Peak
19
Weeks
29
Score
3,804
Chart Year
2013
This is the first single by American rapper J. Cole, from his second studio album Born Sinner. The love anthem finds Cole reflecting on a teenage crush and when the now successful Roc Nation rapper returns to his hometown, he finds he is still attracted to the doe-eyed girl. The song was released to Urban contemporary radio on February 19, 2013. Cole raps two verses, as well as co-handling hook duties on the cut with R&B singer Miguel. The rapper also self-produced the song. "I get excited about that; it's an opportunity to change things," he told MTV News. "It's almost like the first time I heard 'Cry Me a River,' Justin Timberlake. The minute that came on ... It hit you a certain kinda way. That was the exciting part." It was the song's original sound that persuaded Cole to choose it to lead Born Sinner. "You couldn't point to any song on the radio and be like, 'This sounds like that,' " he told MTV News. "Everything about it, from the beat to even the way I'm flowing - you never really heard me rap so sleepily. I really did those verses in my crib and just loved the way they felt." Cole originally sang the hook by himself until Roc Nation founder Jay-Z gave him a bit of advice. "When I played it for Jay-Z, his first words were, 'Yo, you should get Miguel on this,'" the rapper recalled to Billboard magazine. Cole raps in his first verse to his crush that he "even wrote the song 'Dreams' for you." This is a reference to an actual cut "Dreams," that appeared on the rapper's 2009 mixtape, The Warm Up. The track finds Cole fantasizing about murdering the boyfriend of a girl he barely knows, which would then give him the opportunity to console her. Cole came up with the concept for the video, which sees him kill Miguel over jealousy of his relationship with a woman. It was shot in Cole's hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina except for the final scene where he buries Miguel out in the woods on the outskirts of the city. It was Jay-Z who persuaded Cole to release this as the lead single from Born Sinner. "There was a point when I almost went with this other song as the [first] single," he explained to MTV News. "My team and people around me were like, 'Yo, you're bugging; you need to go with 'Power Trip.' So I called Mark Pitts, my manager, and he's like, 'You need to call Jay.'" He added: "His perspective on that - and period, since he's seen so much in the game - he really set me straight and let me know I was bugging. He was like, 'You've got to an opportunity to come in and usher a new sound, go with that!'" Cole told Rolling Stone that he created the track in his living room. "I made that beat," he said, "wrote that song, recorded the rough version of the vocals in my crib." The song samples "No More," a track from jazz flautist Hubert Laws' 1972 album Morning Star. Cole shouts out his landlord, Mohammed, who rented him an apartment in his early days in Jamaica, New York. "Even back then when I was up there in Mohammed crib Paying 1700 for the rent, money well spent No heater, but a n—- made heat, may I vent." Cole raps that the ridiculous amount he had to pay for rent in New York was money well spent. This was because being in the Big Apple helped him make the connections that eventually landed him his deal with Roc Nation.
Got me up all night All I'm singing is love songs, she got me up all night Constant drinking and love songs, she got me up all night Down and out with these love songs, she got me up all night Drown it out with these love songs, she got me up all night (yeah) All I'm singing is love songs, she got me up all night (yeah) Constant drinking and love songs, she got me up all night (yeah) Down and out with these love songs, got me open all night uh huh, got me up all night hey OK, back when I was sleepin' in my mama crib Even back then when I was up there in Mohammed crib Payin' seventeen-hundred for the rent, money well spent No heater, but a nigga made heat, may I vent? Had a thing for you Even wrote the song dreams for you 'Cause I had dreams for you, thoughts of a ring for you Childish shit, you know childish shit Anonymous flowers sent, you know coward shit Now a nigga signed to Hov, took a power trip Back home I'm grown now and this city's my throne now The same clubs I used to get tossed out Life got crisscrossed, totally crossed out 'Cause now I'm in this bitch and I'm totally bossed out Old chicks cryin' 'cause they know that they lost out But I'm still on you, I'm still on you My drink spilled on me, while I feel on you, I'm saying Would you believe me if I said I'm in love? Baby, I want you to want me Would you believe me if I said I'm in love? Baby, I want ya And we are we are we are, got me up all night And we are we are we are, all I'm singin' is love songs And we are we are we are, got me up all night And we are we are we are (she got me) And we are we are we are (she got me) Well this has gotta be the longest crush ever If I ever get to fuck it'd be the longest bust ever Love is a drug, like the strongest stuff ever and Fuck it I'm on one, you feel me? She on a power trip, she got me where she want a nigga Wifin' in the club, man my homies' gon' disown a nigga Like, give me 20 dolla', dolla' Ass stupid, how you get to college, college I'm in your city and I'm wonderin' if you're home now Went and found a man, but I'm hopin' you alone now Can't help but feelin' like I dropped the ball, cliche I used to pop up on you at the mall, each day Now typically I kick game like Eastbay But you got a nigga freeze-framed yelling please play For Pete's sake, homie pull it together Just fuck her one time and be through it forever, but Would you believe me if I said I'm in love? Baby, I want you to want me Would you believe me if I said I'm in love? Baby, I want ya, yeah And we are we are we are, got me up all night And we are we are we are, all I'm singin' is love songs And we are we are we are, got me up all night And we are we are we are (she got me) And we are we are we are (she got me) Got me up all night All I'm singing is love songs, she got me up all night (all night) Constant drinking and love songs, she got me up all night (all night) Down and out with these love songs, she got me up all night (all night) Drown it out with these love songs, she got me up all night (yeah) All I'm singing is love songs, she got me up all night (yeah) Constant drinking and love songs, she got me up all night (yeah) Down and out with these love songs, she got me open all night uh huh Got me open all night hey
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mar 2, 2013 | 91 | 35 |
| 2 | Mar 9, 2013 | 91 | 35 |
| 3 | Mar 16, 2013 | 80 | 46 |
| 4 | Mar 23, 2013 | 70 | 56 |
| 5 | Mar 30, 2013 | 60 | 66 |
| 6 | Apr 6, 2013 | 53 | 73 |
| 7 | Apr 13, 2013 | 48 | 78 |
| 8 | Apr 20, 2013 | 43 | 83 |
| 9 | Apr 27, 2013 | 26 | 100 |
| 10 | May 4, 2013 | 21 | 105 |
| 11 | May 11, 2013 | 21 | 105 |
| 12 | May 18, 2013 | 20 | 106 |
| 13 | May 25, 2013 | 21 | 105 |
| 14 | Jun 1, 2013 | 23 | 103 |
| 15 | Jun 8, 2013 | 21 | 105 |
| 16 | Jun 15, 2013 | 20 | 106 |
| 17 | Jun 22, 2013 | 23 | 103 |
| 18 | Jun 29, 2013 | 21 | 105 |
| 19 | Jul 6, 2013 | 23 | 103 |
| 20 | Jul 13, 2013 | 21 | 105 |