Released May 21, 2013 Recorded 2013 Length 4:27 | Format Digital download Genre Hip hop, R&B | |
Label Maybach Music Group, Atlantic | ||
"LoveHate Thing" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Wale. The song was released on May 21, 2013 as the second single from his third studio album The Gifted (2013). It features Roc Nation singer Sam Dew, and is produced by Dew, Tone P and Stokley Williams.
Contents
"LoveHate Thing" garnered a positive reception from critics. The song peaked at number 89 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached numbers 25 and 30 on the Rhythmic and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts respectively. A music video directed by Sarah McColgan was made for the single that features Wale both performing with a backing band on a rooftop and going to places in his hometown of Washington D.C..
Wale first performed the song live on the Late Show with David Letterman and made a later appearance at the 2013 Soul Train Awards with co-writer and producer Williams.
Critical reception
AllMusic's David Jeffries gave the song a "Track Pick" tag, calling it "a breezy summertime jam reminiscing with plenty of gun talk and reckless stories of youth." While mixed towards the album, Evan Rytlewski of The A.V. Club put the track alongside "Gullible" for giving it "a respectable stretch of strutting, ’70s-soul throwbacks." The song was nominated for Best Collaboration at the 2013 Soul Train Awards, but lost to Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" with Pharrell and T.I..
Music video
The music video was released on June 23, 2013. Directed by Sarah McColgan, the video features a suited up Wale joining a backing band on a rooftop to perform with them. Intercut are scenes of Wale from his days as a struggling rapper from D.C. to where he is because of his success.
Live performances
Wale first performed "LoveHate Thing" with Sam Dew on the Late Show with David Letterman on June 26, 2013. He performed the song again as a mashup with Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues" alongside Mint Condition's Stokley Williams at the 2013 Soul Train Awards on December 1, 2013.