Runaway Love (Ludacris song)

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"Runaway Love"
"Runaway Love" cover
Single by Ludacris featuring Mary J. Blige
from the album Release Therapy
Released November 2006
February 12, 2007 (UK)
Format Digital download, CD single
Recorded 2006
Genre Rap
Length 4:41
Label Disturbing tha Peace/Def Jam
Writer(s) Bridges, C./Davis, D./Hilson, K./Jones, J./Walters, R.
Producer(s) Polow Da Don
Chart positions
Ludacris singles chronology
"Grew Up a Screw Up" (featuring Young Jeezy) "Runaway Love"
(2006)		 "Girls Gone Wild"
(2007)


Mary J. Blige singles chronology
"MJB Da MVP"
(2006)		 "Runaway Love"
(2006)		 "We Ride (I See The Future)"
(2006)

"Runaway Love" is the third single released from Ludacris' fifth album, Release Therapy (2006). The song, that features Mary J. Blige on the vocals, was produced by Polow Da Don. The song was the first single from Release Therapy in the UK and was released as a double A-side with "Girls Gone Wild" there.

Contents

[edit] Song information

Each one of the three verses of a fictional account telling the troubles in the lives of three runaway female adolescents; a nine-year-old named Lisa, a ten-year-old named Nicole, and an eleven-year-old named Erica. There is a very short, commonly used sample of Slick Rick saying "Like this" in the beginning and at approximately 1:10 in the song.

[edit] Lisa

The first account involves Lisa, a nine-year-old girl. She has never met her real father. Lisa's mother is addicted to drugs and constantly argues with her current boyfriend. The argument usually ends with a fight and her mother passing out. After these arguments, Lisa's mother's boyfriend sneaks into her bedroom and rapes her. Lisa tells her mother about the sexual abuse, but she does not believe her. She decides to run away from home to save herself from her mother's boyfriend.

[edit] Nicole

The second account involves Nicole, a ten-year-old girl. Nicole believes she is not pretty and thinks nobody likes her. Nicole's stepfather is an alcoholic and physically abuses her. Nicole's teachers constantly ask why she has bruises, and she lies to them. Nicole promises her best friend, Stacy, that they'll be close forever. However one day, Stacy dies in a drive-by shooting. Nicole packs her things and runs away from home.

[edit] Erica

The third and final account involves Erica, an eleven-year-old girl who is using ecstasy. Erica is also having unprotected sex with her sixteen year old boyfriend. As things go deeper, Erica thinks she is in love with her boyfriend. After Erica becomes pregnant, her boyfriend leaves her because he isn't ready for a child. Her family is poor and Erica has no money for an abortion. Erica knows that if she tells her mother she is pregnant, her mom will be angry and disappointed at her. Erica decides to run away instead of breaking the news to her mother.

[edit] Music Video

The music video for "Runaway Love" was directed by Jessy Terrero. It premiered first on the internet on November 29, 2006, on Yahoo! Music. A day later it premiered on television, on BET's 106 & Park as a New Joint. The video, which is also divided in three situations, follows a story-line faithfully based on the song. Mary J. Blige is featured in all of the three situations as a pedestrian that passes by the runaway girls. Actors Michael Rapaport and Jon Seda also have small cameos in the video. Featured in the background are orange posters for the National Runaway Switchboard, a crisis hotline serving runaway and homeless youth and their families. The hotline for the National Runaway Switchboard is also displayed on several of the "missing child" posters that are shown in the music video. This promotional effort highlights the partnership between The Ludacris Foundation and the National Runaway Switchboard to promote November as National Runaway Prevention Month and to increase awareness of issues related to runaway adolescents[1][2].

[edit] Cast:

Lisa's story:

Nicole's story:

Erica's story:

All stories:

  • Ludacris
  • Mary J. Blige

[edit] Reviews

"Runaway Love" has received positive reviews by majority. Most reviews have said that Ludacris has covered a subject that he never has.

“ "Runaway Love" is a powerful song about women in bad situations that recalls Kanye West on "Roses" ”
  • Stylus Magazine: 4/5 stars
“ "The sobering “Runaway Love” finds Ludacris weaving a tale of three girls dealing with the realities of rape, drugs, and alcoholism with a solemn resignation no Ludacris song has ever approached. And it does so without compromising his steez". ”

[edit] Trivia

  • Ludacris appeared as a guest star in Law And Order: SVU, a show that covers this same topic.

[edit] Censorship

  • Several radio stations have removed or obscured several parts of the song, including the parts in which Erica is using ecstasy and considering an abortion and the boyfriend of Lisa's mother going in to her room to rape her.

[edit] Charts

Chart (2007) Peak
Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs 9
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 3
U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks 1
U.S. Billboard Pop 100 9
U.S. Billboard Pop 100 Airplay 5
United World Chart 14
UK Singles Top 75 21
Poland Singles Chart[3] 70

[edit] External links

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