"I Need Love" is the second single from

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

's second album, ''

Bigger and Deffer ''Bigger and Deffer'' (abbreviated as ''BAD'' on the album cover) is the second studio album by American rapper LL Cool J, released on May 29, 1987 by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records. It features the hit single “I’m Bad”, and th ...

''. The single reached number 1 on the

Hot Black Singles 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 p ...

and number 14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 while becoming one of the first rap songs to enjoy mainstream popularity in the UK, rising to number 8 in 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 ...

. The single won a Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap Single in 1988 Soul Train Music Awards. The song was listed as number 13 on

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...

's Top 100 Rap Songs.

Track listing

A-side #"I Need Love" – 5:23 B-side #"I Need Love" (edit) – 4:15 #"My Rhyme Ain't Done" – 3:45

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Covers and samples

The music, both melody and beats, were lifted from an instrumental by Brooklyn songwriter Jayson Dyall entitled "Zoraida's Heartbeat" which was written and recorded in 1984. This song, along with other songs on a cassette tape of several raw recordings by Jayson Dyall, was presented to LL Cool J by an associate, who met Dyall through a music classifieds ad in early 1986 and told him he could get LL to listen to his music. Dyall never received any acknowledgment from LL Cool J or Def Jam Records for originally writing the music for this song. *Irish singer-songwriter

Luka Bloom Luka Bloom (born Kevin Barry Moore; 23 May 1955) is an Irish folk singer-songwriter. He is the younger brother of folk singer Christy Moore. Early life Kevin Barry Moore was born on 23 May 1955 in Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. His par ...

recorded a cover version of the song on his

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

album ''The Acoustic Motorbike''. *R&B group

Blaque Blaque is an American girl group that charted from 1999 to 2004. Outside of the United States, they are known as Blaque Ivory. Their self-titled debut album ''Blaque'' sold more than 1 million copies and was certified Platinum. The group's d ...

sampled the song on their track "Don't Go Looking for Love", which originally appeared on their 1999 self-titled debut album. *Rapper Necro used the beat on his song "

I Need Drugs ''I Need Drugs'' is the debut studio album by the American rapper Necro, released on November 7, 2000, by Psycho+Logical-Records. This album maintains emphasis on both his violence and sex themes, rather than focusing on one or the other such as ...

", which was released on his

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

album, ''

''. *

Master P Percy Robert Miller Sr. (born April 29, 1967), known by his stage name Master P, is an American rapper, record executive, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of the record label No Limit Records, which was relaunched as ...

sampled this song on his single "I Need Dubs", featuring son

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a priest ...

, on his 2005 album ''

Ghetto Bill ''Ghetto Bill: The Best Hustler in the Game'' is Master P's twelfth studio album and also his final released album with Koch Records. It hit stores on June 21, 2005, and included the lead single "I Need Dubs" (featuring a sample of LL Cool J's h ...

''. *

Amanda Blank Amanda Blank (born Amanda Mallory McGrath; March 21, 1983) is an American singer, rapper and member of the performance art band Sweatheart based in Philadelphia. Early life Amanda Blank was born in Germantown, Philadelphia, Germantown, a neighb ...

sampled the song on "A Love Song" from her 2009 album '' I Love You''. *

Krizz Kaliko Samuel William Christopher Watson IV (born March 7, 1974), better known by his stage name Krizz Kaliko, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and voice actor. He is a longtime collaborator with fellow hometown native Tech N9ne and was signe ...

copied lyrics of the song for the first few lines of his song "Anxiety", on his debut album ''

Vitiligo Vitiligo is a disorder that causes the skin to lose its color. Specific causes are unknown but studies suggest a link to immune system changes. Signs and symptoms The only sign of vitiligo is the presence of pale patchy areas of depigmen ...

'' by saying, "When I'm alone in my room, sometimes I stare at the wall/And in the back of my mind, I hear my conscious call/Telling me I need a gun." *

Yo Gotti Mario Sentell Giden Mims (born May 19, 1981), known professionally as Yo Gotti, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record executive. In 1996, Gotti released his debut album ''Youngsta's On a Come Up'' under the alias Lil Yo. He went on to re ...

sampled the song on his single "Let's Vibe" featuring

Pleasure P Marcus Ramone Cooper Sr, (born December 27, 1984), better known by his stage name Pleasure P, is an American R&B singer-songwriter, who experienced success as a member of the group Pretty Ricky before embarking on a solo career in 2007. H ...

. *

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 ...

interpolated the lyrics on the single "

Aston Martin Music "Aston Martin Music" is the third single from rapper Rick Ross's fourth studio album '' Teflon Don''. The song was released as a single on October 5, 2010. The song, which was produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, it features vocals from Canadian re ...

" featuring

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and

Chrisette Michele Chrisette Michele Payne (born December 8, 1982) is an American R&B and soul singer. She won a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2009 for her song " Be OK" (featuring will.i.am). She was previously signed to Motown Record ...

from his 2010 album '' Teflon Don.''

References

{{Authority control 1987 singles LL Cool J songs Contemporary R&B ballads Songs written by LL Cool J Song recordings produced by the L.A. Posse