How to Love
"How To Love" |
|
Single by Lil Wayne |
from the album Tha Carter IV |
Released |
June 13, 2011 (2011-06-13)
(see release history) |
Format |
CD single, digital download |
Recorded |
2011 |
Genre |
R&B |
Length |
4:00 |
Label |
Young Money, Cash Money, Universal Republic |
Writer(s) |
Dwayne Carter, Jr., Noel Fisher, LaMar Seymour, LaNelle Seymour, Jermaine Preyan, Marcus Boyd |
Producer |
Noel "Detail" Fisher, Drum Up |
Certification |
2x Platinum (RIAA) |
Lil Wayne singles chronology |
|
"How to Love" is a song by American rapper Lil Wayne, released as the third single from his ninth studio album, Tha Carter IV. The song features production from Noel "Detail" Fisher with LaMar and LaNelle Seymour p/k/a Drum Up, and was released as a digital download on June 13, 2011. It was later released to urban contemporary radio stations on June 24, 2011.[1] The song also makes it his first entry on hot adult contemporary stations, as CJFM-FM Montreal began playing it a month later after the single's release. It recently peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it his third highest peak on the chart as the primary artist. Lil Wayne performed the song at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards.
Content and composition
The song features a slow, "stripped down"[2] production from Noel "Detail" Fisher with LaMar and LaNelle Seymour a/k/a Drum Up, based largely around the sounds of an acoustic guitar and drums.[2] Wayne has said the song is about women who "don't know how to love because there's deep reasons for them not knowing how to love...And what I mean by deep reasons is deep and dark reasons." Furthermore Wayne stated regarding the track that "A lot of people don't open up that can and I figured that I can open up that can of worms and see what happens".
[3]
Music video
The music video premiered August 23, 2011 on MTV Jams as "Jam of the Week".[4][5] In an interview with MTV News, Detail revealed that the video had been written entirely by Wayne himself, and felt that the video would "have a big, big effect, and it's going to shock you because [of] the perspective you might look at it as". He also felt that the video "crosses rap's boundaries" with the song's unusual style, and also stated that "after he showed me the video concept, it's like, 'Yo, dude, we're gonna be at the Country Awards with this record,'... we gonna be sitting next to Taylor Swift."[6] It is also directed by Chris Robinson and stars Chanta Patton.[7] Darris Love and Tristan Wilds make a cameo appearance. On August 24 the music video for "How To Love" was added on Lil Wayne's VEVO channel.[8]
The video first shows a young black woman deciding to not get an abortion and running out of the hospital. Her child is born a girl and lives through tough times with her single mother, due to her father being in jail. When the girl is an adolescent, her mother's boyfriend molests her. When she becomes a teenager, she is promiscuous and becomes a stripper. A customer from the strip club pays her to have sex with him and she is diagnosed with HIV. She runs out of the hospital, like her mother at the beginning of the video. The music video then rewinds and shows a different life that the girl could have lived. Her mother would move into her own mother's house and even marry a better man, with her little daughter as flower girl. In the end, the daughter grows up to be smarter and more mature, graduating from school and making her mother and grandmother proud. When she is in the same hospital again awaiting a test result and the doctor tells her she is pregnant, she is happy and hugs her mother, thanking her for teaching her "how to love."
Critical reception
"How to Love" received generally positive reviews from critics, complimenting the low tone and mellow meaning in the lyrics. Amanda Hensel of PopCrush commended the "new side" displayed by Lil Wayne in the song, stating "we havenβt heard Young Weezy like this before, but if [it] is a result of his new lady friend, we welcome it with open arms. Not that we want the rap master to go all singer-songwriter on us, but this gem shows that even the hardest of exteriors can have a gooey center."[2] It also reached #1 in the Rhythmic Top 40 and two weeks later it returned to that spot.
Track listing
- Digital single[9]
Writer(s) |
Producer(s) |
1. |
"How to Love" |
Dwayne Carter, Jr., Noel "Detail" Fisher, LaMar Seymour, LaNelle Seymour, Jermaine Preyan |
Noel "Detail" Fisher, Drum Up |
4:00 |
Charts and certifications
Charts
Certifications
Year-end charts
Release history
References
- ^ a b "Urban/UAC Future Releases". All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on 2011-06-01. http://www.webcitation.org/5z780Zf5u.
- ^ a b c "Lil Wayne, βHow to Loveβ β Song Review". PopCrush. http://popcrush.com/lil-wayne-how-to-love/. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
- ^ "Lil Wayne's Carter IV 'Totally Done'". MTV. 2011-07-11. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1667052/lil-wayne-tha-carter-iv.jhtml. Retrieved 2011-08-25.
- ^ http://twitter.com/#!/MTVJams/status/106214698696966145
- ^ http://twitter.com/#!/MTVJams/status/106214225449467905
- ^ Markman, Rob (2011-05-31). "Lil Wayne's 'How To Love' Video Will 'Shock You,' Producer Says - cMusic, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1664824/lil-wayne-how-to-love-video.jhtml. Retrieved 2011-06-02.
- ^ "Lil Wayne's 'How To Love' Video 'Harsh' But 'Real'". MTV.com. 2011-08-24. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1669637/lil-wanye-how-to-love-director.jhtml. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
- ^ "VIDEO: Lil Wayne β How To Love". Adwiin-Music.com. 2011-08-24. http://adwiin-music.com/2011/08/24/video-lil-wayne-how-to-love/. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
- ^ a b "How to Love β Single β United States". iTunes. Apple, Inc.. http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/how-to-love-single/id441396405. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
- ^ "Australian-charts.com β Lil Wayne β How to Love". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Hung Medien.
- ^ "Lil Wayne Album & Song Chart History" Canadian Hot 100 for Lil Wayne. Prometheus Global Media.
- ^ "Lescharts.com β Lil Wayne β How to Love" (in French). Les classement single. Hung Medien.
- ^ "Charts.org.nz β Lil Wayne β How to Love". Top 40 Singles. Hung Medien.
- ^ "Lil Wayne β How to Love β swisscharts.com". Swiss Singles Chart. Hung Medien.
- ^ "Archive Chart" UK Singles Chart. The Official Charts Company.
- ^ "Archive Chart". Theofficialcharts.com. 2011-09-24. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/16/2011-09-24/. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
- ^ "Lil Wayne Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot 100 for Lil Wayne. Prometheus Global Media.
- ^ "Lil Wayne Album & Song Chart History" Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for Lil Wayne. Prometheus Global Media.
- ^ "Lil Wayne Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Pop Songs for Lil Wayne. Prometheus Global Media.
- ^ "Lil Wayne Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Rap Songs for Lil Wayne. Prometheus Global Media.
- ^ "RIAA > Searchable Database > Lil Wayne". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
- ^ "Best of 2011: Hot 100 Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2011. http://www.billboard.com/#/charts-year-end/hot-100-songs?year=2011. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
- ^ "How to Love - Single - United Kingdom". iTunes. Apple, Inc.. http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/how-to-love-single/id440763776. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
- ^ http://www.amazon.de/How-To-Love/dp/B0054JCZD2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318369159&sr=8-1