2003 single by Jennifer Lopez
"Baby I Love U!" (stylized as "Baby I ♡ U!") is a song recorded by American singer Jennifer Lopez for her third studio album, This Is Me... Then (2002). It was written by Lopez, Cory Rooney, Dan Shea and John Barry and produced by Rooney and Shea. The song contains an interpolation of the theme for the film Midnight Cowboy (1969).
"Baby I Love U" is about unconditional love, with critics pointing out that it was inspired by her relationship with the actor Ben Affleck. Lopez would also meaningfully quote some of the lyrics from the song several times throughout her memoir, True Love. The song was well received by critics who complimented Lopez’s vocals. Commercially, the song was as successful as the other singles from the album in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number three. In the United States, the song peaked at number 72 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached the top 30 of the Mainstream Top 40 chart.
Background and release
While recording her then-upcoming album, Lopez listened to blues and soul, the music she had often turned to while growing up. Using songs by Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross and others as inspiration, she attempted to elicit a similar feeling in her own songwriting, claiming, "Those were just songs that made my heart sing", she said. "They just stay with you. ... I wanted to do something that's true to me and how I grew up, but I also wanted to make beautiful songs. So I'd listen to records from today and I would listen to records from back then, and [eventually] I'd go, 'That's what I want.'"[1]
Among the songs on the album, "Baby I Love U!" was written, with the help of her longtime collaborator and friend Cory Rooney. "He's so talented", she said. "And he's so 'behind the scenes,' especially when it comes to me. He's really, really just dedicated to music for the pure love of music."[1] "Baby I Love U!" was released as the album's fourth and final single on August 3, 2003, in the United States,[2] and on March 8, 2004, in the United Kingdom.[3]
Composition and remix
"Baby I Love U!" was written by Jennifer Lopez, Cory Rooney and Dan Shea, with production being handled by Rooney and Shea. The song contains an interpolation of the "haunting melody" from the theme of Midnight Cowboy,[4] written by John Barry.[5] The track has a "vintage-sound", where Lopez "gushes for Ben Affleck", according to Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine.[6] A remix version featuring R. Kelly was released on the CD single of the song. Kelly's part talks about 'rollin' with 'some fine females' against J-Lo's heart-on-the-sleeve declaration of passion.[7] The version with Kelly was also included on her second remix album "The Reel Me".[8]
Commercial performance
"Baby I Love U!" performed much lower than Lopez's previous singles from This Is Me... Then, missing the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, debuting and peaking at number 72, on the issue date April 3, 2004.[9] Eventually, the song became Lopez's lowest charting-English single on the Billboard charts, until "Papi" became her lowest charting-single, later in 2011. The song also made its debut on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number 75.[10] The song received a Billboard Spin Award on March 25, 2006, for 50,000 spins.[11] Elsewhere, the song proved to be more successful. First time Jennifer performed this song on Telman Ismailov's 50 years anniversary as a birthday gift.[12] In the United Kingdom, the song was a huge success, debuting and peaking at number three, on March 20, 2004, becoming her third top-three single of the same album.[13] In Ireland, the single managed to peak inside the top 20, reaching number 16, on March 11, 2004.[9]
Music video
The music video for the song was directed by Meiert Avis and premiered on BET, on August 11, 2003.[14] The video was also included on the DVD "The Reel Me".[8] It features scenes of Lopez in the bed, as well as walking around the house, performing the song. Jason Shawhan of About.com called the video "minimalist and stark and much more inspired than the song that forms its spine." Shawhan continued, "Visually, in fact, there's something quite experimental going on with its almost exclusive use of close-up and shifting focal length. This is certainly a promising development in Lopez' continuing evolution as a visual artist, and we can hope she'll work with director Meiert Avis again soon."[15] There is a version of the music video featuring scenes from the movie Gigli released on MTV.[16][17]
The bed sequence of the music video has a link to a later Lopez music video, Marry Me (Ballad Version), as both music videos have a bed sequence. In "Baby I Love U!" she is alone in bed and looking at the camera, but in Marry Me (Ballad Version) she is seen in bed alongside Ben Affleck. [18]
