The song title refers to O.J. Simpson, the former NFL running back who was accused and acquitted of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. The trial was named the “Trial of the Century” due to the massive amount of public attention and scandal related to the celebrity of the accused as well as the strained relationship between the black community of Los Angeles and the LAPD. The title is also a play on The Story of O, a famous French novel written in 1954 about dominance and submission.

The song features a sample of the song “Four Women” by Nina Simone, which tells the story of four black women with different skin tones and the struggles they faced. The allusion to Simone’s four women in the chorus suggests that regardless of whether one is wealthy or poor, light skinned or dark, one’s blackness is a more relevant marker in a racist society. Producer No I.D. juxtaposes three separate elements of Nina Simone’s “Four Women” to create the haunting beat, lifting the repeating piano riff from the track’s opening, as well as taking vocals from the start of the first and second verses, respectively. The sample provides more than just a sonic base for the track: it helps establish the themes that run throughout, placing Jay’s racially-charged observations as another entry in the long history of damaging African-American stereotypes.

Jay also referred to O.J. in “Roc Boys:”

Think O.J.
I get away with murder when I sling yay