"Anything (To Find You)" is a song by American recording artist Monica taken from her seventh studio album, '' New Life'' (2012). It features additional vocals from American rapper

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Sean Combs, D ...

, and was written and produced by longtime contributors

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...

and Cainon Lamb with additional penning from fellow R&B singer

Jazmine Sullivan Jazmine Marie Sullivan (born April 9, 1987) is an American R&B and soul singer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, her debut album, ''Fearless'' was released in 2008. The record topped ''Billboards Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was certifie ...

, Henry Fuse, Miguel "Pro" Castro, and William Roberts. The song

sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...

s 1995's "

Who Shot Ya? "Who Shot Ya"Bad Boy Entertainment, advertisement, ''Vibe'', 2004 Aug;12(875 or often "Who Shot Ya?"Sound recording"The Notorious B.I.G.—Who Shot Ya? (official audio)" ''The Notorious B.I.G.'' "Official Artist Channel" @ YouTube, 20 Sep 2019. (Th ...

" performed by

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

and Diddy, and uses an interpolation of

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

and

Tammi Terrell Tammi Terrell (born Thomasina Winifred Montgomery; April 29, 1945 – March 16, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter, widely known as a star singer for Motown Records during the 1960s, notably for a series of duets with singer Marvin Gaye. ...

's 1968 hit, "

You're All I Need to Get By "You're All I Need to Get By" is a song recorded by the American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and released on Motown Records' Tamla label in 1968. It was the basis for the 1995 single "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Ge ...

." A lyrical homage to hip hop's beginnings, the song's initial version also featured American rapper

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and reality television personality. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, she lived much of he ...

and was lined up for a release to urban radios in July 2011. However, by the time of its official digital release as the album's leading single, Kim's vocals had been removed entirely from the track due to contractual issues surrounding B.I.G.'s estate, headed by his mother. Released on August 2, 2011, as the album's first offering, the single version of "Anything" peaked at number twenty-five on the US ''Billboard''

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. An R&B-up-tempo song, which exhibits elements of the early- to mid

1990s File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War ...

hip hop soul Hip hop soul is a subgenre of contemporary R&B music, most popular during the early and mid 1990s, which fuses R&B or soul singing with hip hop musical production. The subgenre had evolved from a previous R&B subgenre, new jack swing, which ha ...

music, "Anything (To Find You)" was well received by music critics, who praised its retro theme and noted it a much-welcomed break from the

Europop Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and ...

-dominated influence on

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythm ...

by the time of its release. An accompanying

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

for the track was shot in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and directed by Chris Robinson in August 2011. Featuring flashy 1990s fashions,

boombox A boombox is a transistorized portable music player featuring one or two cassette tape recorder/players and AM/FM radio, generally with a carrying handle. Beginning in the mid 1980s, a CD player was often included. Sound is delivered through ...

es, and colorfully dressed dancers, the retro-themed video pays homage to the 1990s.

Background

"Anything (To Find You)" was written by longtime contributor

along with singer

and producer Cainon Lamb, all of which had contributed to Monica's previous single " Everything to Me" (2010), with additional writing by Henry Fuse, Miguel Castro, and William Roberts. The song contains portions

's 1995 record, "

", written by Christopher Wallace,

Sean Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

, Nashiem Sa-Allah Myrick,

Herbert Magidson Herbert A. Magidson (January 7, 1906 – January 2, 1986) was an American popular lyricist. His work was used in over 23 films and four Broadway revues. He won the first Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1934. Life and career Magidson was bo ...

and

Allie Wrubel Elias Paul "Allie" Wrubel (January 15, 1905 – December 13, 1973) was an American composer and songwriter. Biography Wrubel was born to a Jewish family in Middletown, Connecticut, United States, the son of Regina (née Glasscheib) and Isaac ...

, which again samples from 1972's "I'm Afraid the Masquerade Is Over", as performed by David Porter. "Anything (To Find You)" also contains elements of "

" (1968), written by

Ashford & Simpson Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting-production team and recording duo of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946). Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carolina, ...

and performed by

and

. Speaking of the recording of the song, which Monica described as an "homage to hip hop's beginnings", she elaborated: " twas basically a record where we knew we needed hip-hop flavor all across the board and the first thing I did was reach out to Lil Kim ... And when we sat back and we really listened to it, also we figured we wanted the fellas tofeel comfortable to. And with our mix of "

Ladies' Night A ladies' night is a promotional event, often at a bar or nightclub, where female patrons pay less than male patrons for the cover charge or drinks. In the United States, state courts in California, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have rule ...

" with me, Missy and Kim, we all figured that Rick osswas the man."

Release

On July 7, 2011, the full song was leaked onto the internet, featuring guest vocals by both rappers

and

. Having initially recorded sixteen additional bars to the eight bars that appeared on the track, Kim's part was reportedly cut to make room for a second guest part, contributed by Ross. When the song made its debut on the ''Billboard''

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 in the week of July 14, 2011, Kim's name was not listed however. In a statement,

J Records J Records was an American record label owned and operated by Bertelsmann Music Group until it was transferred to Sony Music Entertainment when they acquired all of BMG’s record labels in late 2008. It was distributed through the RCA Music Gro ...

later confirmed that they were forced to remove her vocals from the official version at the last minute due to contractual issues as the sample that she used in her part — an excerpt of

's controversial 1995 song "

" – was revoked by his mother Volleta Wallace, the head of B.I.G's estate. Addressing the issue on her

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account, Monica wrote:

I am just finding out what has happened to my single and myself and Missy are beyond hurt that Lil Kim was removed. She's our friend, a legend, and Lil Kim will get the respect she deserves at all cost. The clearance was revoked and I'm fighting to get it reinstated by the Biggie Estate ... I am as thorough as they come and I Love Lil Kim, bottom line is Ms Wallace has the final say and she said No. If we put it out we get sued.

The original version of the song, featuring all sixteen bars recorded by Lil' Kim, was leaked on July 30, 2011.

Reception

The single has been generally well received by critics. ''

Rap-Up ''Rap-Up'' is a magazine launched in 2001 by founder Devin Lazerine. The publication was originally a website devoted to hip hop, until Lazerine decided to pitch the possibility of a magazine to several publishers. The magazine is focused on the ...

'' favored the track stating that "Monica takes listeners back to R&B's glory days with her soulful voice, Rozay channels

Biggie Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

, and the

Queen Bee A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female (gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are developed ...

delivers a short, yet stinging verse." '' ThatGrapeJuice'' noted that the song "will be sure to entice Urban disc-jockeys everywhere this summer," and further added, "what many will find to be a much needed breath of fresh air in

centric world, Monica has once again proven why she is the kind of artist whose creativity and skill is firmly based in her ability to deliver enjoyable music." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' called the track "a throwback to '90s hip-hop," adding: "Monica arrives with lyrics that combine attitude and vulnerability ... With "Anything (To Find You)", she das issued another soft jam to secure her status as an R&B queen in the company of

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

." Before being released as a digital download and rhythmic radio, "Anything (To Find You)" instantly debuted at number 71 on the US ''

chart on July 14, 2011, based on airplay alone. Afterwards it jumped from number fifty-seven to fifty-one on that particular chart, before eventually entering the top 30. Reaching its peak position of number 25, it became Monica's least successful lead single since 2002's "

All Eyez on Me ''All Eyez on Me'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper 2Pac and the last to be released during his lifetime. Released on February 13, 1996, by Death Row and Interscope Records, the album features guest appearances from Dr. Dre, Sno ...

.". However, the song became Monica's sixteenth top forty entry on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks chart, and due to digital downloads debuted and peaked at number 19 in the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

Music video

Background

The

for "Anything (To Find You)" was directed by frequent collaborator Chris Robinson. As reported by herself on

, Monica and rapper

filmed the clip in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, on August 18, 2011. Based on a concept developed by the singer and Robinson, the video shoot called for multiple flashy 1990s fashions,

es, colorfully dressed dancers, and

jewelry Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western ...

by designer Simone I. Smith. Monica summed the retro-themed video as being about "paying homage to the era that made er– 90s baby." The full music video exclusively premiered through the

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

network on September 11, 2011, a day earlier than planned, on Monica's Vevo account. It made its television debut on September 12, 2011, during an episode of BET's format ''

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 ...

'', where it eventually reached the top spot on the show's music video countdown.

Synopsis

Summed up by ''

Essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...

'' magazine, "Monica channels the '90s in her latest video or"Anything (To Find You)", resentinga heavy influence from

." The video opens in a lit warehouse, with Brown walking in the passageway before it cuts to her standing with her arms folded. She then kneels down and began to sing the into verse of the song. The clip then shows Rick Ross in his own scene rapping his verse to the song. Monica goes into her first verse with three girls choreographed routines with a 1980s vibe. Doing the first run of the hook, Monica is seen singing on a bed and sitting on a curb with gold lights in the background. The video then continues with another scene of Monica singing behind a gold background with a black tank top and with a white jumpsuit. After the scenes quickly jumped from another, the video then ends with Monica 2-stepping and singing her final lines from the song.

Track listing

;Digital download #"Anything (To Find You)" (featuring

) – 3:42

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from ''New Life'' liner notes. * Miguel "Pro" Castro –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

, keyboards *

– engineering, production * Henry "Henny" Fuse –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* Chris Galland – mixing assistance * Cainon Lamb – co-production * Erik Madrid – mixing assistance *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work. Life and career M ...

– mixing * Taurian "TJ" Osbourne – keyboards

Charts

Release history

References

External links

Monica's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anything (To Find You) 2011 singles Monica (singer) songs Rick Ross songs Songs written by Missy Elliott Music videos directed by Chris Robinson (director) Songs written by Rick Ross 2011 songs J Records singles Jive Records singles Songs written by Cainon Lamb Songs written by Jazmine Sullivan