"I Know" is a song by American

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

recording artist A musician is someone who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate a person who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters, ...

Yo Gotti Mario Sentell Giden Mims (born May 19, 1981), known professionally as Yo Gotti, is an American rapper, singer, and record executive. Rooted in Memphis rap, he released five independent albums—''Youngsta's on a Come Up'' (1996), ''From da Dope ...

. The song was released on November 15, 2013, as the fourth single from his fourth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' I Am'' (2013). "I Know" features a

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

from rapper Rich Homie Quan who produced the song along with Trauma Tone. The song samples

Club Nouveau Club Nouveau () is an American R&B group formed by record producer/performer Jay King in 1986 in Sacramento, California, following the breakup of the Timex Social Club. The group's name ( French for "Club New") was changed from its original i ...

's " Why You Treat Me So Bad", the same song sampled on

Luniz Luniz (pronounced Loonies) (formerly Luniz Toons and LuniTunes) is an American hip hop music, hip hop duo from Oakland, California, formed by West Coast rappers Yukmouth and Numskull. They were signed to Noo Trybe Records and C-Note Records, and ...

's prolific "

I Got 5 On It "I Got 5 on It" is a song by American Rapping, rap duo Luniz featuring Contemporary R&B, R&B singer Michael Marshall (singer), Michael Marshall, released in May 1995 by C-Note, Noo Trybe Records, Noo Trybe and Virgin Records, Virgin as the lead ...

". Following its release, the song peaked at number 31 on the US ''Billboard''

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart.

Background and release

On November 6, 2013, the Rich Homie Quan featuring "I Know" was released for free streaming online along with the rest of the album. The song which was produced by Trauma Tone and Rich Homie Quan, features a significant sample use of

's " Why You Treat Me So Bad", the same song sampled on

's prolific "

". This is replicated in the bass line and string layers. On November 15, 2013, "I Know" was released for digital download as the album's fourth single. It was serviced to

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 20, Rhythmic Top 30, Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and upbeat R&B hit ...

radio in the United States on May 27, 2014.

Critical reception

"I Know" received generally positive reviews from

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

s. David Jeffries of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

praised the song and sample usage as "great". Bryan Dupont-Gray of '' The Daily Cougar'' stated the production sold the song and it is one of the better tracks on the album. Grant Jones of RapReviews.com said, Gotti's "messy flow and rushed delivery are left all over an admittedly decent take on the inimitable Da Luniz track "I Got Five On It"." Ronald Grant of

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

said, ""I Know" contains production directly inspired by Club Nouveau's old school R&B classic "Why You Treat Me So Bad," but contains a lazy hook by guest star Rich Homie Quan. This ultimately makes the tune listenable yet draggingly boring."

Music video

The music video for "I Know" was released on May 1, 2014.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2013 singles 2013 songs Yo Gotti songs Rich Homie Quan songs Epic Records singles Songs written by Thomas McElroy Songs written by Denzil Foster Songs written by Yo Gotti