"The Love Bug", stylised as "the Love Bug", is a song recorded by

Japanese hip-hop Japanese hip hop is hip hop music from Japan. It is said to have begun when Hiroshi Fujiwara returned to Japan and started playing hip hop records in the early 1980s. Japanese hip hop tends to be most directly influenced by old school hip hop, ...

duo

M-Flo is a Japanese hip hop group consisting of Taku Takahashi, Verbal and Lisa. Lisa left the group in 2002 to pursue a solo career and the remaining members then started the M-Flo Loves... project working different vocalists for each song over t ...

for their third studio album, '' Astromantic'' (2004). It was written, arranged, and produced by Verbal and

Taku Takahashi is a Japanese DJ and record producer who debuted in 1997 as a producer of the hip hop group M-Flo. The group rose to prominence in the early 2000s, with hit singles such as "How You Like Me Now?" and "Come Again." Takahashi was also a member of ...

who compose the duo and features South Korean singer

BoA Boa, BoA, or BOA may refer to: Snakes * Any member of the Boidae, a family of medium to large, non-venomous, constricting snakes ** Any member of the Boinae, a subfamily of boid snakes *** Any member of ''Boa'' (genus), a group of boid snakes * ...

as the accompanying vocalist. It was released on March 17, 2004, and was distributed by

Rhythm Zone (RZN) is a record label in the Avex Group that releases urban contemporary Japanese music. History The label was founded in 1999 by Max Matsuura with a focus on urban music, signing M-Flo as its first artist, then followed by Exile. In 2000 ...

in two physical formats: a standard CD single and a limited edition

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

. In its bass line, the song samples " Give Me Your Love" (1981) by American jazz vocalist Sylvia Striplin. Following its release, "The Love Bug" peaked at number eight on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard Single (music), singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track down ...

and sold over 56,000 copies.

Overview

"The Love Bug" was released by

Avex Group Avex Inc. ( kabushiki gaisha , commonly known as Avex and stylized as avex) is a Japanese Conglomerate (company), entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J- ...

record label

on March 17, 2004, as the third lead single for M-Flo's third studio album '' Astromantic'' (2004). It consists of one of the many songs released as a collaboration with various singers as part of the group's "M-Flo Loves" series, which commenced the year prior following the departure of vocalist

Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA" * Lisa, stagename of Japanese singer Lisa Komine (born 1978) * Lisa (South Korean singer) (born 1980) * Lisa (Japanese musician, b ...

from M-Flo. The standard single contains the remix "The Love Bug (Big Bug NYC Remix)" as well as a cover by reggae band Bagdad Cafe the Trench Town. Musically, "The Love Bug" is a R&B and

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

number that is composed in the key of

C-sharp major C-sharp major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has seven sharps. Its relative minor is A-sharp minor (or enharmonically B-flat minor), its parallel minor is C-sharp min ...

with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 117 beats per minute. In 2014, the track was remixed by

Yasutaka Nakata is a Japanese music producer and DJ. He formed the group capsule (band), capsule in 1997 with vocalist Toshiko Koshijima and himself as composer and record producer. The group debuted in 2001 with the song "Sakura". He is known for being the ...

of electronic band Capsule for M-Flo's 2014 remix album ''EDM-Flo''.

Live performances

M-Flo and BoA performed "The Love Bug" at the 2004 Mnet Km Music Video Festival in Seoul on December 4, where the group won the award for Best Asian Hip Hop Artist. On July 21, 2007, BoA made a surprise appearance at the final show of M-Flo's Cosmicolor Tour at the

Yokohama Arena is an indoor arena located in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 17,000 and was opened in 1989. The arena was modeled after US sports venue Madison Square Garden in New York City. It is a five-minute walk from the ...

, where she performed "The Love Bug" on stage with Verbal.

Track listing

;CD single # "The Love Bug" — 4:01 # "The Love Bug (Big Bug NYC Remix)" — 3:40 # "The Love Bug (covered by Bagdad Cafe the Trench Town)" — 5:03 ;Vinyl tracklist # "The Love Bug" — 4:01 # "The Love Bug (Big Bug NYC Remix)" — 3:40 # "The Love Bug (covered by Bagdad Cafe the Trench Town)" — 5:03 # "The Love Bug (Instrumental)" — 4:01

Charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Love Bug (song) 2004 singles M-Flo songs Songs written by Verbal (rapper) Songs written by Taku Takahashi 2004 songs Rhythm Zone singles