I wrote and produced millions and millions of selling records, so my publishing company alone was worth millions of dollars. I didn't have to work anymore in life because when the rappers started sampling... I'm the most sampled artist in history.

The video for the song was banned on MTV and BET for sexual content which James labeled hypocritical. James was extremely close with Teena Marie whom he met in 1979 and began working with that same year. After his 1998 stroke James needed a pacemaker to help him breathe and by his death was dealing with overweight problems which also affected his health.

He would go on to score several popular hits on the pop and R&B charts including four number-one hits on the latter chart. James won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song with Hammer for the song his only Grammy win. James died later that year from heart failure at the age of 56.