One of the most underrated songs of the early ‘90s, Common and Ynot exchange verbal blows about the merits of wealth. Despite his producer credits, Ynot absolutely kills his verses as both deliver lines filled with pop culture references that make this a “must-explain” for RapGenius™.

Producer and featured artist Twilite Tone a.k.a. Ynot provided some background information about the track:

Some people thought I was a little too hype on ‘Can I Bust,’ so I really wanted people to hear what I was saying this time around. I wanted people to also feel my production and see a perfect balance between the two. I didn’t let Rashid hear my rhymes before he recorded, because I didn’t want him to be influenced by what I was going to do. All I asked him was, ‘What’s the last word you’re coming with?’ so I could kick off my verse.

The beat was also ahead of its time. I didn’t even have hi-hats going on. It was straight kick and drums. The way I was doing snatches—nobody was doing snatch-outs like that back then. It took almost 10 years for other people to do that. I was very adamant about pushing the envelope of hip-hop—I was almost too serious about it.

[A&R] Peter Kang and them wanted to make this record a single. They wanted to shoot a video and everything. I don’t know what happened, but it never ended up happening.

This song samples the beginning section of “Cross Country” by Archie Whitewater.