"Encore" received much popularity in 2004 when it was mixed with Linkin Park's hit single "Numb" on the mash-up album Collision Course as "Numb/Encore", which went on to win a Grammy Award.
He cited a perceived lack of competition as reason for his retirement, stating "The game ain't hot.
Critic Rob Mitchum wrote of the song that "it's a little hard to take Jay's claims of retirement at face value when... ("Encore") makes reference to 'when I come back like Jordan wearing the 45.
The production samples the trumpet introduction to John Holt's cover of "I Will" by The Beatles, therefore there is a Lennon–McCartney songwriting credit on the song.
[5] Al Shipley of Complex wrote that "Encore" "is perhaps the ultimate Black Album cut,"[6] while critic Dimas Sanfiorenzo called the track "probably one of the happiest songs of Hov's career.