"Hail Mary" took under 1 hour to complete. It took about 15 minutes to write and about five minutes to lay. Hurt-M-Badd made the beat in 20–30 minutes. "Outlawz on a paper chase, can you relate?..." was originally going to be the hook but then Makaveli said "Nah, we going to put that at the end."
This song was played as a tribute to 2Pac at the Up in Smoke Tour, in 2000. Rap artists Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg played this song as one of 3 songs they did, for and a tribute to 2Pac, with the crowd singing the chorus. On April 15, 2012, this song was played as the opening of the 2Pac Hologram's performance alongside live performers Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The track moved 13,000 downloads that week for a 1,530% sales increase. The song was played in the film Baby Boy, in which Shakur himself was supposed to play the lead. The film was released in 2001 by John Singleton, but because Shakur was no longer alive, Singleton had him replaced by Tyrese Gibson. The song was played when Jody, the lead, had a dream about being gunned down by the police or being locked up in prison with his girlfriend and son visiting him. While the song is playing, 2Pac's picture is seen in Jody's room. The 2015 film Straight Outta Compton shows Shakur recording the song in a scene which takes place in 1995, one year before it was released. However, this never happened in real life, as Dr. Dre left Death Row Records before the actual song itself was recorded. It was played in the 2015 boxing filmCreed, as the entrance music to Donnie Creed, Apollo Creed's son, during his final match within the film. It was played in 2Pac's biopic, All Eyez on Me where he performs the song at The House of Blues in July 1996. However, this scene has never happened in real life.
Cover versions and remixes
In 2001, rapper Ja Rule remade 2Pac's song "Pain" from the Above the Rim sessions, retitled the song "So Much Pain", and left in 2Pac's second verse as it was in the original song. Numerous others, especially his rivals, took offense to Ja Rule trying to emulate 2Pac. As a result, 50 Cent, Eminem, and Busta Rhymes did a remix of "Hail Mary" in 2003. The lyrics were reworked to feature numerous shots at Ja Rule, including several lines aimed at his "imitation" of 2Pac. J. Cole interpolated the hook of "Hail Mary" in his song "Enchanted" off his mixtape Friday Night Lights. R&B singer Monica sampled it on the song "U Deserve" on her 2002 album All Eyez on Me. Rapper Lil Wayne covered the song in his episode of MTV Unplugged in 2011. Electronic bandBlood On The Dance Floor interpolated the first verse for their first single, "Resurrection Spell" from their 2017 album, Kawaii Monster. Pusha T interpolated the song's hook on the track "What Would Meek Do?" off his 2018 album Daytona.
