Songfacts®:

• Nas wrote this song about believing in yourself at the request of his mother, who asked that he write something inspirational for children.
• This is built on samples of Beethoven's classical piece "Fur Elise" and The Honey Drippers' "Impeach The President." >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Donovan Berry - El Dorado, AR, for above 2
• Nas told Rolling Stone magazine about this song: "That was a groundbreaking period for me. That was my biggest radio record I ever had, and like 'If I Ruled the World,' it was used by tons of schools for their graduation. A song like that helped me because I have a daughter, and because I make so much music that when she was younger I didn't want her to listen to, I owed her and other kids something, something real, something real that's up their alley, to show that I cared, that I'm a human being, that I'm not just about giving you a tune about what happens in the 'hood and all that every day. I've got to be a real human being, and that was one of my real human being records right there, for my daughter. So yeah, that's one of the most important records I ever made."