"I Love You" is a song by American recording artist

Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 in pursuit of a recording career. Evans initially performed as ...

. It was written by Anthony Best, Michael Jamison, Bobby Springsteen, and

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

and recorded by Evans for her third studio album '' Faithfully'' (2001). Production on the song was overseen by Buckwild,

Mario Winans Mario Mendell Winans ( Brown; born August 29, 1974) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer from South Carolina. An extended member of the Winans musical family, he is best known for his 2004 single " I Don't Wanna Know" (f ...

and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. Initially written for Lopez's second studio '' J.Lo'' (2001), the

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music Music genre, genre, originating from African Americans, African-American musicians in the 1980s that combines rhythm and blues with elements of Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, funk, Hip-hop, ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

samples singer

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records in the 1960s, serving as an in-house songwr ...

' 1976 record "Make a Little Love to Me" and finds Evans, as the protagonist, confessing her

love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

and dignity to a man who has yet to find a heart for her. The song was released as the second single from the album on February 19, 2002, in the United States. "I Love You" peaked at number 14 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and at number two on the US

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart, marking Evans' highest-charting single since " All Night Long" (1999) as well as ''Faithfully''s highest single peak. An accompanying music video for "I Love You" was directed by

Matthew Rolston Matthew Russell Rolston is an American artist, photographer, director and creative director, known for his lighting techniques and detailed approach to art direction and design. Rolston has been identified throughout his career with the revival an ...

and Evans and her lover in a lavishly decorated Japanese Buddhist house during winter time.

Background

"I Love You" was written by Anthony Best, Bobby Springsteen,

, and Michael Jamison and produced by Buckwild,

and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. The ballad contains a sample from the song "Make a Little Love to Me" (1976) by American singer

. Due to the inclusion of the sample, Isaac is also credited as songwriters. 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."

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".

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by

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.

Track listing

;Vinyl single #"I Love You" (Radio Mix) — 4:21 #"I Love You" (Instrumental) — 4:24 #" You Gets No Love" (Instrumental) — 4:48 #"You Gets No Love" (Extended Club Mix) — 4:33 #"You Gets No Love" (Extended Rap Mix) — 4:48 #"You Gets No Love" (Extended Radio Mix) — 4:33 ;CD maxi single #"I Love You" (Radio Edit) — 4:02 #"I Love You" (Album Version) — 4:24 #" You Gets No Love" (Remix featuring G. Dep) — 4:01 #"I Love You" (Music video) — 4:00

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Faithfully''. * Buckwild – producer, writer * P. Diddy – producer, recording *Faith Evans – vocals *

– writer *Hijack – keyboards *Michael Jamison – writer *Brian Kraz – engineering assistant *Paul Logus – mixing *

– writer *Bobby Springsteen – writer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

External links

"I Love You"
at

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{{authority control 2001 songs 2002 singles Bad Boy Records singles Faith Evans songs Music videos directed by Matthew Rolston Songs written by Isaac Hayes Songs written by Jennifer Lopez Songs written by Buckwild (music producer) Song recordings produced by Buckwild (music producer) Songs written by Faith Evans Contemporary R&B ballads Soul ballads 2000s ballads