"Let Me Hold You" is a song by American rapper Bow Wow. It was the first single off his fourth album, '' Wanted'' (2005). Released on March 11, 2005, the song features American R&B singer

Omarion Omari Ishmael Grandberry (born November 12, 1984), better known by his stage name Omarion, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actor and dancer. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the boy band B2K. The group achieved success in the e ...

(the first collaboration they did together). It was

co-written Collaborative fiction is a form of writing by a group of authors who share creative control of a story. Collaborative fiction can occur for commercial gain, as part of education, or recreationally – many collaboratively written works have been ...

and co-produced by frequent producer

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ. Early life Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born on September 23, 1972, the son of Tina (Mosley) and Michael ...

and

No I.D. Ernest Dion Wilson (born June 23, 1971), professionally known as No I.D. (formerly Immenslope), is an American hip hop and R&B producer from Chicago, Illinois. Wilson is also a disc jockey (DJ), music arranger and former rapper, having releas ...

and uses a sample of

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...

' 1985 version of

Brenda Russell Brenda Russell (née Gordon; born April 8, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. Russell has a diverse musical range which encompasses R&B, pop, soul, dance, and jazz. She has received five Grammy nominations. Li ...

's " If Only for One Night". The song received positive reviews from critics. "Let Me Hold You" peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making this the first top 10 hit for both Bow Wow and for Omarion as a solo artist. It also became a number-one hit for both artists on the

Hot Rap Songs Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

chart and stayed there for seven weeks. The song also peaked at numbers 2 and 10 on both 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 ...

and

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

charts respectively, and reached the top 40 in countries like Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK. The song was

certified Platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for selling over 1,000,000 copies. A music video, directed by

Bryan Barber Bryan Barber (born December 20, 1970) is a music video and motion picture filmmaker. He has directed many music videos for popular artists, including Outkast's "The Way You Move" and "The Whole World". Barber is known for sprinkling scenes fro ...

, was made to promote the single and featured Bow Wow and Omarion hanging out at a house party.

Background

Bow Wow had publicly announced his interpretation of the song's meaning as he stated in an interview with

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

"Basically the song is me talking to a girl and telling her, 'These are the things I can do for you. Let me hold you down. This is what I want to do for you as a man. These are the things I'm capable of doing for you if you get with me. Just hear me out.' I'm just really talking to the ladies. The song is really special to me, and I love that song."

The collaboration began when Bow Wow was talking with producer

about the song and how he suggested on getting Omarion to appear on the track. In a 2011 retrospective of his previous hits with ''

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 ...

'', producer

said that this was the first time he worked with Dupri and was asked by him to bring over his samples to pick one that would be used for a single to finish off the album. He played him the Luther Vandross sample and was hesitant about his initial reaction at first before thinking it over and seeing its potential as a smash hit.

Composition

"Let Me Hold You" was co-written and co-produced by

and

No ID Ernest Dion Wilson (born June 23, 1971), professionally known as No I.D. (formerly Immenslope), is an American hip hop and R&B producer from Chicago, Illinois. Wilson is also a disc jockey (DJ), music arranger and former rapper, having releas ...

. It features a

sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...

' version of " If Only for One Night", written and originally performed by

. The song is in 4/4 time and in the key of E♭ minor.

Critical reception

The song received positive reviews from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's David Jeffries put it alongside " Like You" as the album's highlights that work "on a more adult level." Steve 'Flash' Juon of ''RapReviews'' praised the production by Dupri and No ID for their clever take on the sample, Bow Wow's lyrics and Omarion's guest vocal performance. Angie Romero of ''

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down productio ...

'' praised the sing-song hook for making the track "undeniably catchy."

Commercial performance

"Let Me Hold You" debuted at number 93 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the week of May 21, 2005. Three weeks later, it moved twenty-two spots from number 73 to 51 for the week of June 11, 2005. It moved eleven spots from number 28 to 17 for the week of July 2, 2005. It moved four spots from number 15 to 11 for the week of July 16, 2005. It reached the top ten for the week of July 23, 2005, at number eight. It reached its peak at number four and spent a total of 24 weeks on the chart. With the release of "Let Me Hold You", Bow Wow achieved his first top ten hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, surpassing his 2003 hit " Let's Get Down" which peaked at number 14. The song was also Omarion's first top-10 hit as a solo artist, although he previously had a number-one hit with "

Bump, Bump, Bump "Bump, Bump, Bump" is a song by American boy band B2K, featuring P. Diddy. It was released October 2002 as the lead single from B2K's second album '' Pandemonium!''. It was written by R. Kelly and Varick Smith and produced by Kelly. It became B2K ...

" as a member of

B2K B2K (Boys of the New Millennium) was an American boy band that was active from 1998 to 2004, and again from 2018 to 2019. In 1998, the group was formed by American dance choreographer Dave Scott and Interscope A&R Keshia Gamble. The members ...

. "Let Me Hold You" was Bow Wow and Omarion's first entry on the

Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009. It ranked songs based on airplay on Mainstream Top 40 radio stations, singles s ...

, where it peaked at number 14. On the

chart, the single peaked at number two. The song also became a number-one hit for both artists on the

chart for seven weeks and the

Rhythmic Top 40 The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...

chart for five weeks. On May 14, 2006, "Let Me Hold You" was certified

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

by the

(RIAA) for selling over 1,000,000 copies in the United States.

Music video

The song's music video, directed by

, features Bow Wow attempting to woo a girl with mixed results. After surprising her at her house, the two attend a

house party A house party is a type of party where people gather at the residence of the party's host. Organization A house party might be organized several months or just a few hours in advance. News of a party may be spread by personal invitations, ...

, but problems arise as she is less social than Bow Wow, who begins talking to other girls. After a brief reconciliation, the two argue again over the music at the party. Once again, the two are able to reconcile, but things remain awkward, and they do not communicate on their return home. The video appears to be an unresolved

cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

, but a "to be continued" title is shown as the video ends. (The video's story is continued in Bow Wow's next video, " Like You".) The video features a cameo from the song's co-producer, Jermaine Dupri.

Live performances

"Let Me Hold You" was a staple at concerts for Bow Wow's 2005 summer tour

Scream Tour IV The Scream Tour IV (also referred to as Scream Tour IV: The HeartThrobs) was a summer 2005 concert tour featuring Bow Wow (rapper), Bow Wow, Omarion, Marques Houston, B5 (band), B5, Pretty Ricky and Bobby Valentino. It was an installment in the Scr ...

. It was performed at the

2005 American Music Awards The 33rd Annual American Music Awards were held on November 22, 2005. They were hosted by Cedric the Entertainer. The awards recognized the most popular albums and artists from the year 2005. Performances Notes * Broadcast live from the Delta ...

on November 22, 2005, as part of a medley with Bow Wow's " Like You" and Omarion's " O".

Awards and nominations

Track listings

US 12-inch vinyl # "Let Me Hold You" (radio version) # "Let Me Hold You" (instrumental) # "Let Me Hold You" (album version) # "Let Me Hold You" (instrumental with background vocals) UK CD single # "Let Me Hold You" (radio version) # "My Baby" (album version without intro) Australian CD single # "Let Me Hold You" (radio version) – 4:08 # "Let Me Hold You" (album version) – 4:08 # "Mo Money" – 4:06 # "Let Me Hold You" (instrumental) – 4:08 # "Let Me Hold You" (video)

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''Wanted''. Recording * Recorded at Southside Studios,

Atlanta, GA Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

, Battery Studios, NY and

The Record Plant The Record Plant is a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and currently operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it has produced highly influential albums, including Blon ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

* Mixed at Southside Studios, Atlanta, GA Personnel *

– producer, mixer *

– co-producer * John Horesco IV – recording, assistant engineer * Tadd Mingo – assistant engineer * Brian McCarthy – assistant engineer * Gelli – assistant engineer *

Phil Tan Phil Tan is a Malaysian-American music and audio engineer. Early life and education Tan was born in Malaysia. He attended Full Sail University in Florida in the U.S., where he attained a degree in Recording Arts in 1990. Afterwards he moved to Atla ...

– mixer

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2004 songs 2005 singles Bow Wow (rapper) songs Omarion songs Columbia Records singles Contemporary R&B ballads Music videos directed by Bryan Barber Song recordings produced by Jermaine Dupri Song recordings produced by No I.D. Songs written by Jermaine Dupri Songs written by No I.D. Songs written by Brenda Russell