"Love and War" is the lead single by American

recording artist A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

Tamar Braxton Tamar Estine Braxton (born March 17, 1977) is an American singer and television personality. Braxton began her career in 1990 as a founding member of The Braxtons, an R&B singing group formed with her sisters. The Braxtons released their debut a ...

from her second album of the same name. The song received two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nominations at the 56th Grammy Awards for

Best R&B Song The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (sometimes known as the R&B Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1969. From 1969 to 2000, it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song. Beyoncé has won it a record four times, while Bab ...

and

Best R&B Performance The Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide it is designed for s ...

Background

Braxton revealed to ''

Essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...

'' that she originally intended the song "Hot Sugar" to be released as the lead single from her second album, saying "given everything that happened to

Vince Vince is a given name, it is the anglicisation and shortened form of the name Vincent, as well as a surname. It may refer to: Given name People * Vince Agnew (born 1987), American football player * Vince Cable (born 1943), British politician ...

and I icthis year, and everything we went through in our marriage, this song was fitting to me and Vince", explaining "I've been in love before, and I've gotten my feelings hurt before but I've never experienced passion until I met Vince". She added "I've never argued this much with a person, and I've never loved this hard. That's what this song is about." Singer-songwriter

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

, who was signed by Braxton's best friend and Streamline Records founder Leshelle Driver in 2007, promoted the single via

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site

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, to over 31 million followers. VH1 writer Bené Viera commented that "Gaga is like family to Vince & Tamar" and that it was "sweet of her to use her super fame to show Tamar love".

Composition

''Essence'' writer Derrick Bryson Taylor wrote "the meaning of the song goes way beyond a minor tiff between lovers. It is really about her marriage".

Music video

The music video for the song was filmed in the Hollywood Hills and Malibu. It was directed by Walid Azami and premiered on

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's ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

'' on January 17, 2013.

Critical response

"Love and War" received general acclaim from critics. Rick Florino of

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described the song as "a powerful and passionate slice of soul pop" which "showcases the singer's impressive and inimitable range." Florino lent further praise to Braxton's vocal performance, writing that she "belts out each note poignantly" on the "instantly unforgettable chorus," carrying the song "into the pantheon of great music ruminating on the thin line between 'Love and War'". VH1 writer Bené Viera also praised Braxton's vocal ability, describing the song as a "soul stirring ballad" and writing "her vocal prowess covers the deep gutting sound

Toni Toni, Toñi or Tóni is a unisex given name. In Spanish, Italian, Croatian and Finnish, it is a masculine given name used as a short form of the names derived from Antonius like Antonio, Ante or Anttoni. In Danish, English, Finnish, Norwe ...

mastered and rises to a perfect alto/soprano perfection".

Commercial reception

Within 24 hours of its release, "Love and War" shot to the top of the US

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chart. Selling 84,000 downloads in its first week of release, it debuted at number 3 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Songs chart, also claiming the "Hot Shot Debut" honor when it debuted at number 57 on the ''

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 ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, making it her second appearance on the chart. Her debut single "If You Don't Wanna Love Me" peaked at number 89 on the chart in 2000. "Love and War" also became her first top 20 on the

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 p ...

chart, at number 13 and first number 1 on the

Heatseekers Songs Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

chart. In its second week, the song fell to number 97 on the

chart but climbed back up to number 71. "Love and War" charted at number 6 on the UK R&B iTunes chart on December 7, 2012. The song also reached number 1 on the Urban Adult Contemporary Radio Chart and stayed number 1 for 9 weeks.

Accolades

"Love and War" received three nominations at the 2013

Soul Train Awards The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of ''Soul Train'', the pro ...

for The Ashford and Simpson Songwriter's Award, Video of the Year and Song of the Year, winning both Song of the Year and The Ashford and Simpson Songwriter's Award. At the

56th Annual Grammy Awards The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid comp ...

, "Love and War" was nominated for

and

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2012 songs Tamar Braxton songs Contemporary R&B ballads Soul ballads 2012 singles Songs written by LaShawn Daniels Songs written by Makeba Riddick Epic Records singles Songs written by Tamar Braxton 2010s ballads Songs written by Darhyl Camper