Songfacts®:

• This soulful single from Common's ninth album, The Dreamer, The Believer finds him linking up again with renowned Chicago producer No I.D., the beatmaster behind the Windy City rapper's first three records. "It's that good hip-hop, that good music," Common told Power 106's DJ Reflex of the song. "When you hook up with No I.D. and the type of producer that he is, he can do all types of things, but I think that the best you'll get out of us [together] is the essence of hip-hop."
• The song is powered by a sample from Electric Light Orchestra's 1977 single, "Mr. Blue Sky."
• Common explained to The Boombox why he chose this inspirational track, as his lead single from The Dreamer, The Believer. "I really liked the song when we made it," he said. "After myself and No I.D. [talked], he was like, 'Man, this song is really a song that can appeal to a mass audience. But you're still being Common. You're talking about fulfilling a dream, having hope and being inspiring.'"
• Common told The Boombox how the Electric Light Orchestra track inspired the song's reaching for your dream concept. "I was like, 'What do I think about when I think of a blue sky?'" he said.' "When I see a blue sky, that means it's going to be a good day, and I started thinking about my dreams and saying, 'Look, this is what I come from to what I'm achieving and I want to achieve more. It's truly a journey."
• The video, directed by Paris, features vignettes of various people all striving to fulfill different dreams.