Know the Ledge

The rapper played a more active role in the song than usual: "They let me go up in a little room and see the movie. It was funny: I was living in Manhattan, downtown on 19th street. So when I got to the crib, me and wifey, she knew I was zoning in the cab. When I got to the crib, I had my studio in a little room. I went straight up into the room and found the sample. The bass line. I took the bass line and put the regular drum sample underneath that shit. Half an hour later I had the lights off because I was in there zoning. Wifey came in; I was like, 'Turn the lights off and close the door back.' About an hour later, I came out of there with three verses, man. It was crazy." Rakim also played live drums on the track. ==Music video==

The black-and-white video features Rakim rapping in the streets of Harlem, with scenes from Juice intercut. ==Samples==

• The main bass line is sampled from "Rise, Sally Rise" by Nat Adderley, from his 1968 release The Scavenger ==Sampling and other references==

• The lyric "I guess I didn't know..." (from the last line of the last verse) is sampled in the 1997 song "Busy Child" by The Crystal Method. • Promoe, a Swedish rapper, refers to the title in the chorus of Spanish rapper Zatu's song "Al Filo", released in his album Odisea en el Lodo (2001). ==In popular media==

The song has been featured in... • ...the movie Fish Tank, when Mia is dancing in a deserted flat. • ...the third season of Prison Break, in the episode "Dirt Nap", when Sammy is shadow boxing in his room to prepare for a fight. • ...the American Dad! episode "Don't Look a Smith Horse in the Mouth", during the SUV Dramatization. • ...promos for the television series Archer. • ...the video game EA Skate. • ...the DC Shoes 2003 DC video. • ...the film High Fidelity, during a fantasy confrontation between the characters played by John Cusack and Tim Robbins. • ...the video game BMX XXX. • ...the video game Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2. • ...the video game NBA 2K18 ==Charts==