"Baby Love" is a song recorded by American singer

Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Scherzinger (; born Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Valiente, June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She is best known as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, one of the best-selling g ...

. The song was produced by and features

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas. ...

. Scherzinger and will.i.am co-wrote the song with

Kara DioGuardi Kara Elizabeth DioGuardi (; born December 9, 1970) is an American songwriter, record producer, music publisher, A&R executive, and singer. She writes music primarily in the pop rock genre. DioGuardi has worked with many popular artists; sales o ...

and Keith Harris. "Baby Love" was released from September 18, 2007, by A&M and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

, as the second single from Scherzinger's unreleased debut studio album, ''Her Name Is Nicole''. The

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

-inspired R&B ballad is about a person's first premature love with someone. "Baby Love" received a mixed reception from contemporary critics, with reviewers complementing Scherzinger's vocal ability, but dismissing the song for not being the type of song to launch a career with. However, the song managed to peak in the top twenty in thirteen countries including Germany, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Ireland. An accompanying music video directed by

Francis Lawrence Francis Lawrence (born March 26, 1971) is an Austrian-born American filmmaker and producer. After establishing himself as a director of music videos and commercials, Lawrence made his feature-length directorial debut with the superhero thrille ...

and was filmed on Catalina Island in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Scherzinger performed "Baby Love" in a series of live appearances such as a performance at the

MTV Europe Music Awards 2007 The 14th annual MTV European Music Awards were held at the Olympiahalle in Munich, Germany on 1 November 2007. The show received a total of 78 million votes, the most in MTV Europe Music Awards history. Foo Fighters opened the show, with frontman ...

Background and composition

Following the poor commercial success of "Whatever U Like", it was announced that Scherzinger would release a new single. The song was used for German Vybemobile's TV commercial and

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

's campaign. "Baby Love" is included on several international editions of

The Pussycat Dolls The Pussycat Dolls were an American girl group and dance ensemble, founded in Los Angeles, California, by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995 as a burlesque troupe. At the suggestion of Jimmy Iovine, Antin decided to take the burlesque troupe ...

' second studio album ''

Doll Domination ''Doll Domination'' is the second and most recent studio album by American girl group the Pussycat Dolls, released on September 19, 2008, by Interscope Records. The album's release was preceded by the departure of the group's longest-standing memb ...

'' (2008) and is listed as an original song, performed by Scherzinger and will.i.am entitled as the "Final Version" on the standard edition. The version on the album is the official remix of the song by

J. R. Rotem Jonathan Reuven Rotem is a South African-born record producer, songwriter and music publisher. Biography Early life Rotem was born in South Africa to Jewish Israeli people, Israeli immigrant parents. He moved to Canada at the age of two an ...

with a new arrangement and re-recorded vocals. "Baby Love" is a mid-tempo

-inspired R&B ballad, and produced by

. It was written by Scherzinger, William Adams,

and Keith Harris, in the musical key of

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp mi ...

. The "laid-back vibe" of the song was compared to that of the

Pussycat Dolls Pussycat or Pussy Cat may refer to: * Cat, a domestic feline Music Bands * Pussycat (band), a Dutch country and pop group * The Pussycats, a 1960s Norwegian rock band * The Pussycats, a group signed to Kama Sutra Records Albums * ''Pussy Cats'', ...

' song "

Stickwitu "Stickwitu" is a song recorded by American girl group the Pussycat Dolls for their debut studio album '' PCD'' (2005). It was written by Franne Golde, Kasia Livingston and Robert Palmer and produced by Ron Fair. A pop ballad with soul influence ...

" (2005) and Fergie's song "

Big Girls Don't Cry Big Girls Don't Cry may refer to: Music * ''Big Girls Don't Cry'' (Lynn Anderson album), 1968 * ''Big Girls Don't Cry'' (The Weather Girls album), 1986 * "Big Girls Don't Cry" (Fergie song), 2007 * "Big Girls Don't Cry" (The Four Seasons song), ...

" (2006), that was also produced by will.i.am. According to the sheet music published by

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned ...

, the song has a

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

set in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

, with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 90

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. The melody is mainly composed with

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

instruments.

Reception

A reviewer for the ''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...

'' wrote that it's "a nice little number which highlights her above average vocals." The single achieved reasonable success outside of the United States, particularly in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. This is likely due to Scherzinger's performance at the

on November 1, 2007, in which she sang the song with

, the producer and featured artist of the song. The song peaked at number fourteen on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. It also became a top ten hit in the

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Although the song was not successful on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, it reached number four on the ''Billboard''

Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

and peaked at number 8 at Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.

Music video

The video was shot on Catalina Island,

, and was directed by

. The

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 ...

premiered on September 24, 2007.

Synopsis

The video opens with Scherzinger in bed, inserting a video memory stick into a laptop. She is just in her white bra and panties. We then see lots of clouds, before seeing Scherzinger waking up lying in bed with her lover. She rolls on top of him, before going outside still in her underwear with a grey cardigan over the top. The boat then cruises along and Nicole makes several appearances in a white bikini. Then we see her lie on a sun bed under her lover in a black bikini. He is shirtless, and gazes down at her. She then shows the video footage to him on her camera. She then sings to the camera presumably naked, with us only seeing her face and her legs. She then lies in the sun in her white bikini. She then dives into the ocean in her black bikini, followed by her lover. They then appear underwater, hugging each other. After that, on a beach, Nicole kisses her lovers shoulders. She then dances in front of the camera in a black and peach bikini. She then is seen hugging her lover (they both are presumed naked, making love) on the beach. Nicole and her lover take a trip on a motorbike (a

Ducati Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. () is the motorcycle-manufacturing division of Italian company Ducati, headquartered in Bologna, Italy. The company is directly owned by Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini, whose German parent company is Au ...

Hypermotard) soon after. Nicole is in hot pants and a black jacket. Will.i.am then makes his debut singing a solo verse in the distance. We then see Nicole in her black and peach bikini lying down on the sand. Her lover is filming her from above. Nicole then is seen semi nude, with her hands covering her breasts. Then she is seen playing around with her lover in the sea. They splash around and Nicole then is seen on the edge of the boat, in a blue dress. More semi nude appearances follow. But then we return to the bed, which was seen at the start. Nicole is now kneeling on top of her boyfriend, in her white bra and panties. She sings to him whilst he strokes her hips and touches the sides of her panties. She then leans down to kiss his cheek softly. He kisses her arm. The video ends with Scherzinger making one final semi nude appearance, covering her breasts with her hands. She giggles and the scene fades.

Live performances

In October 2007 she performed at

KIIS-FM KIIS-FM (102.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, United States, and broadcasts to the Greater Los Angeles area. The station airs a top 40 format. Owned by iHeartMedia, KIIS-FM is the origin of the conglomer ...

’s Homecoming concert at the

Honda Center The Honda Center (formerly known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim) is an indoor arena located in Anaheim, California. The arena is home to the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League. Originally named the Anaheim Arena during construction, ...

and performed "

Whatever U Like "Whatever U Like" is the debut solo single by American singer Nicole Scherzinger, featuring rapper T.I. The duo, along with Sean Garrett and Polow da Don, composed the song for Scherzinger's planned debut studio album ''Her Name Is Nicole''. In ...

", "Baby Love" and "Supervillain". The same month she performed the latter two songs along with "Happily Never After" for ''

Sessions@AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. ...

''.

Track listings

* Digital download # "Baby Love" (featuring

) – 4:43 * German and UK CD single # "Baby Love" (featuring will.i.am) – 4:43 # "

" (featuring T.I.) – 3:53 * Australian and German enhanced CD single # "Baby Love" (featuring will.i.am) – 4:43 # "Whatever U Like" (featuring T.I.) – 3:53 # "Baby Love" (instrumental) – 4:43 # "Baby Love" (video) – 4:43 * Japanese CD single # "Baby Love" (featuring will.i.am) – 4:43 # "Whatever U Like" (featuring T.I.) – 3:53 # "Baby Love" (instrumental) – 4:43 # "Whatever U Like" (instrumental) – 3:53 # "Baby Love" (video) – 4:51 # "Whatever U Like" (video) – 3:56

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the "Baby Love" liner notes. * Nicole Scherzinger –

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

and

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

(William Adams) – songwriter, producer and vocals *

– songwriter * Keith Harris – songwriter

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control Nicole Scherzinger songs Will.i.am songs 2000s ballads 2007 singles 2007 songs A&M Records singles Contemporary R&B ballads Music videos directed by Francis Lawrence Pop ballads Song recordings produced by will.i.am Songs written by Kara DioGuardi Songs written by Keith Harris (record producer) Songs written by Nicole Scherzinger Songs written by will.i.am