"Make Me Bad" is a song written and recorded by the American

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...

band

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 ...

for their fourth studio album, '' Issues''. Many Korn fans interpret the lyrics to be about frontman

Jonathan Davis Jonathan Howsmon Davis (born January 18, 1971), also known as JD or JDevil, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman of nu metal band Korn, who are considered a pioneering act of the ...

' getting tired of drinking or drug abuse and his decision to get sober a year prior to ''Issues'' coming out. It was released as the album's second single in February 2000, enjoying major success on US rock radio stations and in the United Kingdom. The ''

Alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

''-inspired music video is one of the most expensive videos Korn have ever filmed featuring actors

Brigitte Nielsen Brigitte Nielsen (; born Gitte Nielsen; 15 July 1963) is a Danish actress, model, and singer. She began her career modelling for Greg Gorman and Helmut Newton. She subsequently acted in the 1985 films ''Red Sonja'' and ''Rocky IV'', later retu ...

Udo Kier Udo Kierspe (born 14 October 1944), known professionally as Udo Kier, is a German actor. Known primarily as a character actor, Kier has appeared in more than 220 films in both leading and supporting roles throughout Europe and the Americas. He h ...

Tatjana Patitz Tatjana Patitz (born 25 March 1966) is a German model and actress who achieved international prominence in the 1980s and 1990s representing fashion designers on runways and in magazines such as ''Elle'', ''Harper's Bazaar'', and ''Vogue''. Patitz ...

, and

Shannyn Sossamon Shannon Marie Kahololani "Shannyn" Sossamon () is an American actress, director, and musician. She has appeared in the films ''A Knight's Tale'' (2001), '' 40 Days and 40 Nights'', ''The Rules of Attraction'' (both 2002), '' The Order'' (2003), ' ...

. An acoustic medley of "Make Me Bad" and

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

's "

In Between Days "In Between Days" (sometimes listed as "Inbetween Days" or "In-Between Days") is a song by the English rock band The Cure, released in July 1985 as the first single from the band's sixth album ''The Head on the Door''. The song was an internatio ...

" was performed with The Cure for the ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...

'' series in December 2006.

Music video

The video was directed by

Martin Weisz Martin Weisz (born March 27, 1966), is a German music video and film director. He has directed over 350 videos and worked with artists such as Nickelback, Brandy, Puff Daddy, and LL Cool J. He has also directed numerous commercials. Martin Wei ...

, and features actresses

, and actor

. Brigitte and Udo would play villains in the 2000 film, ''Doomsdayer''. It received its world premiere in February 2000 on the short-lived

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

music show ''

Farmclub ''Farmclub.com'' is an American TV show, which aired on USA Network. It was broadcast from January 31, 2000 to June 15, 2001. The show's content featured "it" musical artists of the moment and promoted unsigned bands through national exposure and ...

'', alongside

Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American rap rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers. The band's music is marked by D ...

's video for their single, "

Break Stuff Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to: Time off from duties * Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties * Break (work), time off during a shift/recess ** Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest ...

". Both groups made a guest appearance to introduce their respective videos. "Make Me Bad" gained heavy airplay on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to sh ...

at the time of its release. Towards the end of the video, the song "Dead", also from ''Issues'', is heard in the background. "Make Me Bad" spent sixty-five days on MTV's ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (known commonly as ''TRL'') was an American television program broadcast on MTV that premiered on September 14, 1998. TRL featured popular music videos played during its countdown, and was also used as a promotion tool by ...

'', becoming Korn's fourth and final "retired" video on June 8, 2000.

Sickness in Salvation mix

A retooled version of the video featuring

Butch Vig Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the drummer and co-producer of the alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of the diamond-selling Nirvana album ''Neve ...

's Sickness in Salvation remix aired occasionally during April and May 2000. It is featured as an easter egg on the band's home video ''

Deuce Deuce, Deuces, or The Deuce may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Deuce, in the ''Danger Girl'' comic book series * Deuce, a character in ''Shake It Up'' * Deuce, in the ''Wild Cards'' science fiction universe * Deuce Biga ...

''.

MTV Unplugged rendition

The acoustic rendition of this song on the album ''MTV Unplugged: Korn'' is performed within a medley of The Cure's "In Between Days," with The Cure as special guests.

Appearances in media

The song has been used by apparel manufacturing company Puma in their advertisements during the time Korn had signed a contract with the company. It was also featured in the video game ''

NHL Hitz 2002 ''NHL Hitz 2002'' is an arcade-style ice hockey video game released by Midway Games. It is the first game of the '' NHL Hitz'' series. Midway launched this game along with ''NFL Blitz''. Summary This video game was a launch title for both the Xbo ...

'' when the game was paused.

Track listing

US Radio Promo

* CD5" ESK 45584 # "Make Me Bad" (radio edit) – 3:53 # "Make Me Bad" (album version) – 3:55

Australian release

* CD5" 669191 2 # "Make Me Bad" – 3:53 # "Dirty" (Single Mix) – 3:56 # "Make Me Bad" (Single Mix) – 4:11 # "Make Me Bad" (Sickness in Salvation Mix) – 3:29 # "Make Me Bad" (Danny Saber's Remix) – 4:20 # "Make Me Bad" (Kornography Mix) – 4:43 # "Make Me Bad" (Sybil Mix) – 5:15

Chart performance

The song peaked at number seven on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart. It also reached number nine on the

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart.

Charts

References

External links

* {{authority control Korn songs 1999 songs 2000 singles Song recordings produced by Brendan O'Brien (record producer) Immortal Records singles Songs written by Reginald Arvizu Songs written by Jonathan Davis Songs written by James Shaffer Songs written by David Silveria Songs written by Brian Welch Music videos directed by Martin Weisz