Your Love (Nicki Minaj song)
Encyclopedia
"Your Love" is a song performed by Trinidad
ian-American recording artist Nicki Minaj
. It was written by Minaj with Joseph Hughes, David Freedman, and Andrew "Pop" Wansel, with the latter receiving production credits. The song serves as the first single from her debut studio album, Pink Friday
. Minaj was preparing to release another single after the intended lead single from the album, "Massive Attack
," failed to make an impact. A version of "Your Love" appeared on the Barbie World mixtape in January 2010. Later, another version appeared online after it was stolen and leaked. After the song was endorsed by radio, the song was mixed and a few lyrics were changes before it was made the new single from the album, first released on on June 1, 2010.
"Your Love" samples the pop song "No More I Love You's" (1994) by Scottish recording artist Annie Lennox
, with additional bass, hip-hop backbeats and drum loops. Described as a "rap ballad", the song is a change of tempo compared to Minaj's previous work, and according to Mariel Concepcion of Billboard
, the song contains a "new brand of hood majesty." The song received mostly positive reviews from critics, complimenting Minaj's singing and rapping flexibility, and the use of the Lennox sample.
The song peaked at fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100
and four on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
. "Your Love" topped the US Rap Songs
chart for eight consecutive weeks. Minaj became the first female artist to lead the chart since 2003, and the first female artist to top the chart sans a featured artist since 2002. Additionally, the song charted at number twenty-two on the US Pop Songs chart. The song also appeared on other charts worldwide, notably reaching number forty-three in Canada, and number twelve on the UK R&B Chart
. The song's music video was directed by Lil X
, and American actor Michael Jai White
portrays Minaj's love interest. The storyline revolves around a love story in which Minaj is a samurai-in-training who falls for her martial arts teacher, and duels for his affection with a jealous classmate. The video pays homage to films Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
(2000) and Kill Bill
(2003), and it received positive reception which complimented its concept.
. Minaj stated in an interview with Hot 93.7 that, "That was a leak and I was so upset they put it out ’cause I recorded that song like two years ago. Next thing you know, people started falling in love with it." Later on the set of the music video shoot for the song, Minaj stated that the song was stolen and leaked, explaining,
Rap-Up
posted cover art featuring a close up of Minaj smirking to her right, however for unknown reasons the art work was changed. The new cover features a cartoon version of Minaj, made by fan Asia Horton who posted it for Minaj on Twitter
.
The official remix featuring Cash Money labelmate Jay Sean was leaked via-internet on August 2, and later made available for purchase in Australia via iTunes
. An unofficial remix of the song features American pop rapper Flo Rida
adding a verse into the song were he samples a line from Notorious B.I.G.
. Reggae
recording artist Sean Paul
also did a remix to the song where he ad-libs his verse throughout the original song and later adds his verse. Other remixes to the song include those done by American rapper Rick Ross
, and American R&B singer Chris Brown.
elements. With an auto-tune
d chorus, it samples the instrumentals and background hooks of "No More I Love You's" by Annie Lennox
, with the addition of additional bass, drum-loops and hip-hop backbeats. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing
, "Your Love" is set in common time
with a metronome of 94 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of E major
with Minaj's vocal range spanning from the low-note of B3 to the high-note of C5.
Sara D. Anderson of AOL Radio Blog described the song as a "rap ballad", and that it features Minaj delivering a "rap/singing mash-up." Coined as a "new brand of hood majesty," the song is accompanied by a simple beat, which includes finger snaps and "xylophone clings." Lean Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly
commented: "Rap's spitfire explores her softer side, sampling Annie Lennox on her honey-tongued ode to a good man." Greenblatt went on to compared the song to Jay-Z
's "kindred" "Young Forever
." Minaj makes several references in her lines, which include references to Bruce Willis
in Die Hard
, and Adam and Eve
. She makes several connections to Superman
including in the pre-chorus "'S' on my chest, let me get my cape on."
commented on Minaj toning it down stating, "the Young Money rap princess puts the sleazy talk aside and finds herself smitten with a young man... Minaj proves that even the wildest ones can be tamed." While reviewing the music video, Brad Wete also of Entertainment Weekly reviewed the song stating "Okay, her first single was a dud. But Nicki Minaj is slicing the competition to pieces with her second try." David Jeffries of AllMusic complimented the song as a highlight-cut of the album, additionally adding that the song, "waltzes out of the speakers."
Alexis Petridis of The Guardian
discussed the songs position on the album, stating that as the album progresses, Minaj turns into "devoted girlfriend material." Margaret Wappler of Los Angeles Times
gave a mixed review of the song stating, "It’s just another fantasy clattering around the head of this Queens-bred imagineer of urban music whose sense of identity is so whimsically schizoid that she makes Lady Gaga seem as fixed as Barbara Bush." Allison Stewart of The Washington Post
complimented Minaj's singing on the track stating that the song was "so shamelessly sweet it's as if replaced Minaj with Rachel McAdams, but it's a great song, and another example of Minaj trying on and ultimately discarding various personas the way Lady Gaga does platform shoes. She tries on voices, too, taking a scenic tour of Queens, London and Trinidad before settling on a Jamaican patois." Stewart went on to name the song as a recommended download from the album.
at fifty-one, Minaj's first solo song to appear on the chart, apart from her feature on Ludacris
's "My Chick Bad
" at eleven. The next week the song jumped twenty-five spots to number twenty-six. It debuted at number twenty-three on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
, currently peaking at number four. The song charted on the Rap Songs chart, and eventually vaulted from number four to number one, topping the chart for eight consucutive weeks. Minaj became the first female rapper to chart the top since Lil Kim's "Magic Stick
", featuring 50 Cent. also became the first artist to lead the chart with a song sans features since Missy Elliott
in 2003 with "Work It". The song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) for shipment of 1.000.000 copies of the single. On the Canadian Hot 100
, the song peaked at forty-three. "Your Love" also charted in the United Kingdom
, at a peak of twenty-two on the UK R&B Chart
, and seventy-one on the UK Singles Chart
. It also charted and peaked at 32 on the Australian Urban Singles
.
on the weekend of July 4, 2010 in Los Angeles. Minaj took to her Twitter
, asking fans who they would like to see portray her love interest in the video. Minaj was interviewed on the set of the "Your Love" music video by MTV News
while wearing a pink and purple kimono as a geisha for the video. In the interview, Minaj said, "We wanted to have geisha themes, samurai themes, stuff like that. I wanted to tell a love story. It's just kinda liking a guy, where he's not really for you to like — the forbidden fruit — and me and this other girl happen to like him and we go to war." The video premiered July 21, 2010 on MTV.com
. Actor Michael Jai White
portrays Minaj's love interest in the video.
The video is set to tell the story of a samurai-in-training, who falls in love with her master while a jealous peer fights for his affection. The video begins with Minaj delivering her lines over red and blue flowing fabric backdrops wearing a brown coat an geisha attire, while White teaches a martial arts class. As Minaj and the instructor (White) begin to fall for one another, a student, who also has feelings for the instructor sees this and is jealous. This is intercut with scenes with Minaj donning a blonde wig and black bodysuit and in front of a green flowing backdrop. After seeing Minaj and White embrace each other on a bridge over blue-fabric "water", she and Minaj have a confrontation, which results in a duel. According to MTV News, the scenes pay homage to Uma Thurman
as The Bride and Lucy Liu
as Cottonmouth in Kill Bill
. Minaj loses and the other woman walks away as Minaj bleeds a red fabric and White walks up and grieves over her body.
Robbie Daw of Idolator appreciated the plot twist of the video, commenting, "We really expected Nicki to waste that other warrior-in-training hater. The fact that she dies—and does so in such a beautiful way here—kind of makes us love her all the more." Daw also inferred that the fancy attire from the "No More I Love You's" video inspired Minaj's in the "Your Love" video. Nicole Sia of MTV Buzzworthy
stated that the video resembles Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
in its fight scene and commented on Minaj's appearance stating "the camera cuts to Ms. Young Money soloing in front of billowing one-million-thread-count satin sheets, just to remind us how damn FINE she is." Tray Hova of Vibe gave a list of the best and worst parts of the music video, stating the best were Minaj chopped through the blocks of cement, her crazy faces, silk sheets and headgear, and that the worst part was the "melodramatic ending" and "the return of those Freddy Krueger fingers."
Credits are taken from Pink Friday liner notes.
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
ian-American recording artist Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj , better known by her stage name Nicki Minaj; ), is a Trinidadian-born American recording artist...
. It was written by Minaj with Joseph Hughes, David Freedman, and Andrew "Pop" Wansel, with the latter receiving production credits. The song serves as the first single from her debut studio album, Pink Friday
Pink Friday
Pink Friday is the debut studio album by hip hop recording artist Nicki Minaj. It was released on November 19, 2010 in both standard and deluxe editions through Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Universal Motown. The intended lead single from the album, "Massive Attack", flopped...
. Minaj was preparing to release another single after the intended lead single from the album, "Massive Attack
Massive Attack (song)
"Massive Attack" is a song by Trinidadian recording artist Nicki Minaj. The song features American singer-songwriter and producer Sean Garrett who wrote the song with Minaj and produced the song with Alex da Kid. It served the first single from Minaj's debut album, Pink Friday, with Billboard later...
," failed to make an impact. A version of "Your Love" appeared on the Barbie World mixtape in January 2010. Later, another version appeared online after it was stolen and leaked. After the song was endorsed by radio, the song was mixed and a few lyrics were changes before it was made the new single from the album, first released on on June 1, 2010.
"Your Love" samples the pop song "No More I Love You's" (1994) by Scottish recording artist Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...
, with additional bass, hip-hop backbeats and drum loops. Described as a "rap ballad", the song is a change of tempo compared to Minaj's previous work, and according to Mariel Concepcion of Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, the song contains a "new brand of hood majesty." The song received mostly positive reviews from critics, complimenting Minaj's singing and rapping flexibility, and the use of the Lennox sample.
The song peaked at fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and four 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,...
. "Your Love" topped the US Rap Songs
Hot Rap Songs
Rap Songs 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 stations and sales in hip hop-focused or exclusive markets. From 1989 through 2001, it was based on how much the single...
chart for eight consecutive weeks. Minaj became the first female artist to lead the chart since 2003, and the first female artist to top the chart sans a featured artist since 2002. Additionally, the song charted at number twenty-two on the US Pop Songs chart. The song also appeared on other charts worldwide, notably reaching number forty-three in Canada, and number twelve on the UK R&B Chart
UK R&B Chart
The Official UK R&B Chart is a forty-position R&B/Hip-Hop chart compiled by The Official UK Charts Company. Although the chart does not receive any airplay, its compilation is viewed on BBC Radio 1's website and publications such as ChartsPlus and Music Week...
. The song's music video was directed by Lil X
Little X
Julien Christian Lutz , better known as Little X, X or Director X, is a Canadian music video director. He also has his own clothing line X Fit...
, and American actor Michael Jai White
Michael Jai White
Michael Jai White is an American actor and martial artist who has appeared in numerous films and television series. He is the first African American to portray a major comic book superhero in a major motion picture, having starred as Al Simmons, the protagonist in the 1997 film Spawn...
portrays Minaj's love interest. The storyline revolves around a love story in which Minaj is a samurai-in-training who falls for her martial arts teacher, and duels for his affection with a jealous classmate. The video pays homage to films Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a 2000 wuxia film. An American-Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee and featured an international cast of ethnic Chinese actors, including Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen...
(2000) and Kill Bill
Kill Bill
Kill Bill Volume 1 is a 2003 action thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is the first of two volumes that were theatrically released several months apart, the second volume being Kill Bill Volume 2....
(2003), and it received positive reception which complimented its concept.
Background
The song's demo was originally released on the Barbie World mixtape in January with different lyrics included in the pre-chorus along with a fast sound. The song was mixed more and lyrically changed and was released as the first single from Minaj's debut album Pink FridayPink Friday
Pink Friday is the debut studio album by hip hop recording artist Nicki Minaj. It was released on November 19, 2010 in both standard and deluxe editions through Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Universal Motown. The intended lead single from the album, "Massive Attack", flopped...
. Minaj stated in an interview with Hot 93.7 that, "That was a leak and I was so upset they put it out ’cause I recorded that song like two years ago. Next thing you know, people started falling in love with it." Later on the set of the music video shoot for the song, Minaj stated that the song was stolen and leaked, explaining,
"I was not planning on putting the song out at all. But then I heard it one day, somebody told me it was online. And I was like, 'No way, no way in the world that song is out.' I went and listened to it and was really upset. It wasn't mixed, it wasn't finished, it wasn't anything — I wasn't gonna use it at all. But then radio started playing it."
Rap-Up
Rap-Up
Rap-Up is a magazine launched in 2001 by founder Devin Lazerine. The publication was originally a website devoted to hip hop, until Lazerine decided to pitch the possibility of a magazine to several publishers. The magazine is focused on the hip hop and R&B aspect of the music industry, and...
posted cover art featuring a close up of Minaj smirking to her right, however for unknown reasons the art work was changed. The new cover features a cartoon version of Minaj, made by fan Asia Horton who posted it for Minaj on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
.
The official remix featuring Cash Money labelmate Jay Sean was leaked via-internet on August 2, and later made available for purchase in Australia via iTunes
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
. An unofficial remix of the song features American pop rapper Flo Rida
Flo Rida
Tramar Dillard , better known by his stage name Flo Rida , is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He released his debut album, Mail on Sunday, in March 2008. His debut single "Low", featuring T-Pain, was a #1 hit for ten weeks in United States in early 2008. Two other singles resulted from...
adding a verse into the song were he samples a line from Notorious B.I.G.
The Notorious B.I.G.
Christopher George Latore Wallace , best known as The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper. He was also known as Biggie Smalls , Big Poppa, and The Black Frank White .Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough...
. Reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
recording artist Sean Paul
Sean Paul
Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques , who performs under stage name Sean Paul, is a Jamaican pop rap and reggae singer.-1973–1996: Early life:...
also did a remix to the song where he ad-libs his verse throughout the original song and later adds his verse. Other remixes to the song include those done by American rapper Rick Ross
Rick Ross (rapper)
William Leonard Roberts II , better known by his stage name Rick Ross, is an American rapper. He derived his stage name from the drug trafficker "Freeway" Ricky Ross, to whom he has no connection...
, and American R&B singer Chris Brown.
Composition
The song is a mid-tempo hip-hop song with popPop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
elements. With an auto-tune
Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune is a proprietary audio processor created by Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a phase vocoder to correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances. It is used to disguise off-key inaccuracies and mistakes, and has allowed singers to perform apparently perfectly tuned vocal...
d chorus, it samples the instrumentals and background hooks of "No More I Love You's" by Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...
, with the addition of additional bass, drum-loops and hip-hop backbeats. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Sony/ATV Music Publishing is a music publishing company co-owned by The Michael Jackson Family Trust and Sony. The organisation was originally founded as Associated TeleVision in 1955 by Lew Grade. In 1957, ATV acquired Pye Records as a wholly owned subsidiary...
, "Your Love" is set in common time
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
with a metronome of 94 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of E major
E major
E major is a major scale based on E, with the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps .Its relative minor is C-sharp minor, and its parallel minor is E minor....
with Minaj's vocal range spanning from the low-note of B3 to the high-note of C5.
Sara D. Anderson of AOL Radio Blog described the song as a "rap ballad", and that it features Minaj delivering a "rap/singing mash-up." Coined as a "new brand of hood majesty," the song is accompanied by a simple beat, which includes finger snaps and "xylophone clings." Lean Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
commented: "Rap's spitfire explores her softer side, sampling Annie Lennox on her honey-tongued ode to a good man." Greenblatt went on to compared the song to Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
's "kindred" "Young Forever
Young Forever
Young Forever is the debut album from Scottish indie band Aberfeldy. It was recorded in mono using one microphone and produced by Jim Sutherland.-Track listing:# "A Friend Like You"# "Slow Me Down"# "Love Is An Arrow"# "Tie One On"# "Summer's Gone"...
." Minaj makes several references in her lines, which include references to Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
in Die Hard
Die Hard
Die Hard is a 1988 American action film and the first in the Die Hard film series. The film was directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. It is based on a 1979 novel by Roderick Thorp titled Nothing Lasts Forever, itself a sequel to the book The Detective, which...
, and Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
. She makes several connections to Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
including in the pre-chorus "'S' on my chest, let me get my cape on."
Critical reception
Rap-Up stated that Minaj "slows down her rapid-fire verses on the sticky and sweet "Your Love" ... with a sprinkling of Auto-Tune to top it off. Young Money’s First Lady even exercises her vocal chops. We demand another helping." Robbie Daw of Idolator commented, "Now this is a jam we can get behind. It not only showcases Nicki’s rapping, but her singing as well. Plus, who can resist that Annie Lennox sample?" Backy Bain also of Idolator additionally gave the song a positive review stating "We were a bit worried that Harujuku Barbie would forever be the garnish on other people’s tracks instead of the main dish, but this sweet song proves otherwise." Mariel Concepcion of BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
commented on Minaj toning it down stating, "the Young Money rap princess puts the sleazy talk aside and finds herself smitten with a young man... Minaj proves that even the wildest ones can be tamed." While reviewing the music video, Brad Wete also of Entertainment Weekly reviewed the song stating "Okay, her first single was a dud. But Nicki Minaj is slicing the competition to pieces with her second try." David Jeffries of AllMusic complimented the song as a highlight-cut of the album, additionally adding that the song, "waltzes out of the speakers."
Alexis Petridis of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
discussed the songs position on the album, stating that as the album progresses, Minaj turns into "devoted girlfriend material." Margaret Wappler of Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
gave a mixed review of the song stating, "It’s just another fantasy clattering around the head of this Queens-bred imagineer of urban music whose sense of identity is so whimsically schizoid that she makes Lady Gaga seem as fixed as Barbara Bush." Allison Stewart of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
complimented Minaj's singing on the track stating that the song was "so shamelessly sweet it's as if replaced Minaj with Rachel McAdams, but it's a great song, and another example of Minaj trying on and ultimately discarding various personas the way Lady Gaga does platform shoes. She tries on voices, too, taking a scenic tour of Queens, London and Trinidad before settling on a Jamaican patois." Stewart went on to name the song as a recommended download from the album.
Chart performance
"Your Love" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
at fifty-one, Minaj's first solo song to appear on the chart, apart from her feature on Ludacris
Ludacris
Christopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
's "My Chick Bad
My Chick Bad
"My Chick Bad" is a song by American rapper Ludacris. The song features American recording artist Nicki Minaj, who co-wrote the song with Ludacris, Samuel Lindley and Derrelle Davidson. The track was produced by The Legendary Traxster. "My Chick Bad" serves as the second single from Ludacris'...
" at eleven. The next week the song jumped twenty-five spots to number twenty-six. It debuted at number twenty-three 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,...
, currently peaking at number four. The song charted on the Rap Songs chart, and eventually vaulted from number four to number one, topping the chart for eight consucutive weeks. Minaj became the first female rapper to chart the top since Lil Kim's "Magic Stick
Magic Stick
"Magic Stick" is a hip hop song performed by rapper Lil' Kim, written by the featuring rapper 50 Cent . It was produced by Carlos "Fantom of the Beat" Evans for her third studio album La Bella Mafia .-Background:The song was originally written for 50 Cent's album Get Rich or Die Tryin as a duet...
", featuring 50 Cent. also became the first artist to lead the chart with a song sans features since Missy Elliott
Missy Elliott
Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...
in 2003 with "Work It". The song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA) for shipment of 1.000.000 copies of the single. On the Canadian Hot 100
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...
, the song peaked at forty-three. "Your Love" also charted in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, at a peak of twenty-two on the UK R&B Chart
UK R&B Chart
The Official UK R&B Chart is a forty-position R&B/Hip-Hop chart compiled by The Official UK Charts Company. Although the chart does not receive any airplay, its compilation is viewed on BBC Radio 1's website and publications such as ChartsPlus and Music Week...
, and seventy-one on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. It also charted and peaked at 32 on the Australian Urban Singles
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
.
Music video
A music video for the song was directed by Lil XLittle X
Julien Christian Lutz , better known as Little X, X or Director X, is a Canadian music video director. He also has his own clothing line X Fit...
on the weekend of July 4, 2010 in Los Angeles. Minaj took to her Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, asking fans who they would like to see portray her love interest in the video. Minaj was interviewed on the set of the "Your Love" music video by MTV News
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
while wearing a pink and purple kimono as a geisha for the video. In the interview, Minaj said, "We wanted to have geisha themes, samurai themes, stuff like that. I wanted to tell a love story. It's just kinda liking a guy, where he's not really for you to like — the forbidden fruit — and me and this other girl happen to like him and we go to war." The video premiered July 21, 2010 on MTV.com
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
. Actor Michael Jai White
Michael Jai White
Michael Jai White is an American actor and martial artist who has appeared in numerous films and television series. He is the first African American to portray a major comic book superhero in a major motion picture, having starred as Al Simmons, the protagonist in the 1997 film Spawn...
portrays Minaj's love interest in the video.
The video is set to tell the story of a samurai-in-training, who falls in love with her master while a jealous peer fights for his affection. The video begins with Minaj delivering her lines over red and blue flowing fabric backdrops wearing a brown coat an geisha attire, while White teaches a martial arts class. As Minaj and the instructor (White) begin to fall for one another, a student, who also has feelings for the instructor sees this and is jealous. This is intercut with scenes with Minaj donning a blonde wig and black bodysuit and in front of a green flowing backdrop. After seeing Minaj and White embrace each other on a bridge over blue-fabric "water", she and Minaj have a confrontation, which results in a duel. According to MTV News, the scenes pay homage to Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman
Uma Karuna Thurman is an American actress and model. She has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action movies. Among her best-known roles are those in the Quentin Tarantino films Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill...
as The Bride and Lucy Liu
Lucy Liu
Lucy Alexis Liu is an American actress and film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal , and has also appeared in several Hollywood films including Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Panda.-Early...
as Cottonmouth in Kill Bill
Kill Bill
Kill Bill Volume 1 is a 2003 action thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is the first of two volumes that were theatrically released several months apart, the second volume being Kill Bill Volume 2....
. Minaj loses and the other woman walks away as Minaj bleeds a red fabric and White walks up and grieves over her body.
Robbie Daw of Idolator appreciated the plot twist of the video, commenting, "We really expected Nicki to waste that other warrior-in-training hater. The fact that she dies—and does so in such a beautiful way here—kind of makes us love her all the more." Daw also inferred that the fancy attire from the "No More I Love You's" video inspired Minaj's in the "Your Love" video. Nicole Sia of MTV Buzzworthy
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
stated that the video resembles Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a 2000 wuxia film. An American-Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee and featured an international cast of ethnic Chinese actors, including Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen...
in its fight scene and commented on Minaj's appearance stating "the camera cuts to Ms. Young Money soloing in front of billowing one-million-thread-count satin sheets, just to remind us how damn FINE she is." Tray Hova of Vibe gave a list of the best and worst parts of the music video, stating the best were Minaj chopped through the blocks of cement, her crazy faces, silk sheets and headgear, and that the worst part was the "melodramatic ending" and "the return of those Freddy Krueger fingers."
Credits and personnel
- Songwriting – Onika Maraj Warren "Oak" FelderOak (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:...
, Andrew "Pop" Wansel, David Freeman, Joseph Patrick Hughes, - Recording – Ariel Chobaz, assisted by Lyttleton "Cartwheel" Carter
- Mix engineerMix engineerA mix engineer, also referred to as "mixing engineer", is a person who, once all instruments, voices, and sounds, etc., have been recorded, creates what is called the final version of a song, hence the term "mix engineer"...
– Meal Pogue - ProductionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
– Pop Wansel & Oak of the Knightwritaz
Credits are taken from Pink Friday liner notes.
Charts
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia Urban (ARIA ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... ) |
32 |
| Australian Hitseekers (ARIA ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... ) |
9 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| United States Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
Platinum |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2010) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
66 |
Radio dates and release history
| Region | Date | Format |
|---|---|---|
| United States | June 1, 2010 | Digital download |
| June 15, 2010 | Mainstream Contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts... airplay |
|
| United Kingdom | June 7, 2010 | Digital download |