I Know What You Want

"I Know What You Want"
Single by Busta Rhymes and Mariah Carey featuring Flipmode Squad
from the album It Ain't Safe No More... and The Remixes
Released	March 17, 2003
Format	CD single, 12" single
Recorded	2002
Genre	R&B, hip hop
Length	5:24
Label	J, Flipmode
Writer(s)	Busta Rhymes, Rah Digga, Rampage, Rick Rock, Spliff Star, L. Jones
Producer(s)	Rick Rock
Certification	Gold (Australia, New Zealand)
Busta Rhymes chronology "Make It Clap" (2003) "I Know What You Want" (2003) "Light Your Ass on Fire" (2003) Mariah Carey chronology "Boy (I Need You)" (2002) "I Know What You Want" (2003) "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" (2003)

"I Know What You Want" is a song written by rapper Busta Rhymes, and produced by Rick Rock for Rhymes' eighth album It Ain't Safe No More (2002). The song is a duet with American singer Mariah Carey, and was co-written by Rah Digga, Rampage, Rick Rock and Spliff Star. It also includes a rap from Rhymes' group, the Flipmode Squad: Spliff Star, Baby Cham, Rah Digga, and Rampage.

It was released as the second single from It Ain't Safe No More in 2003 and was a hit across the world, peaking at number 3 in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Rhymes' previous single, "Make It Clap," had failed to reach the top forty on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. "I Know What You Want" stayed in the top forty for twenty-one weeks, and was ranked 17 on the Hot 100 2003 year-end chart. For Carey, it was a return to form after a string of unsuccessful singles, and it became one of her biggest hits in years. Columbia Records later included it on her thirteenth album The Remixes (2003).

The song has sold 175,000 copies in the UK.^[1]

Critical reception

Billboard editor wrote that Rhymes even takes on a R&B turn.^[2] Amazon.com editor Dalton Higgins wrote that in this duet Busta "croons."^[3]

Music video

The single's music video, directed by Chris Robinson, features Busta Rhymes, the Flipmode Squad, and Carey lounging around an expensive mansion as they debate whether they "know what they want." The footage advertises Carey's jewelry brand - "Automatic Princess", during her sequences. Meanwhile, Busta watches over the female interest of the video played by video vixen, La'Shontae "Tae" Heckerd, as she reads a Frank Miller-stylized graphic novel. A brief animated sequence drawn from the graphic novel is featured.

Formats and track listings

Canadian CD single

1. "I Know What You Want" (Radio Edit)
2. "I Know What You Want" (Instrumental Radio Edit)

European CD single

1. "I Know What You Want" (Album Version)
2. "Break Ya Neck"

Australian/European CD maxi-single

1. "I Know What You Want" (Album Version)
2. "Break Ya Neck"
3. "I Know What You Want" (Instrumental)
4. "I Know What You Want" (Video)

UK CD maxi-single

1. "I Know What You Want"
2. "Call the Ambulance" (Remix featuring M.O.P.)
3. "Call the Ambulance" (featuring M.O.P.)
4. "I Know What You Want" (Video)