Let Me Hold You

"Let Me Hold You" is the first single from Bow Wow's fourth album, Wanted. Released in 2005, the single, which also features the singer Omarion, peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was the first Top 10 single both for Bow Wow and for Omarion as a solo artist.

History

Song information

The single was co-written and co-produced by Mak 1 OnE and No I.D., and features a sample from Luther Vandross' version of "If Only For One Night", written (and originally performed) by Brenda Russell. Whereas Bow Wow's earlier singles discussed romantic love in the voice of a teenager or in the voice of someone suffering from unrequited love, in "Let Me Hold You", the singer is addressing, for the first time, a girlfriend with whom he is in a serious relationship. "Let Me Hold You" is the first single Bow Wow has released since reaching the age of eighteen, which may be reflected in an increased maturity in the theme of this love song.

On his own end, Bow Wow has also publicly announced his interpretation of the song's meaning as he stated, ""Basically the song is me talking to a girl and telling her, 'These are the things I can do for you. Let me hold you down. This is what I want to do for you as a man. These are the things I'm capable of doing for you if you get with me. Just hear me out.' I'm just really talking to the ladies. The song is really special to me, and I love that song."

As the two artists on this song do not usually record together, there is a story behind how the collaboration came together, but it is not complicated or involved. Bow Wow has stated, "The [way the] whole thing came about [was] me and Jermaine Dupri were in New York, in the studio working, and he was like, 'You need to get Omarion on this.' I said, 'O? That's nothing. I'll call him right now.'". The pair were then able to coordinate their schedules and met up together in Los Angeles to record the song.

The song's music video, directed by Bryan Barber, features Bow Wow attempting to woo a girl with mixed results. After surprising her at her house, the two attend a house party, but problems arise as she is less social than Bow Wow, who begins talking to other girls. After a brief reconciliation, the two argue again over the music at the party. Once again, the two are able to reconcile, but things remain awkward, and they do not communicate on their return home. The video appears to be an unresolved cliffhanger, but a "to be continued" title is shown as the video ends. (The video's story is continued in Bow Wow's next video, "Like You".) The video features a cameo from the song's co-producer, Jermaine Dupri, and the song's guest star, Omarion, also appears in the video.

Chart performance

With the release of "Let Me Hold You", Bow Wow achieved his first Top Ten hit ever on The Billboard Hot 100. The song was also Omarion's first Top Ten single as a solo artist, although he had previously had Top Ten hits with the band B2K. Relative to its airplay, sales peaked lower at position twenty-four on Hot Digital Songs. Jermaine Dupri, with the inclusion of "Let Me Hold You" in the Hot 100 Airplay chart, had production (or co-production) credit on the current four top songs on that chart ("Let Me Hold You", along with Bow Wow's next single, "Like You", Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" and "Shake It Off held positions #1-#4).

The song was also Bow Wow and Omarion's first entry ever on the Pop 100, where it peaked at position fourteen, with an airplay position of nine. On the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and its component airplay (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay) the single peaked at number two, being kept from the top spot by Mariah Carey's massive We Belong Together. The song also became the top single on Hot Rap Tracks.

Chart positions