Produced by Milk Dee and DJ Gizmo from Audio Two, the song seeks to warn about the dangers of drug use and its impact on relationships.
In it, she tells the story of meeting a man named Sam in 1981 who, while it seems he is cheating on her with another girl, turns out he is actually addicted to crack cocaine.
(...) I would never want that for myself or any other young person that I knew so I was going to make it my responsibility to tell people about drugs so that they could avoid them at all costs.”[5]In Brian Coleman's book Check the Technique, Lyte has stated regarding the song: "I mixed in elements of reality, but in 1981 I was eleven years old and wasn’t going anywhere near "Empire Boulevard".
At the time of publication, Peter Watrous of The New York Times rated "I Cram to Understand U (Sam)" as one of the best 12-inch singles of the year, noting "Unlike the dozens of raps that are simply comic put-downs, Ms Lyte's plaintive tone and her self-deprecating story add up to a complex emotional statement.
"[10] For his part, Mike Boehm of the Los Angeles Times would comment in 1990: “With memorable, intelligently pointed story-songs such as "I Cram to Understand U (Sam)" and "Cappucino", female rapper MC Lyte's peak material is several cuts above anything by Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie and most other rappers.”[11]In January 1998 "I Cram to Understand U (Sam)" was included by The Source in their list "The 100 Best Rap Singles of All Time".