[1] The song, which is about Lyte confronting her boyfriend over infidelity, became an underground hit, selling 125,000 copies in the first six months with virtually no radio play.

[5] In an interview with Rolling Stone, MC Lyte says she wrote the lyrics to "Paper Thin" in her rhyme book long before recorded the song "probably '82" at 12 or 13 years old.

According to an interview with King of Chill in 2019, the initial production work was done in his family's apartment with a Alesis drum machine, and followed by mixing at Firehouse Studio in Brooklyn Heights.

The producer has also stated that the success of the song was a "dream come true" "The goal when you start rappin' is to be the coolest dude on your block and in the neighborhood.

"[7]The song contains samples of Prince's "17 Days" bass intro, Al Green's "I'm Glad You're Mine"'s drum, and Earth, Wind & Fire's "Shining Star" hook.

The music video for the song, directed by Lionel C. Martin,[8] was filmed at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn and features cameos by, among others the clothing designer urban April Walker, D-Nice, DJ Jazzy Joyce, MC Serch of the rap group 3rd Bass and their DJ K-Rock.

From her first video "Paper Thin," where she is fully clothed in a sweatsuit, turtle neck, jacket, and boots, Lyte seemed more concerned with the delivery of her art than any ill modification of her body.

More than just a low-budget decision, video directors who had some, if not a lot of, input from rap artists tapped into a train metaphor whose meaning may have changed, but whose aesthetic traditions stayed intact.

The train is said to impart several meanings: the migration patterns of African Americans moving from south to north, the upward mobility of an oppressed people, and the overall promise of a better future.

: The Hip Hop Study Reader (2003),[16] sociologist Tricia Rose commented on the song: "MC Lyte's underground hit, "Paper Thin", is one of the most scathing raps about male dishonesty/infidelity and the tensions between trust and vulnerability.

Lyte has been burned by Sam, but she has turned her experience into a black woman's anthem that sustains an uncomfortable balance between brutal cynicism and honest vulnerability (...) Lyte's public acknowledgment that Sam's expressions of love were paper thin is not a source of embarrassment for her, but a means of empowerment.

"[3] On the 30th anniversary of its release, Albumism's Jesse Ducker reviewed "Lyte as a Rock," in which he commented on the song: "Paper Thin," is one of the best hip-hop breakup tracks ever recorded.

She reiterates her strength and independence by assuring those that she has no intentions of ever using men for their money, flying in the face of the way many women were portrayed in hip-hop tracks throughout the ’80s, ’90s, and, if we’re being honest, today.

"[4] In 2018, thirty years after its publication, Christopher R. Weingarten of Rolling Stone magazine reviewed "Paper Thin", calling it an "iconic hip-hop hit" and "Machismo-slaying anthem.