The song's lyrics, originally written by trombonist and bandleader Fred Wesley but heavily revised by Brown himself soon before it was recorded, concern the revenge he plans to take against a man who betrayed him.

JB had just caught wind of her broken loyalty before he was about to record 'Revenge,' a song Fred Wesley had sketched out for the opening scene in Hell Up In Harlem.

En Vogue recorded two different hits, "Hold On" and "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)", that were both based on loops from the song's rhythm track.

Former Nuttin' Nyce member Eboni Foster sampled the song on the single, "Crazy for You" from her only studio album Just What You Want, released in 1998.

Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar used elements of the sample on the hit single "King Kunta" from his 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly.

Chicago-born rapper/MC, Common also sampled the track in his song titled "Payback Is A Grandmother" which appears on the album Like Water For Chocolate.