"Push It" was the first Salt-N-Pepa single to be a success at mainstream radio, peaking at #19 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart; helping promote the overall emergence of rap music in the late 1980s. "Push It" advanced into the Top 40 the week of December 26, 1987, eventually reaching its peak of #19 the week of February 20, 1988. It also ties with "Let's Talk About Sex" as their highest-charting UK hit, both peaking at #2 in that country. "Push It" was the beginning of a successful career for the female rap trio that would carry on into the mid-1990s, as the group would become the best-selling female rap act ever and one of the most successful rap acts, either male or female. The song describes the narrator's wish for her paramour to insert his penis into her body with force.