"Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" is a song by American recording artist

Lumidee Lumidee Cedeño (born October 13, 1984), known mononymously as Lumidee, is an American singer-songwriter and rapper. She is best known for her 2003 single " Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)", which peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' ...

, released as her debut single on May 12, 2003, from her first album, ''

Almost Famous ''Almost Famous'' is a 2000 American comedy drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe, starring Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson, Patrick Fugit, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. It tells the story of a teenage journalist, played b ...

'' (2003). The official remix features

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

and

Fabolous John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), known professionally as Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition for his ability upon performing live on DJ Clue's WQHT, Hot 97 radio show. Jackson then signed ...

. "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Outside of the United States, "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" topped the charts in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, and peaked within the top ten of the charts in many other countries, including Austria, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

Background

The original mix of the song was recorded by DJ Tedsmooth, a native of

Spanish Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the east ...

where Lumidee was raised, for DJ Tedsmooth's

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

Straight Face. The song became the number 1 requested song on many New York radio stations. The success resulted in many

major record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...

offering deals to both Lumidee and DJ Tedsmooth. After signing with

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

, the song was remixed with guest appearances by

and

. It remains the most successful song of Lumidee's career so far, regarding chart positions, and her only hit to date. The song was most successful in Europe, reaching number 1 in five countries. It peaked at number 1 in Belgium, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Switzerland in August–September 2003. It also charted at number 2 in the United Kingdom. It also reached number 1 on the

Eurochart Hot 100 Singles The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

. Nevertheless, the song peaked at number 3 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 advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the 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), o ...

chart in her own country. "Never Leave You" was incorporated into the 2010 re-release of the Diwali riddim album on Greensleeves/VP Records. It included other songs derived from the Diwali riddim, along with Sean Paul's " Get Busy," which was a late entry that never made the original release.

Composition

"Never Leave You (Uh Ooh, Uh Ooh)" is an R&B song written by Lumidee Cedeño, Teddy "Tedsmooth" Mendez and Eddie Perez, and features a prominent

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

reggae riddim called "

Diwali Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual v ...

" written by

Steven "Lenky" Marsden Steven "Lenky" Marsden is a Jamaican-born music producer and musician who specializes primarily in dancehall reggae music. He also arranges and remixes pop and hip hop songs. Marsden is the founder of the Jamaica-based label, 40/40 Records and ...

, although it is slightly altered from the original riddim. Belgian artist Luc van Acker made allegations that the song resembles " Zanna," a song he wrote. However, in an interview he said Belgian anti-piracy agency SABAM advised him not to waste money on a lawsuit.

Chart performance

"Never Leave You (Uh Ooh, Uh Ooh)" debuted at number 61 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Due to the increase of radio plays for the song, it later ascended up the chart from number ten to number five, before peaking at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In the United Kingdom, the song debuted and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart on August 3, 2003 – for the week ending date August 9, 2003 – beaten to the summit by

Blu Cantrell Tiffany Cobb (born March 16, 1976), known professionally as Blu Cantrell, is an American contemporary R&B, R&B singer. Cantrell rose to fame in 2001, with the release of her debut single, "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)", which peaked at number two ...

and

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. Paul's first album, ''Stage One'', was released in 2000. He gained international fame with his second album, ''Dutty Rock'', in 2002. Its single "Get Busy ...

's " Breathe". The song reached the top spot on the

European Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

, after it jumped from number three to the top of the charts in the Netherlands and number seven to the top of the charts in Germany. The song entered the top 20 in France, Norway, Sweden and Spain, top thirty in Canada and New Zealand and top 40 in Australia.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

of "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" was directed by Nzingha Stewart and it features American actor J.D. Williams as Lumidee's love interest.

Track listings

US maxi-CD single # "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" – 3:04 # "Never Leave You" (DJ Kazzanova reggaeton mix) – 3:12 # "Never Leave You (Aqui me quedo)" (Spanish mix) – 3:04 # "Never Leave You" (

DJ Skribble Scott Ialacci, professionally known as DJ Skribble (born October 10, 1968) is an American Disc jockey, DJ, Record producer, producer, remixer, radio personality and actor. In the early 1990s, he teamed up with Kamron, ATA, Firstborn and Tommy N ...

& Anthony Acid mix) – 3:42 US 12-inch single :A1. "Never Leave You (Uh Ooh, Uh Oooh!)" (main) – 3:04 :B1. "Never Leave You (Uh Ooh, Uh Oooh!)" (instrumental) – 3:02 :B2. "Never Leave You (Uh Ooh, Uh Oooh!)" (acappella) – 2:28 UK CD single # "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" – 3:04 # "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" (Uh Oooh remix featuring Busta Rhymes and Fabolous) – 3:32 # "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" (instrumental) – 3:02 # "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" (video) – 4:00 UK 12-inch single :A1. "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" – 3:04 :A2. "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" (acappella) – 2:28 :B1. "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" (Uh Oooh remix featuring Busta Rhymes and Fabolous) – 3:32 :B2. "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" (instrumental) – 3:02 European CD single # "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" (original mix) – 3:04 # "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" (Uh Oooh remix featuring Busta Rhymes and Fabolous) – 3:32 Australian CD single # "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" (original mix) – 3:04 # "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" (Uh Oooh remix featuring Busta Rhymes and Fabolous) – 3:32 # "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" (DJ Skribble & Anthony Acid remix—radio cut) – 3:47 # "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" (video)

Personnel

* Lumidee – lead vocals, background vocals * DJ Tedsmooth – producer * Trendsetta – producer,

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

s, programming, mixing, engineering, keyboards * Stevie J. – engineering, mixing * Jamie "S.S" Garcia – mixing assistant

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2003 songs 2003 debut singles Lumidee songs Fabolous songs Busta Rhymes songs Ivy Queen songs Universal Records singles Songs written by Lumidee Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Italy Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Number-one singles in Switzerland Songs written by Steven "Lenky" Marsden Songs written by Fabolous