The single peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100.[1] It was certified Platinum by the RIAA and has sold over 1,000,000 copies in the United States.[2][3] The song received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 37th Grammy Awards in 1995, losing to "U.N.I.T.Y." by Queen Latifah. It was ranked as the 422nd greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine in 2021.[4] The beat of the song was also ranked as the fourth greatest hip-hop beat of all time by Rock the Bells in 2024.[5]
Easy Mo Bee has stated that the instrumental was originally intended for Apache, who was unable to record the song due to being on tour with the group Naughty by Nature at the time, and was not sure of future recordings at the time. As a result, Mo Bee gave the instrumental to Craig Mack after Bad Boy Records' founder Sean Combs gave him a substantial amount of money for the instrumental.[6]
The music video for the remix was directed by Hype Williams, and was filmed on a soundstage in black-and-white by Isidro Urquia. It features all the artists from the song, as well as guest appearances by Das EFX, Mic Geronimo, Irv Gotti and Funkmaster Flex, although none perform on the song.