How Many More Years formed his own band in West Memphis, Arkansas, in 1948, billing himself as "The Howlin' Wolf". He began broadcasting on radio station KWEM in West Memphis, and was heard by Sam Phillips who signed him for Memphis Recording Service. He recorded "How Many More Years" at the MRS studio at 706 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee, in or about July 1951, singing and playing harmonica with a band comprising (probably) Ike Turner (piano), Willie Johnson (guitar), and Willie Steele (drums). The repetitious bass-string boogie line resembles the one played in the traditional blues standard "Forty-Four". The record's original A-side, "Moanin' at
How Many Licks? a Little Doe", a track from her 1996 album "Hard Core", and a remix of the American trio Intro's 1995 single "Funny How Time Flies". The rapper further introduces herself as "the female Mack". "How Many Licks?" received primarily positive reviews from music critics following its release and during retrospective reviews. Commentators praised the single for its sexual content. Michelle Goldberg of "Salon" wrote that Lil' Kim maintained a focus on her "playfully ripe side" from "Hard Core". Noisey's Adria Young referred to its lyrics in 2015 as "some of the rap diva’s most raunchy verses to date", citing the