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"I Need Love"
Single by LL Cool J
from the album Bigger and Deffer
B-side"My Rhyme Ain't Done"
ReleasedJuly 13, 1987
Recorded1987
GenreHip hop
Length5:23
LabelDef Jam, Columbia, CBS Records
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
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

"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]

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

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.

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.
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