Songfacts®:

• This was the theme song to the movie Ghostbusters II. Brown was hot at the time, with a #1 single "My Prerogative," so he was courted to do the song. He was invited to the movie set, where he met the cast and the crew. The film's joint music supervisor, Kathy Nelson, suggested he record this song for the movie.
  
  Brown agreed in a deal that involved a small part in the film - he played a doorman who greets the Ghostbusters when they arrive at Gracie Mansion. "You guys got another one of those proton packs? My kid brother really wants one," he asks. "The proton pack is not a toy," Egon (Harold Ramis) tells him. "On Our Own" plays under this scene.
• This was written by L.A. Reid, Babyface and Darryl Simmons. Reid and Babyface were the founders of LaFace Records.
• Brown was originally a member of the teen group New Edition who enjoyed several American hits and a UK #1 ("Candy Girl") in the mid-'80s. He left in 1996 to to go solo and enjoyed immediate success with a stream of hit singles including "My Prerogative." In 1992 he married Whitney Houston but had several run-ins with the law. In January 1998 he was imprisoned for driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs and in May 2000 (having tested positive for cocaine), he was refused bail and was again incarcerated.
• The first Ghostbusters movie came out in 1984 and used a song of the same name by Ray Parker Jr. that went to #1 in the US. Parker, who wrote that song, had to incorporate the word "Ghostbusters" into the chorus, a daunting challenge for a songwriter. For the sequel, the movie gets its plugs during Brown's raps, which bookend the song along with an interlude where he gives a quick plot summary. The song itself is about self-reliance, but the message is clear: go see the movie.
• Donald Trump makes an appearance in the video, which shows Brown and scenes from the movie projected on buildings and signs around New York City.