"Halfcrazy" is a song performed by

Musiq Soulchild Taalib Hassan Johnson (born September 16, 1977), better known by the stage name Musiq Soulchild or simply Musiq (pronounced "music") is an American singer and songwriter whose style blends R&B, funk, blues, jazz, and Gospel music, gospel influ ...

(then credited as Musiq), issued as the lead

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from his second studio album ''

Juslisen ''Juslisen'' (pronounced ''Just Listen'') is the second studio album by American singer Musiq Soulchild, simply known at the time as Musiq. It was released on May 7, 2002 under the Def Soul subsidiary of Def Jam Recordings. It debuted at number on ...

''. The single was released only on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

; and it contains a sample of "

Vivre Pour Vivre ''Live for Life'' (french: Vivre pour vivre) is a 1967 French film directed by Claude Lelouch starring Yves Montand, Candice Bergen and Annie Girardot. The film won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for the Academy ...

" by

Francis Lai Francis Albert Lai (; 26 April 19327 November 2018) was a French composer, noted for his film scores. He won the 1970 Oscar for Best Music, Original Score and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for the film '' Love Story''. The s ...

. The song is Musiq's biggest hit to date on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at No. 16 in 2002.

Music video

Two official

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 ...

s were created for the song. The first version, released in , was directed by Chris Robinson. The second version, released in , was directed by

Jessy Terrero Jessy Terrero (born October 7, 1972) is a List of people from the Dominican Republic, Dominican Film director, film and music video director. Career Terrero appeared as an extra on the 1992 film ''Juice (1992 film), Juice'' starring Tupac Shakur ...

Background

According to the song's producers

Carvin & Ivan Carvin & Ivan are a production duo from Philadelphia consisting of producer and songwriters Ivan "Orthodox" Barias and Carvin "Ransum" Haggins. Initially starting out as solo hip hop artists, Haggins and Barias moved into production and songwriti ...

, the song was originally offered to

Dru Hill Dru Hill is an American R&B group, whose repertoire included soul, hip hop soul and gospel music. The group was founded in Baltimore in 1992 and is still active. Dru Hill recorded seven Top 40 hits, and is best known for the R&B number-one hits ...

member

Larry "Jazz" Anthony Dru Hill is an American R&B group, whose repertoire included soul, hip hop soul and gospel music. The group was founded in Baltimore in 1992 and is still active. Dru Hill recorded seven Top 40 hits, and is best known for the R&B number-one hit ...

who was set to record a solo album for

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

. He initially refused on recording the song for his solo debut, rejecting the sample of "Vivre Pour Vivre" in favor of wanting it played with live instruments. Anthony then dropped the song from his album and "Halfcrazy" was later rewritten with new verses by Musiq. Musiq Soulchild’s “Halfcrazy” Was Originally Meant For Another Artist
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Chart positions

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* * 2002 singles Def Jam Recordings singles Music videos directed by Chris Robinson (director) Music videos directed by Jessy Terrero Musiq Soulchild songs Songs with music by Francis Lai 2002 songs Songs written by Carvin Haggins Songs written by Ivan Barias Song recordings produced by Carvin & Ivan Songs written by Musiq Soulchild {{2000s-R&B-song-stub