"Knock Yourself Out" is a song by American rapper

Jadakiss Jason Terrance Phillips (born May 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Jadakiss (, ), is an American rapper who began his career in the 1990s and formed the hip hop trio the Lox alongside Styles P and Sheek Louch in 1994. The group signed w ...

, and the second single from his debut studio album ''

Kiss tha Game Goodbye ''Kiss tha Game Goodbye'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Jadakiss. Originally scheduled for an April 18th, 2000 release, the album was ultimately released on August 7, 2001, by Ruff Ryders Entertainment and Interscope Records. The ...

'' (2001). The song was produced by

The Neptunes The Neptunes were an American record production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provided backing vocals and music video appearances on the duo's productions, while H ...

Background

The song originally had a different beat, produced by

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

, who also came up with the hook. Pharrell changed the beat, because he thought it was too slow for the song. When Jadakiss heard the new instrumental, he was not satisfied with it, but fellow rapper

Styles P David R. Styles (born November 28, 1974), better known by his stage name Styles P (also known Mononymous person, mononymously as Styles), is an American rapper, best known as a member of East Coast hip hop group the Lox. Formed with fellow rappe ...

suggested he use the beat anyway. Jadakiss liked the new beat, but not as much as the original. Rap duo

Clipse Clipse, also known as the Clipse, is an American hip-hop, hip hop duo from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Formed in 1994, it consists of brothers No Malice, Gene "Malice" and Pusha T, Terrence "Pusha T" Thornton. Pusha T was known as Terrar during t ...

used the same beat on their debut album

Exclusive Audio Footage ''Exclusive Audio Footage'' is the unreleased debut studio album from Virginia hip hop duo Clipse. The album spawned one single and music video "The Funeral", which hit airwaves in 1999. Promotional CD and vinyl copies exist and the LP has been l ...

on the track "Hear Me Out".

Music video

The music video was shot in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...

on July 3, 2001 and directed by

Little X Julien Christian Lutz (born October 31, 1975), known professionally as Director X, is a Canadian music video director. Having trained under Hype Williams, Lutz has been credited for directing over a hundred music videos spanning various genres si ...

. It features Canadian model

Melyssa Ford Melyssa Savannah Ford (born November 7, 1976) is a Canadian media personality, actress, and former video vixen. Since 2022, she has co-hosted ''The Joe Budden Podcast'' alongside broadcaster and former rapper Joe Budden. Early life Melyssa Savan ...

and a scene of her diving in a pool.

Remix

An unreleased remix of the song features American rapper

Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, spoken as "ludicrous" in American English), is an American rapper and songwriter. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at age ...

. In February 2018, Ludacris shared a snippet of the remix in an interview with

Ebro Darden Ibrahim Jamil "Ebro" Darden (born March 17, 1975) is an American radio personality, broadcaster, and DJ. Until 2014, he was Vice President of Programming for Emmis Communications' New York contemporary urban station WQHT (Hot 97). He is currentl ...

Beats 1 Apple Music 1, previously branded as Beats 1, is a 24/7 music radio station owned and operated by Apple Inc. It is accessible through iTunes or the Apple Music app on a computer, smartphone or tablet, smart speaker (such as the Apple HomePod), ...

Charts

References

{{Jadakiss 2001 singles 2001 songs Jadakiss songs Song recordings produced by the Neptunes Songs written by Jadakiss Songs written by Pharrell Williams Songs written by Chad Hugo Ruff Ryders Entertainment singles Interscope Records singles