Savage was offered the opportunity to record Be a Man after meeting Bill Edwards, the chairman of St. Petersburg, Florida-based Big3 Records. The label's in-house production team, Da Raskulls, wrote and produced the album; Savage is credited as co-composer of "Be a Man" and his brother, Lanny Poffo, wrote the lyrics of "Perfect Friend."[5]
In a 2003 interview, Savage said his feud with Hulk Hogan, the subject of the title track, was genuine, and that his entry into music was earnest. "I'm just trying to have fun, but I can't stress enough that this isn't a novelty act. I'm in this for the long haul," Savage said.[6]
Be a Man sold approximately 15,000 copies.[11] Though the album was critically panned,[10][8] it did receive some tongue-in-cheek reviews with hyperbolic praise. The Good 5¢ Cigar, the student newspaper of the University of Rhode Island, wrote that Be a Man would "change not only the entire music industry, but your life as you know it. Every song on [the album] is better than any other song you've heard in your life."[12] Ernest A. Jasmin of The News Tribune said Savage is "the epitome of [a] renaissance man", and that his rapping is "way better than Shaquille O'Neal's."[13] Tom Mallon of CMJ New Music Monthly said Savage's flow is "surprisingly tight for a middle-aged, musclebound beef jerky salesman with an audible constipation problem."[14]
