Credit: All-Pro Reels

Nas is rightly regarded as one of hip-hop’s greatest lyricists, but he has, all the same, written his fair share of duds in his time. Even the man himself has admitted to that.

During an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in 2018, the host asked Nas if he’d ever written a lyric that he liked but couldn’t bring himself to include on a song because it was “too silly.” The rapper, instead, highlighted a track that he actually did release but was a little bit embarrassed by.

“Sure,” Nas responded to Colbert’s question. “I did a song called ‘Dr Knockboot.’”

Dr Knockboot appeared on Nas’ third album I Am…, released in 1999. While the album sold well, the reaction was decidedly mixed. Following the acclaim of his first album, Illmatic, his follow-up It Was Written was regarded with less critical enthusiasm and I Am… continued the trend.

Looking back on things with the benefit of hindsight, Nas himself seems to harbour regrets about I Am…, with ‘Dr Knockboot’ jumping out at him as an especially regrettable inclusion. The song sees Nas adopt the persona of the titular Dr Knockboot, who serves as a sort of sex therapist.

“When it come to sex advice, I’m the one to call,” his opening verse goes. “If you a virgin with blue balls or you tear down walls / Not Dr Ruth, call me Dr Knockboot.” That just about sets the tone for the song that follows.

This name “Knockboot,” as Nas explained on Colbert, was based on the phrase “knocking boots,” which was “a late ’80s term for making love.” This, Nas felt, wasn’t his most eloquent of wordplays.

“It was one of those songs I regretted doing,” he admitted. “I regret letting people talk me into putting it on an album.”

Colbert pressed Nas on whether or not he regretted including a song about “making love” on his album because it was inappropriate, but it wasn’t that. Nas wasn’t prudish about the subject matter—he just hated the title.

“The name ‘Dr Knockboot’ is… is… no,” he said, shaking his head with a fair amount of shame. “It’s corny.”