"Love" (stylized as "LOVE.") is a song by American rapper

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his genera ...

, from his fourth studio album ''

Damn Damnation (from Latin '' damnatio'') is the concept of divine punishment and torment in an afterlife for actions that were committed, or in some cases, not committed on Earth. In Ancient Egyptian religious tradition, citizens would recite th ...

'', released on April 14, 2017. The tenth track on the album (fifth on the ''Collector's Edition'' of ''Damn''), the song was written by Lamar, Zacari Pacaldo,

Teddy Walton Travis Darelle "Teddy" Walton (born July 30, 1992, in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American record producer, songwriter and DJ. He began music production by creating songs with his older brother, June, which gained traction on SoundCloud. Teddy has ...

Sounwave Mark Anthony Spears, known professionally as Sounwave, is an American hip-hop producer and songwriter from Compton, California, and an original member of the Californian hip-hop label Top Dawg Entertainment. Sounwave has worked on every Kendrick ...

Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and written and produced four songs ...

, and Anthony Tiffith, and produced by the latter four. The song features soul singer

Zacari Zacari Moses Pacaldo I, known mononymously as Zacari, is an American singer and songwriter. He is signed to Top Dawg Entertainment and released his EP ''Run Wild Run Free'' on March 15, 2019. Early life Zacari Moses Pacaldo was raised by a hig ...

, who is one of three credited musicians on ''Damn'', the others being Barbadian singer Rihanna on "

Loyalty Loyalty, in general use, is a devotion and faithfulness to a nation, cause, philosophy, country, group, or person. Philosophers disagree on what can be an object of loyalty, as some argue that loyalty is strictly interpersonal and only another h ...

", and Irish rock band U2 on " XXX." The song was later sent to rhythmic radio as the album's third single October 2, 2017. Described by Zacari as "a whole new genre", the song is a love song where Lamar describes his devotion to his fiancée, Whitney Alford.

Lyrics

According to fan speculation, the song's lyrics describe Lamar's love and devotion to his fiancée and future mother of his children, Whitney Alford. Specifically, Lamar describes the intense passion he has of becoming one with someone else, not just his feelings of sexual desire and affection to her. This is at least one possible interpretation, as Kendrick Lamar has not spoken on the meaning of the lyrics.

Composition

The song has a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 126 BPM and is in the key of F major.

Critical reception

Clover Hope of ''The Muse'' said the song was "one of the best songs on ''DAMN.''" A positive review from Christopher Hooton of ''The Independent'' described singer Zacari's hook as very catchy and the production from Greg Kurstin (known for

Sia Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...

's "

Chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent l ...

" and

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...

's "

Hello ''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the '' Norwich ...

") as "on point", but tonally described the song as feeling at odds with the rest of the album.

Commercial performance

Prior to its release as a single, "Love" debuted at number 18 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 the week of the album release. After the song was released as a single, it re-entered the charts at number 41 for the week ending December 2, 2017 and moved up to 27 the next week. It has peaked at number 11. "Love" spent 40 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 before dropping out on its 41st week on April 14, 2018.

Music video

The music video for the song was released to Lamar's

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, dig ...

channel 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 most ...

on December 21, 2017. It was directed by Dave Meyers and The Little Homies. It features a cameo from Travis Scott, sitting on the staircase that Kendrick is rapping in front of, who previously collaborated with Lamar on 2016's "

Goosebumps ''Goosebumps'' is a series of children's horror fiction novels by American author R. L. Stine, published by Scholastic Corporation, Scholastic Publishing. The protagonists in these stories are tweens or young teens who find themselves in scary ...

" from Scott's sophomore album, ''

Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight ''Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight'' is the second studio album by American rapper Travis Scott. It was released on September 2, 2016, through Grand Hustle Records and distributed by Epic Records. It exclusively premiered through Travis Scott and ...

,'' and in 2018's ''Big Shot,'' from ''Black Panther - The Album''. Zacari is featured in the music video as the driver of the convertible that Kendrick is riding in the front passenger seat of, while rapping. During the shoot in a scene in the video, Kendrick hinted an

easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tra ...

for his then upcoming involvement for '' Black Panther: The Album'' through the director clip shown.

Live performances

Lamar performed "Love" for the first time as an encore at the

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. ...

on April 23, 2017. Lamar has performed "Love" on the Damn tour.

Covers

Scottish band

Chvrches Chvrches (stylised CHVRCHΞS and pronounced "Churches") are a Scottish pop band from Glasgow, formed in September 2011. The band consists of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and, unofficially since 2018, Jonny Scott. Mostly derivi ...

covered the song on ''

Like a Version ''Like a Version'' is a weekly segment on Australian youth radio station Triple J. It involves Australian and international artists playing two songs live in the Triple J studio, one of their own songs (an "original") and then a cover version, h ...

'' in July 2018.Archived a
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Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the official ''Damn'' digital booklet. *Kendrick Duckworth – songwriter *Zacari Pacaldo – songwriter *Teddy Walton – songwriter, producer * Mark Spears – songwriter, producer *

– songwriter, producer *Anthony Tiffith – songwriter, producer *

Kid Capri David Anthony Love Jr. (born February 7, 1967) is an American DJ and rapper better known by his stage name Kid Capri. Early life Kid Capri's humble roots can be traced back to his parents' home in the Bronx, where ten year old David Antho ...

– additional vocals *Derek Ali – mixing *Tyler Page – mix assistant *Cyrus Taghipour – mix assistant, mixing *Zeke Mishanec – additional recording *Brendan Silas Perry – additional recording

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2017 songs 2017 singles Kendrick Lamar songs Songs written by Kendrick Lamar Songs written by Greg Kurstin Songs written by Sounwave Songs written by Teddy Walton Music videos directed by Dave Meyers (director) Song recordings produced by Greg Kurstin Contemporary R&B songs Trap music songs