The duo sincerely spoke about forgiveness and compassion as their motivation for creating the track. LL Cool J even paraphrased a famous Martin Luther King, Jr. quote to support his participation in the collaboration, saying, "Darkness doesn't drive out darkness, only light can. Hate doesn't drive out hate, only love can."

LL told GMA he is not advising people to truly forget slavery, just the mentality and bitterness, saying, "Don't get bitter, get better." He further advised, "Let's not be victims of things that happened so long ago anymore."

LL says he respects people taking exception to some of the lyrics and Paisley agreed. "Let's respect it, but after we respect it let's open our hearts up so we can move forward."