampled the "Bhangra/Led Zeppelin/Boom Bap" jam from the previous day doing some scratches to create a new track in the style of the Beastie Boys. After he created a beat with the 808 sounds, he did a poll asking the fans if he had to continue with that style or not, and he did. The jam took different directions and Mike joked about the variety of sounds, so he decided to rename it "Trail Mix" as suggested in the chat by the fans, a nod to Mike often eating trail mix during the streams.

3) "Quick Beat Post Among Us" from October 5, 2020. The name of this jam is literally just because Mike played the game "Among Us" for two hours on the stream and made a quick beat afterwards. Instead of working with Maschine, Mike wanted to work with Ableton instruments - drums, etc.

Versions

Note: Only the date of the very first release of each version is listed.

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
Ctrl C Ctrl V	Ziggurats	2:17	2020-2021	December 3, 2021
Ctrl C Ctrl V (Radio Edit)	Ziggurats (Radio Edit)	2:17	2020-2021	December 3, 2021	Censored.

Lyrics

Album Version

Just in case you missed it let me tell you who I am
Tell me who is that floating on the track like space
Triangle button's been missing I don't...
Just in case you missed it let me tell you who I am
Tell me who is that floating on the track like space

Ahhhh
Who is that floating on the track like space
Gravity don't matter he just hovers into place
Pardon me I hardly feel this sudden state of grace
But this track is taking off like it was built on rocket bass
Or rocket treble fuck it I don't give a damn
Just in case you missed it let me tell you who I am
Tell your mother, tell your brother, send a secret telegram
Mike is to the the mic like peanut butter is to jam
I walk what I talk
I was made from the pressure like a diamond outta rock
Call it password protected, I got this shit locked
Put my hands on a mic, put my foes in a box
Not a word you can tell me, came to give 'em hell these
Bars full of scars from the punches that they dealt me
Now I'm bullet training on tracks that never fail me
Pull apart the bars nothing ever can derail me
I don't follow you dudes I just move different
These fools don't even know what to do with it
New faces retracing paces I blueprinted
Saying, "Mike we didn't have a clue until you did it"
CTRL-C, CTRL-V, don't sleep
Wild like Villanova over a dope beat
Style between an old soul and OG
Tell 'em focus on goals over the gold teeth

Radio Edit

Just in case you missed it let me tell you who I am
Tell me who is that floating on the track like space
Triangle button's been missing I don't...
Just in case you missed it let me tell you who I am
Tell me who is that floating on the track like space

Ahhhh
Who is that floating on the track like space
Gravity don't matter he just hovers into place
Pardon me I hardly feel this sudden state of grace
But this track is taking off like it was built on rocket bass
Or rocket treble **** it I don't give a damn
Just in case you missed it let me tell you who I am
Tell your mother, tell your brother, send a secret telegram
Mike is to the the mic like peanut butter is to jam
I walk what I talk
I was made from the pressure like a diamond outta rock
Call it password protected, I got this **** locked
Put my hands on a mic, put my foes in a box
Not a word you can tell me, came to give 'em hell these
Bars full of scars from the punches that they dealt me
Now I'm bullet training on tracks that never fail me
Pull apart the bars nothing ever can derail me
I don't follow you dudes I just move different
These fools don't even know what to do with it
New faces retracing paces I blueprinted
Saying, "Mike we didn't have a clue until you did it"
CTRL-C, CTRL-V, don't sleep
Wild like Villanova over a dope beat
Style between an old soul and OG
Tell 'em focus on goals over the gold teeth

Lyrical Annotations

Mike annotated the song on Genius on the evening of December 3, 2021. Mike's quotes are italicized, while others are links or descriptions.

"space" - gravity

"rocket bass" - "Rocket base, rocket bass. I thought this line was really stupid when I wrote it. But it also made me laugh, which ended up being the reason I kept it. Also, when I was a kid, I made a "Miami Bass" style song called "Rebel Base" where I sampled the Star Wars line "where is the rebel base?" And since I referenced Boba Fett earlier in the mixtape, it made for a veeeerrrry loose connection."

"Tell your mother, tell your brother, send a secret telegram" - A Tribe Called Quest - Check the Rhime. "I never knew why Q-Tip said "tell you mother tell your father send a secret telegram" in Check The Rhime when "brother" would have rhymed better. I also don’t know why they spelled it "Rhime.""

"password protected" - "Knowing this was going to be an NFT / blockchain release, I thought this line worked. Also, we're still doing computer references, all the way through the mixtape."

"put my foes in a box" - coffin

"bars full of scars" - rap bars

"tracks that never fail me" and "Pull apart the bars" - "Train tracks have bars, you guys."

"New faces retracing paces I blueprinted" - ""new people copying steps I invented" see next highlight..."

"CTRL-C, CTRL-V, don't sleep" - "CTRL-C=quick key for copy. CTRL-V=quick key for paste. References the above line. Also references computer and game design themes from earlier verses on mixtape :)"

"Wild like Villanova" - Villanova Wildcats basketball team

"old soul and OG" - old soul: Someone who has a greater appreciation and understanding of things that might be dismissed by others their age. OG: OG used to mean Original Gangster although some people these days use OG as a quicker way of saying Original.

"focus on goals over the gold teeth" - Mike linked his Wikipedia article about himself.