"What's Luv?" is a song by American rapper

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper. He began recording as a member of Hip-hop, hip hop group D.I.T.C., Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.) in 1992, and pursued a sol ...

, released through

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

and Fat Joe's Terror Squad Productions as the second single from his fourth studio album, ''

Jealous Ones Still Envy (J.O.S.E.) ''Jealous Ones Still Envy (J.O.S.E.)'' is the fourth solo studio album by American rapper Fat Joe. Originally scheduled for a summer 2000 release, the album was released on December 4, 2001, via Atlantic Records and Fat Joe's Terror Squad Prod ...

'' (2001). The song features additional vocals from singer Ashanti and from rapper

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. Born and raised in New York City, Ja Rule became known for blending gangsta rap with pop rap, pop and contempo ...

on the remix and album version of the song. "What's Luv" was produced by

Irv Gotti Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. (June 26, 1970 – February 5, 2025), professionally known as Irv Gotti or DJ Irv, was an American record producer and music executive. Gotti started off as a New York hip-hop DJ in the 1980s, then becoming an A&R t ...

and

Chink Santana Andre Parker, known by his stage name Chink Santana, is an American R&B record producer from Washington, D.C. He is known for co-producing albums including '' Ashanti'' (2002), by singer of the same name, as well as its follow-up, '' Chapter I ...

. The lyrics of the song's chorus are based in part on the title refrain of the 1984

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

hit "

What's Love Got to Do with It What's Love Got to Do with It may refer to: Related to Tina Turner * "What's Love Got to Do with It" (song), a 1984 song by Tina Turner; covered by Warren G, 1996 * ''What's Love Got to Do with It'' (1993 film), a 1993 biographical film about Turne ...

". The song additionally includes a lyric ("I'm not a hater, I just crush a lot") that references the 1998 song "

Still Not a Player A still is an apparatus used to distillation, distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively Boiling, boil and then cooling to Condensation, condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic Distillation#Laboratory_procedures, ...

" by

Big Pun Christopher Lee Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper. Emerging from the underground hip hop scene in the Bronx, he came to prominence upon discover ...

. Fat Joe, Ja Rule, and the song's two producers are credited as the writers of "What's Luv", as are Big Pun and the lyricist of "What's Love Got to Do with It",

Terry Britten Terence Ernest Britten (born 17 July 1947) is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and record producer, who has written songs for Tina Turner, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo (band), Status Quo and Michael Jackson amongst many ot ...

. "What's Luv?", released in the United States on February 4, 2002, peaked at number two on the US ''

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 that April, becoming Fat Joe's highest-charting single as a lead artist. The single stayed on the chart for 20 weeks, giving Ashanti her second top-10 single and Fat Joe his first. The song additionally topped the ''

Hot Rap Tracks 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 stat ...

and

Rhythmic Top 40 The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...

charts. "What's Luv?" made Ashanti the first female artist to simultaneously occupy the top two positions on the Hot 100. The single was also a success internationally, reaching the top five in Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Production

Producer

Chris Lighty Darrel Steven "Chris" Lighty (May 8, 1968 – August 30, 2012) was an American music manager and record producer. He co-founded Violator, a record label, management and marketing company, which represented hip hop and R&B artists such as Busta ...

had introduced Fat Joe to producer

. Rapper

died around the same time, after attending the funeral together, Gotti offered What's Luv with the chorus having already been written by Ja Rule. Fat Joe claimed that Ashanti recorded vocals for the demo, with the plan being to replace her on the record with

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

to appeal to the Latin market. When Joe heard the demo, he insisted on doing the record with Ashanti instead.

Music video

The video for "What's Luv?" was filmed in New York City, at

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

. The music video features cameo appearances from

DJ Kay Slay Keith Grayson (August 14, 1966 – April 17, 2022), professionally known as DJ Kay Slay, was an American disc jockey (DJ) from New York City. He is referred to by ''The New York Times'' as "Hip Hop's One-Man Ministry of Insults". He released fou ...

Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of t ...

Young Noble Rufus Lee Cooper III (born March 21, 1978), also known by his stage name Young Noble, is an American rapper and member of Tupac Shakur's rap group Outlawz. Noble joined the Outlawz in early 1996, and was the last member to be added to the group ...

, Kastro,

Treach Anthony Shawn Criss (born December 2, 1970), better known by his stage name Treach, is an American rapper and actor. He is perhaps best known as the lead rapper of the hip hop group Naughty by Nature. Early life, family and education Criss atte ...

, Fat Joe's son Ryan,

Maia Campbell Maia Campbell is an American former actress known for her role as Nicole on the 1994 Fox comedy-drama series '' South Central'' and her portrayal of Tiffany Warren in the NBC/ UPN sitcom '' In the House'' for five seasons (1995–1999). She ...

as Joe's love interest, and Terror Squad members

Tony Sunshine Antonio Cruz (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Tony Sunshine, is an American R&B singer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known as a member of Fat Joe's hip hop group Terror Squad in the late 1990s, and notably guest appeared on ...

and Remy Martin.

Tommy Davidson Tommy Davidson (born Anthony Reed, November 10, 1963) is an American actor and comedian. He was an original cast member on the sketch comedy TV show ''In Living Color'', and portrayed Mitchell on '' Between Brothers'' (1997–1999), Dexter on '' ...

and Miguel A. Núñez Jr. also appear in the video since the song was included in the 2002 film ''

Juwanna Mann ''Juwanna Mann'' is a 2002 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Jesse Vaughan, written by Bradley Allenstein, and produced by Bill Gerber. The film stars Miguel A. Núñez Jr., Vivica A. Fox, Kevin Pollak, Tommy Davidson, Kim Wayans ...

'', in which Davidson and Núñez star. In the video, Joe starts dancing with some backup dancers, and also at times with Ashanti. One scene shows him attending a basketball game with two women as they watch from the stands. A scene with Ashanti shows her walking into a men's locker room, and rounding up with some men as she sings her verses from the song.

Track listings

US 12-inch single :A1. "What's Luv?" (clean version featuring Ashanti) – 3:51 :A2. "What's Luv?" (dirty version featuring Ashanti) – 3:51 :A3. "What's Luv?" (instrumental) – 3:51 :B1. "Definition of a Don" (clean version featuring Remy) – 3:54 :B2. "Definition of a Don" (dirty version featuring Remy) – 3:54 :B3. "Definition of a Don" (instrumental) – 3:55 European CD single # "What's Luv?" (explicit version featuring Ashanti) # "Hustlin'" (featuring Armageddon) UK CD single # "What's Luv?" (clean version featuring Ashanti) – 3:51 # "What's Luv?" (explicit version featuring Ashanti) – 3:51 # "Hustlin'" (featuring Armageddon) – 3:34 # "What's Luv?" (video—clean version featuring Ashanti) – 3:51 UK 12-inch single and Australian CD single # "What's Luv?" (clean version featuring Ashanti) – 3:51 # "What's Luv?" (explicit version featuring Ashanti) – 3:51 # "Hustlin'" (featuring Armageddon) – 3:34

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the European CD single liner notes. Studio * Recorded at The Crackhouse Studios (New York City) Personnel *

– writing (as Joseph Cartagena), vocals, executive production *

– writing (as Jeffrey Atkins), vocals * Christopher Rios – writing *

– writing (as Irving Lorenzo), production, mixing *

– writing (as Andre Parker), production *

– lyricist of "

" * Ashanti – vocals * Armageddon – co-executive production * Rob "Reef" Tewlow – co-executive production * Milwaukee Buck – recording * Thomas Bricker – art direction and design * Piotr Sikora – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Ja Rule 2001 songs 2002 singles Fat Joe songs Ashanti (singer) songs Ja Rule songs Atlantic Records singles Music videos directed by Bille Woodruff Song recordings produced by Irv Gotti Songs written by Chink Santana Songs written by Big Pun Songs written by Fat Joe Songs written by Graham Lyle Songs written by Irv Gotti Songs written by Ja Rule Songs written by Terry Britten