When in Love is the first single from

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rap music, rapper, Disc jockey, DJ, actress and entrepreneur. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, Lyte first gained fame in the late 19 ...

's third album Act Like You Know. It was released on August 22, 1991. Although its original version of the album is produced by

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

& Epic, its single version includes a remix made with Carmen Rizzo. The song presents a style more oriented to the New Jack Swing sound. In November 1991, the song peaked 14 on the Billboard's

Hot R&B 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 ...

, where it remained for 13 weeks, being her most successful song on that list to that date. Also peaking at 3 on the

Billboard Hot Rap Singles 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 stati ...

Conception and composition

According to Lyte in an

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

press release, the song is about "the stupid things people do when they're in love," describing situations like ''"I'm talkin like pickin your lover's nose/Cooking his food and washing his clothes/And if you thought that was goin too far/What about givin him the keys to your car?"'' During an interview with

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 producti ...

in 2011 Lyte reflected on her music video: "When I was dancing in my video for ‘When In Love,’ I was just ready to try something different. I wasn't really concerned about any backlash. I did what I wanted to do."

Samples

The original version of the album contains an interpolation of

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He had several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including " Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), " Grandma's Hands" (1971), " Use Me" (197 ...

's "

The Same Love That Made Me Laugh "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" is a song, composed and originally recorded by Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He had several hits over a career sp ...

" in his chorus. Carmen Rizzo's remix with Wolf & Epic, which was used in the music video, is built around a sample of James Brown 's "

Hot (I Need to Be Loved, Loved, Loved) "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)" is a funk song by James Brown. Released as a single in December 1975, it reached #31 on the R&B chart. It uses the main riff from the David Bowie song " Fame", released earlier the same year. Guita ...

Appearances

"When in Love" was included in her compilation albums

The Very Best of MC Lyte ''The Very Best of MC Lyte'' is a compilation album by MC Lyte. It was released on September 4, 2001, for Atlantic Records and Rhino Entertainment Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company foun ...

(2001), ''Rhyme Masters'' (2005), and ''Cold Rock a Party - Best Of MC Lyte'' (2019). Her music video was included on her compilation video album ''Lyte Years'' (1991). In the fall of 1991 she performed the song at the Pay-per-view TV concert '' Sisters In The Name of Rap''. In February 1992 Lyte performed the song on the dance and music show Soul Train.

Critical reception

Gil Griffin of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' highlighted the song in his album review for his way of approaching obsessive love. In hindsight, Damon Brown of ''RapReviews'' would criticize the song, commenting that "is too convoluted, especially when compared to

Rakim William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim Allah or simply Rakim (), is an American rapper and record producer. One half of golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

’s “Mahogany” or even

Ghostface Killah Dennis Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 C ...

’s recent “Love Sessions." In the book ''Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture'' (2007), the writer Jennifer R. Young would comment on the song:

Single track listing

12" Vinyl

A-Side

# "When In Love" (Remix) (5:15) # "When In Love" (Acapella) (3:50)

B-Side

# "When In Love" (Instrumental) (4:02)

Cassette

A-Side

* "When In Love" (Remix Edit) * "When In Love" (Remix)

B-Side

* "When In Love" (Remix Edit) * "When In Love" (Remix)

Personnel

Credits are taken from the liner notes. *Lyrics By – MC Lyte *Mastered By – Chris Gehringer (cg☮) *Mixed By – Carmen Rizzo *Music By – Bret Mazur, Richard Wolf *Producer – Wolf & Epic *Scratches – DJ K-Rock, DJ Master Tee

Charts

References

{{authority control MC Lyte songs Songs written by Richard Wolf Songs written by Epic Mazur 1991 singles 1991 songs Atlantic Records singles Songs written by MC Lyte