Songfacts®:

• This song finds Cole tackling his guilt over his love for expensive jewelry. He raps about how the Jesus Chain is a symbolic representation of the materialistic perspective most rappers have and his shame that he doesn't stop buying them himself. "Money short so this jewelry is like a weave. Meant to deceive," he spits.
• Cole supplied his own beats for most of the Born Sinner cuts. His crony Ibrahim "IB" Hamad told Vibe magazine that this track is a demonstration of how the Carolina rapper has improved in his ability to come back to a song and add or take away things when needed. He explained: "This song was around since the Club Paradise tour and we all knew we wanted that story to be told on the album, but it wasn't until he added production and the second half of the song that it felt like this absolutely had to be on the album. To me, it went from a song on the fence to one of my favorite moments on the album. I don't think Cole the producer could have done that a year or two ago."
• The song samples Cleveland Rhythm and Blues band Sly, Slick & Wicked's 1973 track, "Sho' Nuff." The tune prominently makes use of the vibraslap, a rattling percussion instrument that was invented in 1967. It was meant to be a sturdier jawbone (a similar instrument made from dried animal bones) that would resist breaking, but Steven Tyler unintentionally broke one on the third try on "Sweet Emotion."
• The "Sho' Nuff" sample also showed up in Justin Timberlake's 2013 hit, "Suit & Tie." Although both artists had permission to use the track, the band lawyered up when they didn't get the money they wanted. Timberlake and Cole weren't specifically named in the lawsuit, but the record labels were - as well as Anheuser-Busch, who used the tune in commercials for Bud Light.