Love Like This (Faith Evans song)

"Love Like This" is a song by American singer Faith Evans. It was written by Evans, Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Clarence Emery, and Schon Crawford for her second studio album Keep the Faith (1998), with production helmed by Lawrence and Combs. The song is built around a looped sample from "Chic Cheer" (1978) by American band Chic. Due to the inclusion of the sample, band members Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers are also credited as songwriters.^[1] "Love Like This" initially impacted US radios on September 15, 1998 as the album's lead single.

"Love Like This"
Single by Faith Evans
from the album Keep the Faith
Released	September 15, 1998 (1998-09-15)
Genre	R&B disco
Length	4:01
Label	Bad Boy Arista
Songwriter(s)	Faith Evans Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence Sean Combs Schon Crawford Clarence Emery Bernard Edwards Nile Rodgers
Producer(s)	Faith Evans Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence Sean "Puffy" Combs
Faith Evans singles chronology
"How's It Goin' Down" (1998) "Love Like This" (1998) "Heartbreak Hotel" (1998)

Commercially, "Love Like This" became one of Evans's biggest successes: It charted within the top forty in New Zealand and the United Kingdom and peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100, marking her highest-charting solo single to date. On the component Hot R&B Singles & Tracks chart, the song reached number 2; it was eventually certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Also a critical success, the song was nominated for Best Female R&B Performance at the 2000 Grammy Awards ceremony, "Love Like This", in turn, was later heavily sampled on American rapper Fatman Scoop's "Be Faithful".^[2]

Critical reception

Chuck Taylor from Billboard called "Love Like This" a "surprisingly bouncy, retro-vibed jam that borrows a tasty riff or two from Chic's "Chic Cheer." A nice change of pace for this revered soul balladeer, "Love Like This" also crackles with some smooth guitar work and a vocal that purrs with moist sensuality. Evans sounds like she's having an absolute blast here, and her positive energy is downright contagious.^[3] Allmusic editor Jose F. Promis declared "Love Like This" an "irresistible dance/R&B cut."^[4] In his review of parent album Keep the Faith, Ernest Hardy from Rolling Stone wrote that of "the three midtempo tracks, the best is the first single, "Love Like This"."^[5] In 2018, Billboard ranked the album 43rd on its retrospective The 98 Greatest Songs of 1998: Critics' Picks listing, writing: "As soon as you hear the mesmerizing opening beats, you can't help but rock to what's since become a party, club, and skating-rink mainstay."^[6]

Music video

The song's music video, directed by Hype Williams, depicts people at a colorful skating rink with Evans' singing on a platform in the center. It features actress Countess Vaughn and former child actor Marcus T. Paulk, both from the UPN sitcom Moesha, in cameos. The music video was filmed shortly after the birth of Evans's third child Joshua, so her stylists were forced to use duct tape to make sure she could fit into the outfits for the shoot.^[7]

Track listings

Maxi single^[8]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love Like This"	4:01
2.	"You Used to Love Me"	4:28
3.	"Soon as I Get Home"	5:24

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Keep the Faith.^[9]

Prince Charles Alexander – recording Sean Combs – producer, writer Schon Crawford – writer Bernard Edwards – writer (sample) Clarence Emery – writer

Faith Evans – vocals, writer Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence – producer, writer Axel Niehaus – mixing Nile Rodgers – writer (sample)

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1998) Peak position Australia (ARIA Charts)^[10] 58 France (SNEP)^[11] 29 Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[12] 79 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[13] 33 Scotland (OCC)^[14] 57 UK Singles (OCC)^[15] 24 UK Hip Hop/R&B (OCC)^[16] 8 US Billboard Hot 100^[17] 7 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)^[18] 2 Chart (2014) Peak position CIS (TopHit)^[19] Tommy Trash & Henry Fong featuring Faith Evans 282

Year-end charts Chart (1999) Position US Billboard Hot 100^[20] 58 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)^[21] 20

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)^[22]	Gold	500,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Faith Evans - Keep The Faith (CD, Album)". Discogs. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
2. "Fatman Scoop - Be Faithful (CD)". discogs. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
3. Taylor, Chuck (3 October 1998). "Singles". Billboard. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
4. Promis, Jose F.. Love Like This at AllMusic. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
5. Ernest Hardy (1998-11-02). . Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2008-05-15. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
6. "The 98 Greatest Songs of 1998: Critics' Picks". Billboard. May 29, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
7. Evans, Faith (29 August 2008). Keep the Faith: A Memoir. Google Books. ISBN 9780446537421. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
8. "Love Like This (Maxi-Single)". Amazon (DE). Retrieved July 14, 2020.
9. Keep the Faith (Media notes). Faith Evans. Bad Boy Records. 1998.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
10. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 97.
11. "Faith Evans – Love Like This" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
12. "Faith Evans – Love Like This" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
13. "Faith Evans – Love Like This". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
14. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
15. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
16. "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
17. "Faith Evans Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
18. "Faith Evans Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
19. Tommy Trash & Henry Fong feat. Faith Evans — Love Like This (Radio Edit). TopHit. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
20. "Billboard Top 100 – 1999". billboardtop100of.com. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
21. "1999 Year End Chart: R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
22. "American single certifications – Faith Evans – Love Like This". Recording Industry Association of America.