"The Way That I Love You" is a song recorded by American singer Ashanti from her fourth studio album, ''

The Declaration ''The Declaration'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Ashanti, released on June 3, 2008, by The Inc. Records and Universal Motown Records.Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

and The Inc. Ashanti wrote and produced the song with L.T. Hutton. Backed by piano, guitar, and horns, "The Way That I Love You" is a midtempo R&B ballad whose lyrics tell of betrayal. Critical response was primarily positive; some reviewers said it was a highlight from ''The Declaration'' while others felt it was inferior to music released by

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

and

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

. Commercially, the song peaked at number 37 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and appeared on the publication's

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

Adult R&B Songs The Adult R&B Songs chart (formerly called Adult R&B Airplay) is an airplay chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on urban adult contemporary radio stations, whose playl ...

component charts. Ashanti performed "The Way That I Love You" at

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and on tour. Kevin Bray directed the music video which tells the story of Ashanti and her boyfriend—he cheats on her, she discovers it, and she murders him. The story for the video was inspired by the

true crime True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...

TV shows ''

Snapped ''Snapped'' is an American true crime television series produced by Jupiter Entertainment. The series depicts high profile or bizarre cases of women accused of murder. Each episode outlines the motivation for murder, whether it be revenge agains ...

'' and ''

Forensic Files ''Forensic Files'', originally known as ''Medical Detectives'', is an American documentary television program that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness. The show was origi ...

''. The video's emphasis on violence attracted critical attention. As part of the song's promotion, Ashanti launched a website that allowed users to create and send a personalized news report and death threat to a contact. The campaign was received negatively and incited a protest in Los Angeles. The website was ultimately taken down.

Background and release

For her fourth studio album ''

The Declaration ''The Declaration'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Ashanti, released on June 3, 2008, by The Inc. Records and Universal Motown Records.Ashanti collaborated with songwriters and producers outside of her record label

Murder Inc Murder, Inc. (Murder, Incorporated) was an organized crime group, active from 1929 to 1941, that acted as the enforcement arm of the National Crime Syndicatea closely connected criminal organization that included the Italian-American Mafia, the ...

. Her previous album ''

Concrete Rose ''Concrete Rose'' is the fourth studio album by American singer Ashanti, released on December 14, 2004, by The Inc. Records and Def Jam Recordings. In addition to working with frequent collaborators Irv Gotti, Chink Santana, and 7 Aurelius, As ...

'' (2004) had been overshadowed by negative news regarding the label, including a feud with

G-Unit G-Unit (short for Guerilla Unit) was an American hip hop group formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks. After amassing a string of self-released mixtapes in the early 2000s, the group released th ...

and an

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

investigation. L.T. Hutton produced a majority of ''The Declaration'', instead of Ashanti's longtime producer

Irv Gotti Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. (born June 26, 1970), professionally known as Irv Gotti, is an American DJ, music producer, record executive, and the CEO and co-founder of Murder Inc. Records. He is best known for producing multiple number-one rec ...

. Ashanti said that she had more artistic freedom with the album. Hutton and Ashanti wrote and produced "The Way That I Love". Ashanti said that she "just started jotting down words, and it just kind of poured out" upon hearing the opening instrumental. She produced the lead and background vocals, and Hutton programmed the song and played the instruments. The final version was mixed at Brandons Way Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California. "Switch", which featured

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

, and "

Hey Baby (After the Club) Hey Baby may refer to: * "Hey! Baby", a 1961 song by Bruce Channel, covered by Anne Murray in 1982 and DJ Ötzi in 2000 * "Hey Baby" (Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and Diplo song), 2016 * "Hey Baby" (Marty Stuart song), 1993 * "Hey Baby" (No Doubt s ...

" were both announced as the album's

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

in 2007. They were replaced by "The Way That I Love You", which was released to

urban radio Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...

on February 26, 2008, and

rhythmic radio Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...

on April 1, 2008. It was the number one most-added song on urban radio in the week of its release. The single was included on a July 2008

Cartier Cartier may refer to: People * Cartier (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Cartier Martin (born 1984), American basketball player Places * Cartier Island, an island north-west of Australia that is part of Australia' ...

charity playlist created to support the

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organization.

Composition and lyrics

"The Way That I Love You" is a midtempo R&B ballad that lasts four minutes and thirty seconds. It is composed in the key of

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: : Changes needed ...

using

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

and a "moderate hip-hop"

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 ...

. The instrumentation is provided by a piano, a guitar, and horns; Sal Cinquemani of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' wrote that the single is "driven by a distinct descending piano

arpeggio A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves. An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...

and horn arrangement". Ashanti's vocal range spans from the low note of D₄ to the high note of E₅.

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 Andy Kellman compared her vocals to her 2003 single " Rain on Me" because of their similar "melodramatic flourishes" but said the lyrics of "The Way That I Love You" were "much more vengeful in nature than depressive." Ashanti felt both men and women would relate to the single's theme of betrayal.

Reception

"The Way That I Love You" was praised by critics who identified it as a highlight of ''The Declaration''. The ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

'' Jim Farber felt Ashanti's collaboration with Hutton was her best work, and described "The Way That I Love You" as a "strut of a song." Noah Berlatsky of the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

'' noted the song's piano loop as one of the few standouts from the album. A ''

Dayton Daily News The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately ...

'' reviewer summed up the single as "cliche but effective." On the other hand, some commentators negatively compared "The Way That I Love You" to music released by other singers. Despite praising Ashanti's performance as emotional, Leah Greenblatt of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' found the single to be inferior to those by

and

. ''Vibe'''s Shanel Odum dismissed the song as "barely set

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off a smoke detector, let alone ring ngany alarms", in a reference to Beyoncé's 2006 single "

Ring the Alarm "Ring the Alarm" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé for her second studio album, ''B'Day'' (2006). It was written by Knowles, Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean, and Sean Garrett. Columbia Records released "Ring the Alarm" as the second si ...

". Commercially, "The Way That I Love You" peaked at number 37 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on May 17, 2008, and remained on the chart for 18 weeks. It reached number two on the

and

R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (previously known as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay) is a chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the top R&B and hip hop songs in the United States, based on audience impressions from a panel of radio stations monitored ...

chart, and number 18 on the

component charts compiled by the same publication.

Music video

Ashanti debuted the Kevin Bray-directed music video on ''

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 ...

'' and it was played on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

MTV Hits MTV Hits is a music video-only spin-off cable/satellite television channel of MTV in several international markets, originally based on the pop music format of a defunct programming block on the American MTV itself. It may refer to the following ch ...

, and

MTV Jams BET Jams is an American pay television network controlled by BET Networks and owned by Paramount Media Networks. The channel features hip-hop and urban contemporary music videos. The network, formerly known as MTV Jams, was rebranded under the ...

. It was uploaded on Ashanti's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, 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 ...

account on December 22, 2009. A rough cut had leaked a few weeks before its premiere in February 2008. Another version of the video, with the subtitle "Access Denied", was released on Ashanti's YouTube account on November 22, 2009. Ashanti used the true crime TV shows ''

'' and ''

'' as the primary inspiration for the video. She felt that the storyline of a woman driven to murder fit the single's dramatic, painful, and emotional lyrics. She said that she wanted the video to be "very cinematic as opposed to a regular music video" to make a larger impact after her absence from the music industry. When discussing the overall message, Ashanti said: "Don't cheat." Throughout the video, Ashanti is shown in a volatile relationship with her boyfriend, played by actor

Christian Keyes Christian Keyes (born July 24, 1975) is an American actor and model. Born in Detroit, MI but raised in Flint, MI, Christian got his start in the entertainment industry by appearing in stage plays having since graduated to television and film. Sin ...

. After learning about his infidelity, the singer poses with a butcher's knife while dressed in an evening gown. Images of evidence, including a bloody knife, footprints, and walls, intercut the video. It ends when Ashanti leaves her partner after killing him in a bathtub. The video received critical attention for its representation of violence. In a 2015 article for ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', Kornhaber said it was part of a trend in music videos of violent female pop artists who want to avoid being presented as the victim. A ''

The Boombox Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

'' contributor summarized the video as "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." The music video was popular on

MTV.com 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 ...

and ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (known commonly as ''TRL'') was an American television program broadcast on MTV that premiered on September 14, 1998. TRL featured popular music videos played during its countdown, and was also used as a promotion tool by ...

'' where it peaked at number one and two, respectively.

Promotion

Promotional campaign

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...

was coordinated with the music video's release through Ashanti's website (TheWayThatILoveYou.com). The website allowed a user to create and send a personalized news report and a death threat to a contact. The message, stylized as a "gotcha-gram", featured a news report about a series of murders inspired by "The Way That I Love You" music video and the upcoming release of ''The Declaration''. The message could be customized to include the victim's name and crime, the murder weapon, and the sender's name and home state. The choices for crimes were sleeping around, suspected sleeping around, playing you like a fool, and breaking your heart. The weapons included a boot, knife, can, sledgehammer, rolling pin, and a

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

. The news report ends with the disclaimer, "Ashanti and Universal Music Group do not encourage or condone violence of any kind. This is for parody purposes only." Each message was attributed to the fictional Universal Crime Network. An example of a gotcha-gram, sent to

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

's Lola Ogunnaike, was: "Do you know the person pictured in the following video. If so, please contact me immediately. Your life might be in danger." The campaign received a primarily negative response. The civil rights organization Project Islamic Hope and the

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

Industry Ears led a protest that called for the website's removal. These groups felt that the project encouraged violence as a valid means to handle disputes. Ogunnaike deemed the messages "disturbing", and felt that they damaged Ashanti's public image as a "good girl". Universal closed the site, but Ashanti defended it as "a better alternative to actual violence" and "an incredible online viral tool." Ashanti's publicist, Michelle Huff, clarified that the video was intended to have a similar tone to a ''

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'' sketch and said that the singer had received primarily positive feedback for the site.

Shanti Das Shanti Das (born February 19, 1971) is an American music industry executive, marketing consultant, entrepreneur, philanthropist and author. She was most recently Executive Vice President of Urban Marketing and Artist Development at Universal Mo ...

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's vice president for urban marketing, referred to the campaign as a parody of the music video and said that Ashanti does not promote

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls, usually by men or boys. Such violence is often consi ...

Live performances

Ashanti promoted "The Way That I Love You" with a live performance at a 2008

. In 2016, she sang it as part of the Natural Born Hitters Tour with rapper

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in New York City, he debuted in 1999 with ''Venni Vetti Vecci'' and its lead single "Holla Holla". Durin ...

. ''The Boombox''s Liz Ramanand said the performance was a highlight from the show. Ashanti subsequently included the song on the setlist for a 2018 tour with Ja Rule. Victor D. Infante of ''

Telegram & Gazette The ''Telegram & Gazette'' (and ''Sunday Telegram'') is the only daily newspaper of Worcester, Massachusetts. The paper, headquartered at 100 Front Street and known locally as ''the Telegram'' or the ''T & G'', offers coverage of all of Worceste ...

'' praised her for providing a "soulful rendition" of the single and her decision to provide "an air of vulnerability" by singing it without backup dancers.

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''The Declaration'': *Arranged by (all lead and background vocals), backing Vocals, lead Vocals, lyrics by (all), producer (all lead and background vocals) – A. Douglas *Instruments (all), programmed by – L.T. Hutton *Producer, written by – A. Douglas, L.T. Hutton

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Way That I Love You, The 2008 singles Ashanti (singer) songs Universal Motown Records singles Songs written by Ashanti (singer) Song recordings produced by L.T. Hutton 2008 songs 2000s ballads Contemporary R&B ballads Songs written by L.T. Hutton Songs about infidelity Music video controversies