"Only Wanna Give It to You" is a song by American R&B

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

 recording artist Elle Varner

Elle Varner

Elle Shellise Varner is an American recording artist and musician. She was raised in Los Angeles, California by her mother and father who both happen to be songwriters and publishers. At age six she began to play musical instruments, beginning with the flute, and later piano and guitar...

. Released on August 16, 2011 as a digital download

Music download

A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

, it's her debut single and the lead single

Lead single

A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...

 from her upcoming debut album, Perfectly Imperfect. The song features rapper J. Cole and was produced by Oak

Oak (producer)

Warren Okay "Oak" Felder is an Atlanta-based Turkish-American record producer. He is known as Oak and is part of a production team known as The Knightwritaz, with singers Mario, Sterling Simms, and Marsha Ambrosius of Floetry.-Production credits:...

 & Pop.

Purchasable Release

Country	Date	Format	Label	Ref
United States	August 16, 2011	Digital download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...	J Records J Records J Records was an American record label, owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment, and was distributed through the RCA Music Group.-Company history:...

The video also featured a new and up incoming group called the "Tribe NYC" which is a collective group of talents who also pays homage to the late 80's early 90's with there style

Background

On October 4th, 2011, Varner appeared on BET

Black Entertainment Television

Black Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...

's 106 & Park

106 & Park

106 & Park is a Top Ten Hip-Hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that airs weekdays at 6:00 PM on BET . Since its inception, it was the network's #1 rated show...

 to premier the video for "Only Wanna Give It to You". While she was there she was asked how the J. Cole collaboration came to be, she explained: "We actually met in college. He went to St. John's and we had a mutual friend at my school and like two years later I saw him in the Sony building when I had just got signed and I bumped into him I was like 'Yo what's up what are you doing here.' and he's like 'Yo I just signed with Roc Nation

Roc Nation

Roc Nation is an American management, music publishing and entertainment company founded by Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter.-History:In April 2008, Live Nation partnered with Jay-Z to create Roc Nation...

' and I"m like 'Yo I just signed with J. Records… When it came time to do the lead single for my album he was the first person I thought of."

Critical response

DJBooth.net compared the song to Mary J. Blige

Mary J. Blige

Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...

 and Method Man

Method Man

Clifford Smith , better known by his stage name Method Man is an American hip hop artist, record producer, actor and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He took his stage name from the 1979 film The Fearless Young Boxer, also known as Method Man. He is one half of the rap duo Method Man...

's 1995 hit

Hit single

A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...

 "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By". They give praise to the Oak & Pop heavily influenced beat and Varner's vocals stating "Varner puts her distinctly unique voice on full display, laying down charismatic vocals declaring that she loves her man even more than her shoes".

Music video

The music video, directed by Orson Whales, was filmed in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. On October 3rd behind-the-scene

Making-of

In cinema, a making-of, also known as behind-the-scenes, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television program...

 photos surfaced onto the internet. The video depicts the 22-year-old singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 shop for shoes, chase her leading man

Leading man

Leading man or leading gentleman is an informal term for the actor who plays a love interest to the leading actress in a film or play. A leading man is usually an all rounder; capable of singing, dancing, and acting at a professional level, but never outshining his female co-star...

, cruise with her girlfriends in her yellow Jeep Wrangler

Jeep Wrangler

The Jeep Wrangler is a subcompact four-wheel drive sport utility vehicle and an off-road vehicle manufactured by American automaker Chrysler, under its Jeep marque – and now in its fourth generation. It is a successor to the famous World War II 'Jeep' vehicle by way of the Willys civilian...

, and appear with J. Cole as he raps his verse in the vibrant visuals. The video was released October 4th, 2011, with Varner premiering it on BET's 106 & Park later that day.

Chart performance

The song first charted on the week of September 5, 2011 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

 at number ninety-four. It has since peaked at number twenty.

Charts

Chart (2011)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...	20