Love No Limit
"Love No Limit" | ||||
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Single by Mary J. Blige | ||||
from the album What's the 411? | ||||
Released | May 10, 1993 | |||
Format |
CD single Cassette Maxi single | |||
Recorded | 1992 | |||
Genre | R&B, new jack swing | |||
Length |
5:02 (album version) 4:16 (Music video) | |||
Label | Uptown, MCA | |||
Writer(s) | Kenneth Greene, Dave Hall | |||
Producer(s) | Dave "Jam" Hall | |||
Certification | Platinum | |||
Mary J. Blige singles chronology | ||||
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"Love No Limit" is an R&B song by American recording artist Mary J. Blige. It is the fourth and final single from her critically acclaimed debut album, What's the 411? (1992). The song was co-written by Kenny Greene and Dave Hall, with the latter serving as the songs producer. The song became a top five R&B hit, reaching number-five on the R&B singles chart, and peaked at number forty-four on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. R&B singer Monica sang the song as a tribute at the Essence Awards 2003. Blige later performed the song at the 3rd BET Honors in 2010, as part of a medley of her hits, when she paid tribute to honoree Diddy. The song's accompanying music video was very notable as it became the acting debut of British actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who later starred on the television series Lost, with Blige singing in a club, while in black-and-white. The song was also briefly played in the movie CB4 starring Chris Rock. In 1995, the song was sampled by American R&B singer Mona Lisa and rapper Lil' Kim on "Time to Shine" off of the Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood soundtrack.
Background
Recording and production
Dave Hall, the song's co-writer explained how "Love No Limit" was created, he wanted to give it an urban feel to much more jazzy sound, blended in with hip-hop, and he tells how the song had fit in with the album.
"Love No Limit was the last record we wrote for the album. I had a deadline to meet and Diddy was pressuring me to get it done,” he laughs. “He kept calling my house and I told him I had this song called; ‘Love No Limit’ that I wrote with Kenny Greene. He said, ‘Cool. Let me hear it.’ So I played it for him and he said, ‘I like it.’ But I don’t think he was 100% sold on it. We moved forward with it even though it was much different from the rest of the material on the album. It was really jazzy. I was big into old school jazz like Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald. Kenny Greene was church trained so we did the song with a jazzy feel, but it still had a strong beat to it. He wrote a catchy hook to it and Mary loved it. She definitely loved that type of jazz music. This whole album defined her sound per se. We cut the record and I thought it turned out great, but we were still skeptical on how it would be received because it was so different than any of the other stuff on her album. I was amazed when it came out because there would be guys on the corner in the hood blasting the song".[1]—Dave Hall
Remix version
In the official remix version, which is found on her What's the 411? Remix album, the song opens with a snippet of the original version, then the remix begins with Blige singing it in alternative way: the main beat takes a sample of Keni Burke's "Risin' to the Top".
Charts
Chart (1993) | Peak position |
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US Billboard Hot 100 | 44 |
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | 5[2] |