Throwback Thursdays: Dr. Dre feat. Knoc-turn'al - Bad Intentions (2001)

From the soundtrack for The Wash.

After hearing this song for the first time in probably about 5 years or so, the first thing I noticed was that it was a lot more raunchy than I first remembered it. Probably because the version I was used to (TV, radio, etc.) was significantly censored. The song in and of itself is actually quite grimy, with Dre proudly rhyming about smutting chicks out. And as if that wasn't bad enough, I can't think of any other mainstream music videos that show the artists going to a brothel to bang some whores. I especially love how it was one of the girls' idea to go to Bad Intentions, despite there only being one guy who worked there.

The beat, though, is what makes this song memorable to me. That and Knoc-turn'al's chorus, simply because his voice is so unique and strange. For those of you who never heard this song, it might sound familiar to you because it was sampled in "Superugly", which was Jay-Z's last-second effort to defeat Nas in their hyped rap beef after he got Ethered. Of course, he still lost (this isn't debatable).

Dre, as we all know, has been in the process of putting out Detox for at least the past 5 years. I would say the album has been in development hell, but by all accounts, Dre has simply been dragging his feet on the project. Word around the industry is that Dre is such a perfectionist that he never feels like music sounds good enough until he's tweaked it a gazillion times. That's probably why this album still hasn't come out, 5 years later...

As far as Knoc-turn'al is concerned, I never really knew anything about homey other than that he was from L.A. and he was an associate of the Doctor. Apparently, he was one of Dre's many ghostwriters (you know how those producer-rappers are). He put out an album in 2004 which was chock full of famous appearances (Dre, Timbaland, Snoop, DJ Quik, etc.) and then apparently fell off the face of the earth. He dropped another album in 2006 which was released on the Sonic Wave Int. label, whatever the hell that is. I guess it's safe to say him and Dre aren't picking up hookers together anymore.