LL Cool J said in his autobiography that the idea for the song came from a discussion with his grandmother. He had said to his grandmother that he felt that he couldn't survive as a rapper now that gangsta rap was popular and he was being dissed by several up-and-coming rappers.
It was his fourth album, Mama Said Knock You Out (1990), however, that became his biggest seller to date. Read more about the album and LL Cool J’s career here.