"Hurt You" is a song by American recording artists

Toni Braxton Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1967) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won ...

and

Babyface Babyface or Baby Face can refer to: Nicknames * Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber * Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician * "Baby Face", Jimmy McLarnin ...

. It was written by Braxton and Babyface along with

Daryl Simmons Daryl L. Simmons is an American R&B musician, songwriter and record producer, who worked with the production duo of L.A. Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. In 1977–1980 Daryl, with Manchild (band) recorded 2 soul & funk albums & the mino ...

and

Antonio Dixon Antonio Dixon (born July 17, 1985) is a former American football nose tackle. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Washington Redskins in 2009. He played for the Eagles from 2009-2011 before being waived during final roster cuts, and ...

for their collaborative studio album ''

Love, Marriage & Divorce ''Love, Marriage & Divorce'' is a collaborative studio album by American recording artists Toni Braxton and Babyface, released on February 4, 2014, by Motown Records. The album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 and as of July 2, 2014 the ...

'' (2014), while production was helmed by Babyface. The song was released on August 17, 2013 as the lead single from the album. It topped the US

Adult R&B Songs The Adult R&B Songs chart (formerly called Adult R&B Airplay) is an airplay chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on urban adult contemporary radio stations, whose playl ...

and was ranked fifth on the chart's year-end listing.

Background

During early February 2013, Braxton appeared on '' Good Morning America'' and ''

The Wendy Williams Show ''The Wendy Williams Show'' (often shortened to ''Wendy'') is an American syndicated talk show created and hosted by Wendy Williams, and produced by Wendy Williams Productions, along with Perler Productions. The show is distributed by Debmar- ...

'' to promote her new movie role in the Lifetime Movie ''Twist of Faith'', also confirming the rumors of her retirement, revealing that she was retiring from music and stating that she would like to focus on acting: "I have to do shows here and there, but I'm not gonna do any albums, I'm falling out of love with it, it's weird. I don't know what to say when I hear songs. They don't impact me. I've been trying to listen to songs, record companies have been calling me, so it's a good situation to be in, but I'm not really interested at all". Months later in June 2013, Braxton announced that she was returning to music with a Summer Tour and that she was in the studio working on her eighth studio album after a number of singers and friends including

Anita Baker Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. She is one of the most popular singers of soulful ballads, especially renowned for her work during the height of the quiet storm period in the 1980s. Starting her career ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

, and Missy Elliott had reached out to her not to retire the music business.

Commercial performance

"Hurt You" debuted at number 17 on the US ''Billboard''

chart on September 7, 2013, later rising to the number 1 spot on December 14, 2013 for four weeks. The song spent 41 weeks on the Adult R&B Songs chart before exiting the Top 20 Chart. This marked Braxton's seventh chart topper on the Adult R&B Songs chart and first since her 2000 release "

Just Be a Man About It "Just Be a Man About It" is a song by American singer Toni Braxton from her third studio album, '' The Heat'' (2000). It was released on June 20, 2000, as the album's second single. Background "Just Be a Man About It" is a telephone breakup song ...

." The song also hit number 16 on '' Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip Hop Airplay chart.

Music video

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 promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for "Hurt You" was directed by

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

director

Ray Kay Reinert K. Olsen (born 10 July 1978), known professionally as Ray Kay, is a Norwegian director and photographer who is currently based in Los Angeles. He is a music video and advertising director. Ray Kay mostly directs music videos and has wo ...

. It was premiered on October 11, 2013 on Braxton and Babyface's joint

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, ...

account on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. The video is a representation of the track that tells about the hardships of being in a relationship. The clip opens up with Braxton and Babyface in two different rooms, which are separated by a wall. They both manage to break through the wall to express their desire to start all over again.

Promotion

Braxton and Babyface appeared on ''

The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989, ...

'' on November 22, 2013, performing "Hurt You." They also appeared on ''

The Steve Harvey Morning Show ''The Steve Harvey Morning Show'' is a national radio program which is currently broadcast from Los Angeles. The nationally syndicated show features host Steve Harvey and a team of comedians and commentators. The show runs approximately four ...

'' on February 3, 2014 and ''

The Ellen Degeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was pro ...

'' on May 9, 2014, also performing "Hurt You."

Track listing

Digital single *"Hurt You" – 4:11

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Love, Marriage & Divorce''. *

Paul Boutin Paul Boutin (born December 11, 1961 in Lewiston, Maine) is an American magazine writer and editor who writes about technology in a pop-culture context. Boutin, who began writing for ''Wired'' in 1997, wrote for ''The New York Times'' from 2003 ...

– mixing,

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

*Toni Braxton – vocals, writer *

– writer *Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds –

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 strin ...

, producer, vocals, writer *

– vocal producer, writer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 2013 singles Toni Braxton songs Songs written by Toni Braxton Contemporary R&B ballads Songs written by Daryl Simmons 2013 songs Songs written by Babyface (musician) Songs written by Antonio Dixon (songwriter) Motown singles Song recordings produced by Babyface (musician) Babyface (musician) songs Male–female vocal duets