The album's opening track, "Piano & I", begins with a rendition of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata", combined with a hip hop beat. The introduction is followed by "Girlfriend", which was produced by Jermaine Dupri. Commended for its "crisp production", the song samples Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Brooklyn Zoo". Keys' cover of Prince's 1982 ballad "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" (retitled "How Come You Don't Call Me") was inspired by a long-term relationship with a partner. The music critic for "PopMatters" felt that the song was credible, but fell short from the original and Stephanie Mills's 1980s cover. "Fallin", the gospel-driven lead single and often considered Keys's signature song, contains a sample of James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World". The song earned Keys comparisons to Aretha Franklin.