B-side "You Gets No Love" Format CD single, "12 Length 4:27 | Released February 19, 2002 Recorded 2001 | |
Genre R&B
soul
quiet storm
neo soul | ||
"I Love You" is a song by American recording artist Faith Evans. It was written by Anthony Best, Faith Evans, Isaac Hayes, Michael Jamison, Bobby Springsteen, and Jennifer Lopez for the latter's second studio J.Lo (2001), but eventually recorded by Evans for her third studio album, Faithfully, also released in 2001. Production on the track was helmed by Buckwild along with Mario Winans and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. A contemporary R&B ballad with heavy soul elements, it samples Hayes' 1976 record "Make a Little Love to Me" and finds Evans, as the protagonist, confessing her love and dignity to a man who has yet to find a heart for her.
Contents
The song was released as the third single from the album on February 19, 2002 in the United States. A commercial success, "I Love You" peaked at number fourteen on the US Billboard Hot 100 and at number two on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, marking Evans' highest-charting single on the latter chart since "Never Gonna Let You Go" (1999).
Background
"I Love You" was written by Evans, Anthony Best, Bobby Springsteen, Jennifer Lopez, Isaac Hayes and Michael Jamison and produced by Buckwild, Mario Winans and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. Born out of the former relationship between Combs and Lopez, the latter of which holds partial songwriter credits, was originally set to record the song for her second studio J.Lo (2001). Evans confirmed, that "it almost slipped through the cracks and ended up on her album."
Music video
The music video for the song was directed by Matthew Rolston and was released on February 4, 2002. The clip starts with an outside view of a lavishly decorated house during winter time. When the first chorus begins, Evans is seen singing while laying on a bed. During the second chorus and throughout the rest of the video, it intercuts scenes of her on the bed and her standing outside wearing a furcoat.
Chart performance
The song entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and the U.S. Radio Songs chart the same week, both spending twenty-one weeks. On the week of April 6, 2002, it peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100 (becoming her fourth top twenty single on the chart) while it reached thirteen on the Radio Songs chart. The song also appeared on the U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, remaining on the chart for thirty weeks and peaking at number two on March 16, 2002, becoming her highest charting single on the chart since her 1999 song "Never Gonna Let You Go."