“Put It On” was released as the lead single from Big L’s debut album Lifestylez Ov Da Poor and Dangerous. The song features DJ Kid Capri on the chorus in a hypeman role as Big L displays his lyrical skills over the Buckwild track.

In an interview with HipHopDX, producer Lord Finesse said the following about the track:

[Columbia Records] wanted something with a hook that would be kinda catchy, and something they could get radio play with. Like, everything [L] did was dark, and it was gangsta, and it was…what was the [popular style at the time]? Horror-core. So they needed something bright, something friendly. And ‘Put It On’ just matched everything perfect.

‘Put it on,’ the slang…was like… ‘do your thing.’ ‘Put it on Big L, put it on…’ [meaning] you gotta do your thing, you gotta represent.