Kane told Rock The Bells that 'Set It Off' started with 45 King. “I was hangin’ with Biz at 45 King’s house," he explains. "He played a beat that he tailor-made for Biz that was really slow, but Biz didn’t like it. I said that I would take it, but I wanted it faster. He knocked it up a few beats per minute, but I asked for it to be much faster.
45 found that interesting because that was the original tempo of the beat, it was only slowed down to match Biz’s flow. He took that disk out and put another one in with the same beat at the faster tempo with a sample on it, but he said that I couldn’t have it because it was for a Public Enemy remix and he was waiting on confirmation [for]."
Kane explained further that James Brown's classic 'Sex Machine' was a motivation for 'Set It Off'. "A few weeks later, he called and told Biz that I could have it," says Kane. "During that time, I was listening to a James Brown compilation and there’s a horn break down on 'Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved' and I knew I wanted that for the beat, so I got Marley to add it.
I was also inspired by 'Sex Machine' from that same compilation, and I wanted something to match the energy from the intro when James is talking and then the beat drops. I said the let it roll, get bold intro and then the beat came in after. That structure came from 'Sex Machine."
