How Many More Years Midnight", described by Phillips as "the most different record I ever heard", was probably recorded at a different session. Phillips had not yet set up Sun Records and regularly leased his recordings to the Chess label in Chicago. The record was issued as Chess 1479 on 15 September 1951, with "Moanin' at Midnight" as the A-side and "How Many More Years" as the B-side. "Moanin' at Midnight" entered the R&B chart on 10 November 1951, and was followed four weeks later by "How Many More Years", which became the more popular side and rose to no.4 on the chart. The
How Many Licks? T. C. M. Tyree wrote that the focus on beauty standards in the video continued with Nicki Minaj's video for "Stupid Hoe". Lil' Kim rapped the first verses of "How Many Licks?" during a 2010 event at Irving Plaza. During the performance, she had a wardrobe malfunction and her top almost fell down. She also performed the song in 2012 as part of her Return of the Queen Tour, as well as during a one-night show at the Gramercy Theatre the following year, wearing a red bodysuit and long black hair. In 2013, American drag queen Alaska Thunderfuck sang a