Songfacts®:

• This is the song where we learned the acronym G.O.A.T., meaning the Greatest Of All Time. The phrase became widely popular in popular culture, especially in sports and hip-hop, but LL was the first rapper to define the term. The song is big ol' brag with a hook that leaves no doubt, with LL rapping, "I'm the G.O.A.T.," with the gang vocal answering, "The greatest of all time!"
• The boxer and global ambassador Muhammad Ali is the best known "Greatest Of All Time," a phrase he often used to describe himself. Ali was brash and playful, with boundless confidence. He delighted journalists with his wit, often coming up with rhymes to describe his greatness (and his opponents' shortcomings) that were in many ways a precursor to hip-hop. Boxing was huge when he ruled the sport in the '60s and '70s, and as the heavyweight champ, he got the most attention. He didn't refer to himself as "The Goat," but did incorporate as G.O.A.T. Inc. in the early '90s.
  
  LL Cool J is a big boxing fan, as seen in the motif for his 1990 hit "Mama Said Knock You Out," and a big fan of Muhammad Ali. He credits the boxer as the original G.O.A.T., telling Rolling Stone, "Without Muhammad Ali, there would be no 'Mama Said Knock You Out, and the term G.O.A.T. would have never been coined."
• LL had been calling himself the "greatest of all time" long before he released this song. You can hear it in the lyric to his 1997 track "4-3-2-1":
  
  Watch your mouth don't ever step out of line
  LL Cool J, greatest of all time
• The song is the last track on LL Cool J's 2000 album G.O.A.T. His eighth album, it was his first to hit #1. The song, though, wasn't released as a single and LL never performed it live. The most popular song from the album is the lead single, "Imagine That."
• Years later, the acronym "G.O.A.T." became part of the lexicon and a big talking point in discussions about who is the best ever in their chosen field. Sports journalists were especially drawn to it, as it's a topic of lively debate. There are a few consensus GOATS - Serena Williams in women's tennis, Tom Brady at quarterback and Simone Biles in women's gymnastics among them - but in most sports it's not so clear. Who, for instance, is the best men's basketball player of all time? We'll go with Jordan, but there's a strong case for LeBron and even Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain.
• When the song was released in 2000, hip-hop had been around for about 25 years and had been very popular for about 15. This was around the time when the "who is the best rapper ever?" debates started to proliferate, and LL was certainly in the discussion. He was one of the first successful rappers, with the classics "I Can't Live Without My Radio" and "Rock The Bells" on his 1985 debut album, Radio. He introduced sensitivity to rap with his 1987 song "I Need Love," and reached new heights with his Mama Said Knock You Out album in 1991. In the 2000s he branched into acting and didn't put out as much music, but by then his legacy was secure and it was well known that he was the original GOAT.