Songfacts®:

• Ludacris is known for some aggressive declarations: "Move," "Stand Up," "Blow It Out." In 2004 he added "Get Back" to that list, a song where he takes on his foes as well as the hangers-on who try to get in his circle.
  
  By this time, Luda was at the top of the game, in the middle of a string of three #1 albums while also making lots of guest appearances. His success drew lots of attention, some of it unwanted, and in "Get Back" he warns that he's not playing around when it comes to defending his turf.
• "Get Back" was the lead single from The Red Light District, Luda's fifth album. The single was released late in 2004, about six months after "Yeah!," his collaboration with Usher and Lil Jon, ended a remarkable 12-week run at #1. Like Usher, Ludacris was based in Atlanta, which was having a moment thanks also to Outkast, which released their classic album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below in 2003.
  
  "Get Back" was a solid hit, and the next single, "Number One Spot," proved prophetic when the album reached the top spot.
• This song is a great example of Ludacris' signature style, which is a kind of playful menace with crisp, articulated lyrics and booming beats. The hostilities in his rhymes come balanced with humor. Here's an example from this track:
  
  It's the knick knack paddywhack, still ride in Cadillacs
• Spike Jonze directed the memorable music video, which starts with a scene where an overeager manager type (played by Fatlip from The Pharcyde) takes his place at a urinal next to Ludacris and pitches him on his idea. Ludacris puts up with it for a while but finally snaps. As the song starts, he smacks the guy all over the men's room.
  
  Ludacris has comically large arms in the video, part of his larger-than-life approach to his visuals.
• Ludacris wrote this song with the track's producers, Dominic Bazile and Craig Lawson. Bazile, aka TicToc, also did a lot of work with Juvenile. Lawson, aka KLC, had a hand in Luda's hit "Move Bitch."
• Tom Cruise dances to "Get Back" at the end of the 2008 movie Tropic Thunder. It's not as famous as his Risky Business dance, but it's up there. Cruise is unrecognizable in Tropic Thunder, playing a schlubby studio executive named Les Grossman. At the 2010 MTV Movie Awards he showed up in character as Grossman and did the dance with Jennifer Lopez as the song played.
• Rap and pop-punk came together when Ludacris teamed with Sum 41 for a remix of "Get Back" in 2005, which they performed on the January 22, 2005 episode of Saturday Night Live.
• "Get Back" was used in Nissan commercials that ran during the NCAA basketball tournament in 2024. In the spots, mascots from various schools help people escape their workplaces so they can watch the games.