Peak
14
Weeks
13
Score
1,709
Chart Year
1987
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After taking hip-hop by storm in 1985 as a 17-year-old with his precociously hard-toned debut album, Radio, LL Cool J returned with a softer style on this 1987 single - a track which gave birth to an improbable new form, the rap ballad. Stylistically influenced by 1970s rhythm and blues slow jams like The Chi-Lites' "Have You Seen Her" (later covered as a rap ballad by MC Hammer) or The Delfonics' "Didn't I Blow Your Mind," "I Need Love" gave LL an unexpected crossover hit and reconfigured the MC's persona away from conventional boasting and into something more introspective and romantic. The rapper claimed to have written the lyric in a half hour while meditating about his loneliness in his grandmother's basement, and the words are striking for the vulnerability they convey. LL expresses regret for the women he's toyed with in the past, confessing that he realizes now his happiness depends on something emotionally more substantial. Given how many male-authored rap lyrics, from "Rapper's Delight" onward, have centered on sexual self-aggrandizement and thinly veiled misogyny, the single was, thus, dramatic in its novelty. In the song's video, the MC dramatized this softer persona in a melodramatic display that juxtaposed scenes of celebrity excess with the rapper's melancholy direct appeal to the camera. While LL Cool J had already established a loyal b-boy following enamored with his hard-edged delivery, this softer performance struck a nerve with female audiences. Playgirl magazine named him one of the ten sexiest men in popular music shortly after. The track's most important legacy might be the market it opened for slowed-down hip-hop tunes about love and relationships. Rap had already established the party anthem and the social commentary lyric as workable song forms, but LL's single showed that the genre's flexibility could be stretched to allow for romantic exploration as well. While the persona of the MC as an indomitably promiscuous womanizer still reigns supreme on many hip-hop records, "I Need Love"'s introspective narrator carved a space for later moments of MC vulnerability like Jay-Z on "Song Cry," or Drake on "Marvin's Room." Moreover, in adapting the tradition of the soul ballad to rap music, LL Cool J helped establish stylistic ties between rhythm and blues and hip-hop that flourished in the ensuing two decades. For every R&B slow groove that features a rap break by a guest MC, or laid-back hip-hop number with a featured vocal by a soul singer, we might have LL Cool J and "I Need Love" to thank. LL was just 18 when he wrote this song, and he wasn't in a relationship. He explained, "I was talking about a true spiritual love, and romantic love also. Just true love, companionship. That's something I wanted." LL wrote and produced this track with DJ Bobcat (Bobby Erving), Darryl Pierce and Dwayne Simon, who were part of a production team called the L.A. Posse. LL's label, Def Jam Records, brought them in to work with the rapper. This was LL Cool J's first Top 40 hit in both the US and UK. It was the second single released from the album, following the pugnacious "I'm Bad," which topped out at #84 in the US and #71 in the UK. This became a pattern for LL, whose biggest hits were his softer offerings like "Around The Way Girl" and "Doin' It," while his albums were filled with plenty of rough stuff. "I Need Love" not only brought R&B into the world of rap, but it brought rap to R&B - the song was a #1 R&B hit. When he performed this on his Bigger And Deffer tour in 1987, LL would get on a couch and do some simulated love making. This got him in trouble in Columbus, Georgia, when he became the first artist arrested under their anti-lewdness law, which had been implemented a few months earlier following a rather raunch Beastie Boys concert. LL was fined $250. "They just felt like they didn't need a black man humpin' a couch in Georgia," he later explained. Jay-Z and LL Cool J were both inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021. In Jay's speech, he said LL "opened up the doors for us to be vulnerable," then sang the first verse of "I Need Love" to make his point.
When I'm alone in my room sometimes I stare at the wall And in the back of my mind I hear my conscience call Telling me I need a girl who's as sweet as a dove For the first time in my life, I see I need love There I was, giggling about the games That I had played with many hearts and I'm not saying no names Then the thought occurred, tear drops made my eyes burn As I said to myself, "Look what you've done to her" I can feel it inside, I can't explain how it feels All I know is that I'll never dish another raw deal Playing make-believe, pretending that I'm true Holding in my laugh as I say that I love you Saying amore, kissing you on the ear Whispering "I love you" and "I'll always be here" Although I often reminisce, I can't believe that I've found A desire for true love, floating around Inside my soul because my soul is cold One half of me deserves to be this way 'til I'm old But the other half needs affection and joy And the warmth that is created by a girl and a boy I need love I need love Romance, sheer delight, how sweet? I gotta find me a girl to make my life complete You can scratch my back, we'll get cozy and huddle I'll lay down my jacket so you can walk over a puddle I'll give you a rose, pull out your chair before we eat Kiss you on the cheek and say "Ooh, girl, you're so sweet" It's deja vu whenever I'm with you I can go on forever telling you what I'll do But where you at? You're neither here nor there I swear, I can't find you anywhere Damn sure ain't in my closet, or under my rug This love search is really making me bug And if you know who you are, why don't you make yourself seen? Take a chance with my love and you'll find out what I mean Fantasies can run, but they can't hide And when I find you, I'ma pour all my love inside I need love I need love I wanna kiss you, hold you, never scold you, just love you Suck on your neck, caress you and rub you Grind, moan, and never be alone If you're not standing next to me, you're on the phone Can't you hear it in my voice? I need love bad I got money but love's something I never had I need your ruby red lips, sweet face and all I love you more than a man who's ten feet tall I watch the sun rise in your eyes We're so in love when we hug, we become paralyzed Our bodies explode in ecstasy unreal You're as soft as a pillow and I'm as hard as steel It's like a dream land, I can't lie, I've never been there Maybe this is an experience that me and you can share Clean and unsoiled, yet sweaty and wet I swear to you, this is something I'll never forget I need love I need love See what I mean? I've changed, I'm no longer A playboy on the run, I need something that's stronger Friendship, trust, honor, respect, admiration This whole experience has been such a revelation It's taught me love and how to be a real man To always be considerate and do all I can Protect you, you're my lady and you mean so much My body tingles all over from the slightest touch Of your hand, and understand, I'll be frozen in time 'Til we meet face to face and you tell me you're mine If I find you, girl, I swear I'll be a good man I'm not gonna leave it in destiny's hands I can't sit and wait for my princess to arrive I gotta struggle and fight to keep my dream alive I'd search the whole world for that special girl And when I finally find you, watch our love unfurl I need love I need love Girl, listen to me When I be sitting in my room, all alone, staring at the wall Fantasies, they go through my mind And I've come to realize that, I need true love And if you wanna give it to me, girl, make yourself seen I'll be waiting I love you
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 1, 1987 | 52 | 74 |
| 2 | Aug 8, 1987 | 49 | 77 |
| 3 | Aug 15, 1987 | 39 | 87 |
| 4 | Aug 22, 1987 | 31 | 95 |
| 5 | Aug 29, 1987 | 24 | 102 |
| 6 | Sep 5, 1987 | 18 | 108 |
| 7 | Sep 12, 1987 | 14 | 112 |
| 8 | Sep 19, 1987 | 14 | 112 |
| 9 | Sep 26, 1987 | 18 | 108 |
| 10 | Oct 3, 1987 | 33 | 93 |
| 11 | Oct 10, 1987 | 46 | 80 |
| 12 | Oct 17, 1987 | 60 | 66 |
| 13 | Oct 24, 1987 | 98 | 28 |