Songfacts®:

• Roddy Ricch was born Rodrick Wayne Moore Jr. in Compton, California, where he was also raised. Here, he talks about his gangsta life on the streets including his affiliation with Los Angeles gang, the Crips.
  
  I been movin' real gangster, so that's why she picked a Crip
• Throughout the track, Ricch recounts his successful trappin in the hood.
  
  Bustin' all the bales out the box
  I just hit a lick with the box
  Had to put the stick in a box
  
  A "box" can be used by rappers as a slang term for a woman's genitalia; however it is unclear to us what Ricch means by the term during the chorus.
  
  Another interpretation cited by some is that the "box" is the jail. Roddy Ricch spent a week in prison facing a potential gun charge in his teens.
• Ricch references professional basketball player Vince Carter's dunks.
  
  I done put my whole arm in the rim, Vince Carter
  And I know probably get a key for the quarter
  
  Carter had an early success when he won the Slam Dunk Contest at the 2000 NBA All-Star Weekend. He went on to become one of the greatest dunkers of all time.
• The song is the second track on Ricch's debut album Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial. The LP debuted atop the US Billboard 200.
• The song received a boost from a series of TikTok memes centering on a squeaking sound in 30 Roc's production. One example was a video that compared the instrumental to the squeaking sound of a mirror being cleaned. The clips helped catapult "The Box" into the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.
• Samuel Gloade, professionally known as 30 Roc, produced the track. His other credits include T-Wayne's "Nasty Freestyle," Yo Gotti's "Rake It Up" and Cardi B's "Bartier Cardi."
• This was the last song Roddy Ricch recorded for Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial. He told GQ that he laid it down 7 a.m. in New York after recording all night.
  
  At the time, Ricch didn't have any planned single. "I wanted my fans to pick the singles based off which ones they liked the most," he explained.
  
  This was the one they went for, and Ricch kicked off 2020 by landing on the #1 spot on the Hot 100.
• 30 Roc revealed in a Genius video that Ricch came up with the squeaky sound himself in the studio once the song was complete.
• "The Box" was named the most streamed song of 2020 by Apple Music. Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial also led the service's most streamed album of the year list.
• Ricch performed this at the Grammys in 2021, where it was nominated for three awards, including Song Of The Year.
• A California songwriter named Greg Perry brought legal action against Ricch, claiming "The Box" copied his song "Come On Down."
  
  Judge Analisa Torres ruled on February 12, 2024 that the two songs exhibited no notable differences, stating, "No reasonable jury could conclude that the works are substantially similar." The judge highlighted "significant dissimilarities" in the "aesthetic appeal" of each track.