"I Care 4 U" is a song recorded by American singer
Aaliyah
Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...
. Written by
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
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...
, the song was originally recorded for Aaliyah's second studio album ''
One in a Million'' (1996), but the recording was shelved. It was re-recorded in 2000 for
''Aaliyah'' (2001). A
neo soul
Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...
ballad, "I Care 4 U" features beatboxing, an electric piano and multi-tracked vocals.
Following
Aaliyah's death on August 25, 2001, "I Care 4 U" received heavy airplay in the United States despite not having been released as a single. It peaked at number 16 on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was then included on Aaliyah's posthumous compilation album ''
I Care 4 U
''I Care 4 U'' is a posthumous compilation album by American singer Aaliyah. It was released on December 10, 2002, by Blackground Records and Universal Records. Following Aaliyah's death on August 25, 2001, Blackground decided to release a posthu ...
'' (2002) and was released as its third single on April 8, 2003.
Writing and recording
"I Care 4 U" was written by
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
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...
, and was produced by the latter. Aaliyah originally recorded the song for her second studio album ''
One in a Million'' (1996), but it was completed after the album had finished post-production, and she chose to save it for her next album.
In 2000, the song was re-recorded for ''Aaliyah'' at Magic Mix Studios and Music Grinder Studios in Los Angeles.
Music and lyrics
Musically, "I Care 4 U" is a
neo soul
Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...
ballad which has been compared to the work of singer
Angie Stone
Angela Laverne Brown (born December 18, 1961) known professionally as Angie Stone, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. She rose to fame in the late 1970s as member of the hip hop trio The Sequence. In the early 1990s ...
.
[ The song includes an initially-uncredited sample of "(Too Little in Common to Be Lovers) Too Much Going to Say Goodbye" by The Newcomers. It features ]beatboxing
Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice. , an electric piano
An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...
and multi-tracked vocals. Michael Odell from ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' called the song "the sort of 1970s style ballad that Aaliyah's aunt, Gladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Kn ...
, would approve of – but again it's stripped down and rebuilt with layers of haunting keyboard
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 ...
and lo-tech vocal percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
".
According to Bob Waliszewski from ''Plugged In
Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is a fundamentalist Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations t ...
'', the song "offers support to a guy stinging from a breakup". Graham Smith from ''musicOMH
MusicOMH (stylized as musicOMH) is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.
History
MusicOMH was founded and launched by ...
'' described "I Care 4 U" as a soft, romantic R&B ballad. According to Aaliyah, the song speaks about a female narrator who tells her male friend: "Don't cry, I'll wipe your tears. I love you, just give me the chance to show you."
Release
Despite receiving heavy airplay in 2002, "I Care 4 U" was never officially serviced to radio stations in the United States. However, it was released as a double A-side single with "Don't Worry" on April 8, 2003, as the second US single from ''I Care 4 U'', by Blackground Records
Blackground Records 2.0 (legal name Blackground Records, LLC, formerly known as Blackground Records) is an American record label founded and owned by Jomo and Barry Hankerson. Initially named Blackground Enterprises, the label switched its name t ...
and Universal Records
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
.
In August 2021, it was reported that Aaliyah's recorded work for Blackground (since rebranded as Blackground Records 2.0) would be re-released on physical, digital, and, for the first time ever, streaming services
An over-the-top media service is a streaming media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms, the companies that traditionally act as a controller or distributors of s ...
in a deal between the label and Empire Distribution
EMPIRE Distribution, Records and Publishing Inc. (marketed as EMPIRE) is an American distribution company and record label founded in by Ghazi Shami with offices in New York City, London, Nashville, and Atlanta. It has released albums in vario ...
. ''Aaliyah'', including "I Care 4 U", was re-released on September 10.
Critical reception
Ross Scarano from ''Complex
Complex commonly refers to:
* Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe
** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
'' praised the production of "I Care 4 U", comparing it to the work of Angie Stone
Angela Laverne Brown (born December 18, 1961) known professionally as Angie Stone, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. She rose to fame in the late 1970s as member of the hip hop trio The Sequence. In the early 1990s ...
. He stated: "If it weren't from some low-in-the-mix beatboxing and complicated drum programming, "I Care 4 U" wouldn't register as a Timbaland production. The electric piano and extremely earnest multi-tracked vocals give off the sheen of neo-soul; this is Aaliyah doing Angie Stone".[ Luke McManus from the Irish publication ]RTÉ
(RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...
felt that Aaliyah showcased her voice more on the song and that her newfound vocal ability matched the "brilliance of the backing tracks".
Daryl Easlea from BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
praised Aaliyah's vocal performance, saying the song "would be a conventional ballad on a more obvious soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
star's album. It's what Aaliyah doesn't do that make it still sound stunning – it would have been so easy to over-ladle the emoting here". Michael Odell from ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' praised the song and compared it to the work of Gladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Kn ...
. Russell Baillie from ''The New Zealand Herald
''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...
'' described the song as "soul-sass" and felt that "Aaliyah's voice weaves through the sparse but punchy arrangements with a mix of sultriness". ''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 ...
'', felt that "I Care 4 U" was different from other songs that had released, yet Aaliyah "demonstrates the ease with which she can slip into a neo-soul ballad – with just enough production eccentricities to establish that Timb is indeed behind the boards".
Commercial performance
In the United States, "I Care 4 U" debuted at number 75 on the 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 ...
due to heavy airplay on June 1, 2002, despite not having been released as a single yet. It peaked at number three on the chart dated September 28, spending a total of 44 weeks charting. On the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the song peaked at number 16 on October 26; it spent a total of 20 weeks on the chart. "I Care 4 U" also charted for 20 weeks on the Radio Songs chart, peaking at number 15. Along with " Rock the Boat" and " More Than a Woman", the song helped give Aaliyah a strong presence on the radio following her August 25, 2001 death.
Track listing
US 12-inch vinyl
# "I Care 4 U" (album version) – 4:34
# "Don't Worry" – 3:55
Credits and personnel
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''Aaliyah
Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...
''.
* Aaliyah
Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...
– vocals
* Homer Banks
Homer Banks (August 2, 1941 – April 3, 2003) was an African American songwriter, singer and record producer. Although best known by many for his songwriting for Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s, some of his own releases from the 1960s are co ...
– writing
* Jimmy Douglass
Jimmy Douglass, also known as "The Senator", is an American recording engineer and record producer. His career has spanned more than four decades.
Career
In the early 1970s at Atlantic Records studios in New York City, he started his studio ca ...
– engineering, mixing
* 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 ...
– writing
* Bernie Grundman
Bernie Grundman is an American audio engineer.
He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chris Bellman, Patricia Sullivan, and Mi ...
– mastering
* Carl Hampton – writing
* Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...
– production, writing
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Release history
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:I Care 4 U (Song)
2001 songs
2002 songs
2003 singles
Aaliyah songs
Contemporary R&B ballads
Soul ballads
Song recordings produced by Timbaland
Songs written by Missy Elliott
Songs written by Timbaland
2000s ballads
Neo soul songs