"I Need Love"
Single by LL Cool J
from the album Bigger and Deffer
Released	September 2, 1987
Format	12" vinyl
Recorded	1987
Genre	Hip hop, Ballad, R&B
Length	5:23
Label	Def Jam
Writer(s)	James Todd Smith
Producer	LL Cool J, L.A. Posse
LL Cool J singles chronology
I'm Bad (1987) I Need Love (1987) Go Cut Creator Go (1987)

"I Need Love" was the second single from LL Cool J's second album, Bigger and Deffer. The song is considered the first rap ballad^{[citation needed]} and was released in September 1987. It reached #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 while becoming one of the first rap songs to enjoy mainstream popularity in the UK, reaching #8 in the UK Singles Chart. The single won a Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap - Single in 1987. The song ranked #13 on About.com's Top 100 Rap Songs.^[1] Number 60 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.

[edit] Track listing

[edit] A-Side

1. "I Need Love"- 5:30

[edit] B-Side

1. "I Need Love" (Edit)- 4:15
2. "My Rhyme Ain't Done"- 3:45

[edit] Covers and samples

Irish singer-songwriter Luka Bloom recorded a cover version of the song.

Rapper Necro used the beat for his song, "I Need Drugs", released on his 2000 album, I Need Drugs.

Master P sampled this song for his single "I Need Dubs" featuring Romeo off his 2005 album Ghetto Bill.

Amanda Blank sampled the song for "A Love Song" from her 2009 album I Love You.

Krizz Kaliko sampled the song for the first few lines of his song, Anxiety, off his debut album Vitiligo saying "When I'm alone in my room/ Sometimes I stare at the wall/ And in the back of my mind/ I hear my conscious call/ Telling me I need a gun"

Yo Gotti sampled the song for his single, Let's Vibe featuring Pleasure P

[edit] References