Mama Said Knock You Out is the title track from LL Cool J's fourth album, released in 1990, and it became one of his signature songs. Written as a defiant comeback after critics questioned his career, the track won a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance and stayed on radio and in sports arenas for decades. Its opening hook is short and quotable, which helped it spread on soundboards, in memes and in edit culture as a ready made signal that a fightback is about to start.