The song acted as a "second first single" of sorts, as it followed the group's debut "Lapdance", but was the first single to be released from the second, more streamlined version of In Search Of... rerecorded courtesy of Spymob rather than The Neptunes' trademark synths and electronic drum programming.

N.E.R.D., later starts performing "Rock Star", as the gym teacher, and other students dance along to the song.

[1] The song is featured in the films The Guard, Bringing Down the House, Blue Crush, and Piece by Piece The Jason Nevins remix of the song has been featured in numerous video games such as Burnout Dominator, Burnout Paradise, and Forza Motorsport 2 as well as movie trailers for Shanghai Knights, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and the 2004 film Taxi, and was featured in an Apple iPod advert.

The original version appears in the video games Mat Hoffman Pro BMX 2, SX Superstar, and True Crime: Streets of LA.

It placed at number 46 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2002 in Australia, which is the world's largest annual music poll.