How Does a Moment Last Forever marks the first collaboration between Menken and Rice in over two decades; the last time they worked together had been in the "Beauty and the Beast" musical. Menken believes that the songs he and Rice had written for the musical would not have translated well to the screen due to the structural differences between the two formats. One of at least nine significant changes made to the film specifically for the remake, "How Does a Moment Last Forever" was conceived to explain Belle's backstory. Her quest to find out her mother's fate serves, in the plot, as a foundation for
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