I Need Love

This article is about the song by LL Cool J. For other songs with the same title, see I Need Love (disambiguation).

"I Need Love" is the second single from LL Cool J's second album, Bigger and Deffer. The single reached number 1 on the Hot Black Singles and number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 while becoming one of the first rap songs to enjoy mainstream popularity in the UK, rising to number 8 in the UK Singles Chart. The single won a Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap Single in 1988 Soul Train Music Awards. The song was listed as number 13 on About.com's Top 100 Rap Songs.^[1]

"I Need Love"
Single by LL Cool J
from the album Bigger and Deffer
B-side	"My Rhyme Ain't Done"
Released	July 13, 1987
Recorded	1987
Genre	Hip hop
Length	5:23
Label	Def Jam, Columbia, CBS Records
Songwriter(s)	James Smith L.A. Posse
Producer(s)	LL Cool J L.A. Posse
LL Cool J singles chronology
"I'm Bad" (1987) "I Need Love" (1987) "Going Back to Cali" (1988)
Music video
"I Need Love" on YouTube

Track listing

A-side

1. "I Need Love" – 5:23

B-side

1. "I Need Love" (edit) – 4:15
2. "My Rhyme Ain't Done" – 3:45

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for "I Need Love" Chart (1987) Peak position Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)^[2] 13 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[3] 6 Ireland (IRMA)^[4] 10 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)^[5] 3 Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[6] 3 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)^[7] 6 UK Singles (OCC)^[8] 8 US Billboard Hot 100^[9] 14 US Billboard Hot Black Singles^[10] 1 West Germany (Official German Charts)^[11] 6

Year-end charts 1987 year-end chart performance for "I Need Love" Chart (1987) Position Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)^[12] 63 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)^[13] 33 Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[14] 29 UK Singles (OCC)^[15] 97 US Hot Crossover Singles (Billboard)^[16] 17

Covers and samples

The music, both melody and beats, were lifted from an instrumental by Brooklyn songwriter Jayson Dyall entitled "Zoraida's Heartbeat" which was written and recorded in 1984.^[17] This song, along with other songs on a cassette tape of several raw recordings by Jayson Dyall, was presented to LL Cool J by an associate, who met Dyall through a music classifieds ad in early 1986 and told him he could get LL to listen to his music. Dyall never received any acknowledgment from LL Cool J or Def Jam Records for originally writing the music for this song.

• Irish singer-songwriter Luka Bloom recorded a cover version of the song on his 1992 album The Acoustic Motorbike.
• R&B group Blaque sampled the song on their track "Don't Go Looking for Love", which originally appeared on their 1999 self-titled debut album.
• Rapper Necro used the beat on his song "I Need Drugs", which was released on his 2000 album, I Need Drugs.
• Master P sampled this song on his single "I Need Dubs", featuring son Romeo, on his 2005 album Ghetto Bill.
• Amanda Blank sampled the song on "A Love Song" from her 2009 album I Love You.
• Krizz Kaliko copied lyrics of the song for the first few lines of his song "Anxiety", on his debut album Vitiligo by saying, "When I'm alone in my room, sometimes I stare at the wall/And in the back of my mind, I hear my conscious call/Telling me I need a gun."
• Yo Gotti sampled the song on his single "Let's Vibe" featuring Pleasure P.
• Rick Ross interpolated the lyrics on the single "Aston Martin Music" featuring Drake and Chrisette Michele from his 2010 album Teflon Don.

References

1. Henry Adaso. "100 Greatest Rap Songs". About.com Entertainment.
2. "L.L. Cool J – I Need Love" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
3. "L.L. Cool J – I Need Love" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
4. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – I Need Love". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
5. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 44, 1987" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
6. "L.L. Cool J – I Need Love" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
7. "L.L. Cool J – I Need Love". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
8. "LL Cool J: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
9. "LL Cool J Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
10. "LL Cool J Chart History: Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
11. "Offiziellecharts.de – L.L. Cool J – I Need Love" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
12. "Jaaroverzichten 1987". Ultratop. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
13. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1987". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
14. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1987". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
15. "Gallup Year End Charts 1987: Singles" (PDF). Record Mirror. January 23, 1988. p. 36. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
16. "1987 The Year in Music & Video: Top Hot Crossover Singles". Billboard. Vol. 99, no. 52. December 26, 1987. p. Y-27. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
17. Berry, Michael (14 June 2018). Listening to Rap: An Introduction. Routledge. ISBN 9781315315867 – via Google Books.