Described as one of the album's "monumental singles",[1] Michael Di Bella wrote in the All Music Guide to Rock that "Rakim grabs the listener by the throat and illustrates his mastery of the rhyming craft".

[3] According to Rakim, the duo spent a week working on Paid in Full,[5] with "I Ain't No Joke" taking most of it, four days.

In an interview with Spin magazine Rakim said that while writing the song he deliberately avoided using obscene language:[6] If you listen to the rhymes in "I Ain't No Joke", you know I was really thinkin' hard about that shit.

"I Ain't No Joke" was produced by the duo using the samples from "Pass the Peas" by The J.B.'s[7] and "Theme from the Planets" by Dexter Wansel.

[9] Music video for "I Ain't No Joke" was directed by Vivien Goldman, a British journalist, writer, and musician, who also had experience in guerrilla filmmaking.

Both Eric B. and Rakim wear golden age era outfits, consisting of tracksuits and heavy gold chains and jewelry, and described by Complex magazine as "flamboyant" and "both classic and priceless".