I Know What You Want

"I Know What You Want" is a song written by rapper Busta Rhymes, and produced by Rick Rock for Rhymes' sixth album "It Ain't Safe No More...", released on November 26, 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 Sham, Rah Digga, and Rampage.
Released as the second single from "It Ain't Safe No More" on March 17, 2003, it 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 first remix album "The Remixes" (2003) and the British and Japanese reissues of Carey's ninth studio album "Charmbracelet" (2002).
The plotline for the video for "I Know What You Want" was continued in the video for the 2021 single "Where I Belong", in which Rhymes collaborated again with Carey.
Critical reception.
In "Billboard", Brian Garrity wrote that on "I Know What You Want," Busta Rhymes "takes an R&B turn". Amazon.com editor Dalton Higgins wrote that in this duet Busta "croons".
Commercial performance.
The song charted at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 making it Rhymes' highest charting song at the time until 2005 and Carey's then most-recent top five hit since her 2001 single, "Loverboy". The song has sold 175,000 copies in the UK.
Sampling.
The song has been sampled in the song "I Got You" by Trippie Redd (2020) and "Where I Belong", the 2021 follow up duet by Rhymes and Carey.
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" Heckard, as she reads a Frank Miller-stylized graphic novel. Her husband in the video is played by martial artist and actor Michael Jai White. A brief animated sequence drawn from the graphic novel is featured. The video premiered on BET Access Granted on April 17, 2003. Some of the music video is used in Busta Rhymes new music video "Where I Belong".
Formats and track listings.
Canadian CD single
European CD single
Australian/European CD maxi-single
UK CD maxi-single