First released as a single in the United Kingdom in September 1996 by Clean-up Records, the song reached number 15 on the UK Singles Chart and had moderate radio airplay in the United States, where it was shipped to modern rock and dance stations in February 1997.

After the song was used in the 1997 American film The Saint, radio stations began playing "6 Underground" more frequently.

The most popular version was the remix by Nellee Hooper (which appeared as a hidden track on the album and was depicted in the music video).

The "a-one two" heard repeatedly in the Nellee Hooper version is sampled from De La Soul's song "Breakadawn".

"[3] In December 1996, Melody Maker ranked "6 Underground" number 30 in their list of "Singles of the Year", adding, "Smokier than Bill Hicks' bedroom, snakier than a python on a hairpin bend, a prime slice of easy sleaze that proved t**p h*p needn't be two dirty words.

"[4] In 2017, Billboard ranked it number 48 in their list of "The 100 Greatest Pop Songs of 1997", writing, "Thank God for Nellee Hooper, the script doctor of '90s U.K. electronic pop, who stepped in to take the Sneaker Pimps' signature single to the next level — without him, there's no sticky Uh, one, two hook making an already captivating trip-hop ballad absolutely unshakeable.

There are also several smaller lit rooms with oval windows within the larger dark room, depicting different scenes such as a man dressed in black practicing various poses, a woman dressed in a nightgown who is vacuuming the floor, a young woman posing around a chair in a red tie shirt and black skirt, a toddler dressed in a costume pouring spaghetti from a jar and tossing it around the room, and an overweight man eating spaghetti while sitting in a recliner.

The song is featured at the beginning of the Beverly Hills, 90210 episode "Friends in Deed" from its eighth season.

[20] A remix of the song—"Six Underground (The Umbrellas Of Ladywell Mix #2)"—is used in the 1998 teen film Can't Hardly Wait, when character Amanda Beckett (Jennifer Love Hewitt) first walks into the party.