"I Need Love" is the second single from LL Cool J's second album, '' Bigger and Deffer''. The single reached number 1 on the Hot Black Singles and number 14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 while becoming one of the first rap songs to enjoy mainstream popularity in the UK, rising to number 8 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The single won a Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap Single in 1988 Soul Train Music Awards. The song was listed as number 13 on

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...

's Top 100 Rap Songs.

Track listing

A-side #"I Need Love" – 5:23 B-side #"I Need Love" (edit) – 4:15 #"My Rhyme Ain't Done" – 3:45

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Covers and samples

The music, both melody and beats, were lifted from an instrumental by Brooklyn songwriter Jayson Dyall entitled "Zoraida's Heartbeat" which was written and recorded in 1984. This song, along with other songs on a cassette tape of several raw recordings by Jayson Dyall, was presented to LL Cool J by an associate, who met Dyall through a music classifieds ad in early 1986 and told him he could get LL to listen to his music. Dyall never received any acknowledgment from LL Cool J or Def Jam Records for originally writing the music for this song. *Irish singer-songwriter

Luka Bloom Luka Bloom (born Kevin Barry Moore; 23 May 1955) is an Irish folk singer-songwriter. He is the younger brother of folk singer Christy Moore. Early life Kevin Barry Moore was born on 23 May 1955 in Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. His par ...

recorded a cover version of the song on his 1992 album ''The Acoustic Motorbike''. *R&B group Blaque sampled the song on their track "Don't Go Looking for Love", which originally appeared on their 1999 self-titled debut album. *Rapper Necro used the beat on his song " I Need Drugs", which was released on his

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

album, '' I Need Drugs''. *

Master P Percy Robert Miller Sr. (born April 29, 1967), known by his stage name Master P, is an American rapper, record executive, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of the record label No Limit Records, which was relaunched as ...

sampled this song on his single "I Need Dubs", featuring son

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a priest ...

, on his 2005 album '' Ghetto Bill''. *

Amanda Blank Amanda Blank (born Amanda Mallory McGrath; March 21, 1983) is an American singer, rapper and member of the performance art band Sweatheart based in Philadelphia. Early life Amanda Blank was born in Germantown, Philadelphia, Germantown, a neighb ...

sampled the song on "A Love Song" from her 2009 album '' I Love You''. *

Krizz Kaliko Samuel William Christopher Watson IV (born March 7, 1974), better known by his stage name Krizz Kaliko, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and voice actor. He is a longtime collaborator with fellow hometown native Tech N9ne and was signe ...

copied lyrics of the song for the first few lines of his song "Anxiety", on his debut album ''

Vitiligo Vitiligo is a disorder that causes the skin to lose its color. Specific causes are unknown but studies suggest a link to immune system changes. Signs and symptoms The only sign of vitiligo is the presence of pale patchy areas of depigmen ...

'' by saying, "When I'm alone in my room, sometimes I stare at the wall/And in the back of my mind, I hear my conscious call/Telling me I need a gun." *

Yo Gotti Mario Sentell Giden Mims (born May 19, 1981), known professionally as Yo Gotti, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record executive. In 1996, Gotti released his debut album ''Youngsta's On a Come Up'' under the alias Lil Yo. He went on to re ...

sampled the song on his single "Let's Vibe" featuring

Pleasure P Marcus Ramone Cooper Sr, (born December 27, 1984), better known by his stage name Pleasure P, is an American R&B singer-songwriter, who experienced success as a member of the group Pretty Ricky before embarking on a solo career in 2007. H ...

. * Rick Ross interpolated the lyrics on the single " Aston Martin Music" featuring

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

and

Chrisette Michele Chrisette Michele Payne (born December 8, 1982) is an American R&B and soul singer. She won a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2009 for her song " Be OK" (featuring will.i.am). She was previously signed to Motown Record ...

from his 2010 album '' Teflon Don.''

References

{{Authority control 1987 singles LL Cool J songs Contemporary R&B ballads Songs written by LL Cool J Song recordings produced by the L.A. Posse