Joe Budden has forged his 15-plus-year career by making music that can regularly sound like a journal entry. The difference is, while many artists could exclusively read from the best days of their life, the Slaughterhouse MC often picks ones that show his mistakes, his ignorance, and the more vulnerable parts of his journey.

On newly-released Rage and The Machine, one of Joe’s most gripping diary excerpts could easily be “I Wanna Know.” AraabMuzik gets his Soul-sampling on, while Joe, now from a place of healthy love, looks at the jagged lead-up to this point. The MC admits his mistakes, and drops jewels on the knowledge it took him to find a recent love with strong foundation, while embracing his role as a father. Budden’s son Trey appears in the video. The song also features vocals by Stacy Barthe.

Joe Budden Discusses Why His Music & Personal Life Are At Their Best In 2016

Last month, Joe spoke to Ambrosia For Heads about his son and giving advice on love and women. “My son and I, we haven’t had too many conversations about his thoughts on my romantic life, but I can tell that he kinda looks at me that way—he kinda looks at me like I do pretty good in that area, for some reason. But, first things first, with him, I teach him how to be a gentleman. That’s just the most important thing to me, as a man. They always say that chivalry is dead. I don’t think it’s true. I think when people are raised properly, certain things are just by default. You open doors. You carry things. You pull out chairs. You’re mannerable. You’re polite. You’re just a gentleman—so I try to teach him that. I try to instill that in him, and if he masters that, he’ll be pretty fine later on in life with women.”

In that same discussion, the MC expounded on some bars from the single.