It was released as the second single from his debut solo album, N.O.R.E.. At the time, it became Noreaga's highest charting and most successful single, peaking at No.

[1] However it was later surpassed by his 2002 single "Nothin'" which peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It made the Neptunes well known and sought after producers in the music industry, and in the first decade of the 21st century they would become one of the most successful production teams in music history, being named the Billboard magazine Producer of the Decade for the 2000s.

[2] "Superthug" would later be sampled on Janet Jackson's "Ruff (I Like It)", recorded for her Damita Jo album which failed to make the cut, although a snippet was leaked to the Internet in 2010.

Jackson also considered including the song on her Discipline album.