"Lay It Down" is a song by American R&B recording artist Lloyd taken from his fourth studio album '' King of Hearts''. The track, which serves as the album's

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

, was produced by

Polow da Don Jamal Fincher Jones (born October 15, 1977 or 1978), known professionally as Polow da Don, is an American record producer from Atlanta, Georgia. He began his career as a recording artist in the late 1990s, leaving college to pursue a career with ...

and samples

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godmother of Soul". LaBelle began ...

's "

Love, Need and Want You "Love, Need and Want You" is a song recorded by American singer Patti LaBelle from her sixth studio album, '' I'm in Love Again'' (1983). The mid-tempo R&B song was written and produced for LaBelle by Bunny Sigler and Kenny Gamble, and was rel ...

", as well as "Corn" by Zhnark. The single was originally released via YoungGoldie.com on August 15, 2010, and was released via

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

on August 31, 2010.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was shot in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and directed by Mickey Finnegan. It premiered on October 12, 2010, on BET's

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

. The video has peaked at #4 on the show. K.D. Aubert plays the leading lady with

Keri Hilson Keri Lynn Hilson (born December 5, 1982) is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Decatur, Georgia, she began her musical career as a songwriter and backing vocalist for other artists under the wing of record producer Anthony De ...

and

making

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

s throughout the video. As of February 2024 the video has over 110 million views on Lloyd YouTube channel.

Remixes

In a radio interview, Lloyd revealed the song would have three official

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

es. The first official remix released for pop radio features rock drums and American rapper B.o.B, and background vocals from the group Rock City on January 21, 2011. It was sent to radio in March 2011. The second official remix, with fellow R&B singer R. Kelly was for urban radio. It was released on January 12, 2011 as "the G-Mix" and featured verses from Kelly and

Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. He is credited, alongside fellow Georgia-based rappers T.I. and Gucci Mane, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for ...

along with new lyrics from Lloyd. The third official remix featured a then unrevealed artist who people "wouldn't expect to hear." The third remix was released on December 29, 2010, entitled "Lay it Down Part II – A Tribute to the Legends." It features

and pays tribute to singer

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

and the late fellow singer

Teena Marie Mary Christine Brockert (March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010), known professionally as Teena Marie, was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and producer. She was known by her childhood nickname Tina before ...

. All three of the remixes were included and released on a digital EP via

on February 15, 2011. R&B

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

RichGirl RichGirl was an American R&B vocal girl group, consisting of four members: Audra Simmons, Christina "Brave" Williams, Lyndriette Smith (now known as Kristal, a member of June's Diary) and Amber Streeter (now known as Sevyn Streeter). The gro ...

created a remix to the song, released on their ''

Fall in Love with RichGirl ''Fall in Love with RichGirl'' is the debut mixtape by R&B girl group RichGirl. The mixtape serves as the first official release by the group that pertains to anything concerning an album release. The mixtape was released on Valentine's Day, Feb ...

'' mixtape. R&B Artist

K. Michelle Kimberly Michelle Pate (born March 4, 1982) is an American Country, Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, and television personality. She was a regular cast member on the VH1 reality television series ''Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta'' during its first two sea ...

also released an unofficial remix of the song.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2010 singles 2010 songs Lloyd (singer) songs Song recordings produced by Polow da Don Songs written by Ester Dean Songs written by Polow da Don Interscope Records singles