Can I Kick It?

Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that "inspired use of samples from Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side" nicely complements tribe's relaxed and confident rhyming."[5] Music & Media commented that "the New York rap crew proves their music can be 'double -streetwise'" and described the song as "two-dimensional rap".[6] NME called it a "laidback chant-a-long".[4] Caroline Sullivan from Smash Hits said that "they've had the sense to nick the bassline from the elderly rock hit "Walk On The Wild Side", and it gives their effort a bit of slinky class."[7]

The music video, directed by Jim Swaffield, features A Tribe Called Quest and various others, including members of De La Soul, literally kicking the word "it" while rapping in a film set, an alley, and a construction site. On the film set, they are seen playing with the tittle of the "i" in "it". In the alley, they are walking around and are flipping on top of the "it". Other things, such as throwing drumsticks around and landing them on drums, are also seen in the video. A "flying record player" is featured, to play the Lou Reed sample. Also, there is a slightly different beat in the video, but the same lyrics from the album are used.

The quotes "Err, you can?" and "th-then do so, at once" are sampled from the UK children's TV series SuperTed, from the character Spotty voiced by Jon Pertwee. The intro of the album version also contains a sample of "Jagger the Dagger" by Gene McDaniels. The video uses a non-album version of the song, titled "Can I Kick It? (Spirit Mix)" which uses additional samples, such as Baby Huey's "Hard Times," and the "Boilerhouse Mix" contains samples of "Don't Let Love Get You Down" by Archie Bell & the Drells, "What a Waste" by Ian Dury and the Blockheads and the orchestral samples come from Sergei Prokofiev and his most famous classical piece "Montagues and Capulets" aka "Dance of the Knights."

In the official Boilerhouse mix of the song, the name of the band "A Tribe Called Quest", is spoken by the British radio DJ Pete Tong.[12]

In the second verse, Phife Dawg refers to former New York City mayor David Dinkins, the city's first African-American mayor: "Mr. Dinkins, would you please be my mayor?" The song was recorded before Dinkins' election to office.[13]

• Rapper Sage Francis covered this song on his album Sick of Waging War. Francis' version contained changes in some of the lyrics. The song is sampled in the 2006 Black Eyed Peas single, Like That.
• Rapper Jay-Z uses the chorus in the track, "22 Twos" on his debut album, Reasonable Doubt.
• Rapper Jay Electronica incorporates the “Can I Kick It?” line into all of his live shows; it has become a tradition at shows for Jay to call out “Can I Kick It?” at which point his audience replies “Yes You Can!”, emulating the famous chorus.
• Rapper Drake mentions the song in his song "Show Me a Good Time" when he raps, "tell me can we kick it like Ali Shaheed and Phife Dawg/people really hate when a backpack rapper get rich/and start livin' that life dawg".
• Daniel Dumile (otherwise known as MF Doom) mentions the song during the Gorillaz song "November Has Come" from the album Demon Days.
• Pop star Robbie Williams mentions the song in the track, Rock DJ on his album Sing When You're Winning.
• Icelandic rap duo Bent and 7Berg made a version of the song in the Icelandic language called "Má Ég Sparka?".
• Josh Martinez references this in the chorus of his song "Underground Pop" featuring Moka Only.
• Australian hip-hop duo Horrorshow covered the song as well as a heavy infusion of Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" on Australian radio station Triple J
• John Cena has mentioned the song in several of his songs.
• In Da Ali G Show a similar beat is played and fictional character Ali G raps 'Can I nick it?' to Mohamed Al-Fayed
• The Popguns covered this song. It appears on their albums Love Junky (1995) and A Plus De Cent (1996).
• Peter Sonnega was voted as the number one cover musician of the song in 2009 by MTV.[14]
• Chuck D. is quoted as quoting, "'Can I kick it?' Who the hell is on the radio?" on the Public Enemy track 'How To Kill A Radio Consultant' from the album 'Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Back'.
• Rapper Nero quotes "Before this did you really know what live was?" in song "Alive & Vibrant"
• Da Lench Mob refer to "Can I Kick It?" on their song "Buck tha Devil".
• Rapper Danny! (Danny Swain) refers to the call and response chorus and reinterpolates it at the end of his song "Yoko Ono"
• Swedish pop singer Lykke Li has been known to end her shows with it.
• Dave Chappelle ended his comedy special The Age of Spin at the Hollywood Palladium in 2016 with the track, dedicating it to Phife Dawg who had died shortly before the show.