"Love in This Club" is a song by American R&B singer Usher. Featuring rapper Young Jeezy, it was released on February 22, 2008 as the lead single from Usher's fifth studio album, Here I Stand. The song was written by Usher, Polow da Don, Young Jeezy, Darnell Dalton, Ryon Lovett, Lamar Taylor and Keith Thomas, and produced by da Don with a Las Vegas-inspired synth-driven beat. Its lyrics are of a lusting desire to have sexual intercourse in a nightclub. The song was originally leaked by da Don prior to its release.
"Love in This Club" received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the song's production, but criticized it for its slow tempo and lack of originality. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 as well as the New Zealand Singles Chart, while appearing on multiple other record charts. The accompanying music video, which received a nomination at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, features cameo appearances from several musicians. In the video, R&B singer Keri Hilson plays Usher's love interest in a club. Usher performed the song at the 2008 BET Awards, as well as on several television programs. A remix of the song, titled "Love in This Club Part II", features Beyoncé and Lil Wayne.
Background[edit]
Atlanta-based music producer Polow da Don was inspired to create a beat during his weekend stay in Las Vegas for the MTV Video Music Awards. He said of the song, "If you listen to the beat, the synths and everything has a [Las] Vegas feel to it. Making love in the club, people in [Las] Vegas are kinda wild." He also noted its Euro influences. When he finished working on the material, da Don felt it fit for Usher, hoping that it would keep female listeners interested in Usher's music, as his popularity had declined among women since his marriage to stylist Tameka Foster in July 2007. Da Don and Usher wrote the track with rapper Young Jeezy, Darnell Dalton, Ryon Lovett, Lamar Taylor and Keith Thomas, and it was recorded at Zac Recording, Atlanta and Hitland Studios, Alpharetta.
It was not originally planned for Young Jeezy to appear on the track. After hearing "Love in This Club", he wanted to contribute to it. Da Don was skeptical, but recorded Young Jeezy's verse. He played the new version to Usher who, enjoying the new version, allowed the verse to stay. Usher has since called Young Jeezy "one of the greatest rappers of our generation". According to Alabama rapper Gucci Mane, it was initially intended that he feature on the track, rather than Young Jeezy.
Composition[edit]
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"Love in This Club" is a mid-tempo R&B slow jam, with a brass bassline, and shuddering synth-driven beats that have been called "space age" and "sex-drenched" by critics. It contains hip-hop influences. Rap-Up likened the song to Lil Jon's song, "Lovers and Friends", on which Usher appeared, while Fraser McAlpine of BBC Radio 1 wrote that it features vague similarities to "No Woman, No Cry" by Bob Marley. According to the sheet music published by Hal Leonard Corporation at Musicnotes.com, the song is written in common time with a tempo of 70 beats per minute and follows the chord progression of C major–E minor–A minor–F major.
About.com's Mark Edward Nero wrote that "on the song, Usher talks about a lust so immediate, so powerful, that it makes him want to get down [and have sex] right then and there". The song's chorus consists of the hook, "I wanna make love in this club". Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly called the lyrics of the song "libidinous".
Release and critical reception[edit]
Early in 2008, several songs for Usher's fifth studio album leaked into the Internet, including "Love in This Club". Usher called the incident an "internal conspiracy" because it was unofficially released beyond his awareness. This also happened to the lead single "Yeah!" off his 2004 album Confessions, which was intentionally leaked by its producer, Lil Jon, in 2003. Polow da Don later told that he had leaked "Love in This Club", echoing Lil John's actions. He felt the song would be a hit, but that "it was so much back-and-forth between Usher and his record label" and he was tired of waiting on "label politics". The song was released for sale on February 22, 2008.
The production of "Love in This Club" was praised by the Los Angeles Times, as was Usher's vocal effort.Andy Kellman of Allmusic and Jonathan Tjarks of Austin360.com noted the song as a standout from Here I Stand. Blender rated the song two-and-a-half out of five stars, calling it too safe and lethargic.Digital Spy's Nick Levine enjoyed the song, but noted its lack of originality. Jim Farber from Daily News was not impressed, writing "'Love in This Club' doesn't sound like a club anthem at all. It's too slow and quiet, and...its smeary synth hook sounds like a planed-down version of a Justin Timberlake hit."
Young Jeezy's addition received clashing responses from reviewers. Billboard's Sophie Baratta was not impressed with the verse, but called the song "a catchy tune". Bill Lamb of About.com praised the rapper's effort, but expected better from Usher after a four-year break since Confessions, writing that he is "retread[ing] territory familiar to fans of Akon and T-Pain", awarding the song two-and-a-half out of five stars. BBC Radio 1's Fraser McAlpine rated the song four stars out of five, but called Young Jeezy's rap "growling" and "wheezy".
This single ranked at number one on the "10 Best Singles of 2008" list by American magazine Entertainment Weekly, while Time's Josh Tyrangiel placed it at number eight on its 2008 "Songs of Summer" list. MTV News listed the song as the fifth-best R&B tune of the year, and it won the Ozone Award for Best Rap/R&B Collaboration. On "The 50 Sexiest Songs of All Time", compiled by Billboard in 2010, "Love in Thus Club" placed at number twenty-seven.
Chart performance[edit]
"Love in This Club" debuted at number eighty-three on the Billboard Hot 100, on the issue dated March 1, 2008. The next week it moved to number fifty-one, due to high airplay. The song continued to receive many spins, and in its third week it reached the top of the Hot 100, gaining the 'Airplay Gainer' honor the same week. Replacing "Low" by Flo Rida and T-Pain, "Love in This Club" also sold 198,000 downloads in that week. On April 5, 2008, the song was again named the 'Airplay Gainer', however it was shifted from the number-one spot by Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love", having spent three weeks atop the chart. It fell off on June 7, having spent twelve weeks on the chart. On the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, the song first appeared on February 23, 2008 at number fifty-one making it the highest debut of the week. On April 12 it replaced Keyshia Cole's "I Remember" at number one. After four weeks "Love in This Club" was moved from the top spot by Lil Wayne's "Lollipop". The song also reached number four on the Pop 100, and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). On the year-end charts for 2008, it was ranked number eight on the Hot 100, number fifteen on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number thirteen on the Pop 100. It was also ranked number eighty-five on the 2000s' Hot 100 list, and number ninety-nine on the decade-end Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. As of August 1, 2010, "Love in This Club" has sold 2,453,000 units, according to Nielsen Soundscan.
Music video[edit]
In February 2008 Usher said that the song's music video would be shot "very soon". Directed by the Brothers Strause, it features cameo appearances from Keri Hilson, Kanye West, Diddy, Nelly and Rick Ross. Hilson plays Usher's love interest in the video. Usher's then-wife, Tameka Foster, worked as the stylist on the video set. It was alleged that Foster was upset with Hilson playing the love interest in the video, and, according to a person on the set, "Tameka dressed Keri very badly – she looked like an extra." However, Usher's manager, Benny Medina, reported that "Keri could not have been happier with Tameka's choices in the styling".
The music video starts with Usher waking up inside an empty nightclub. He calls out to see if anyone is there and sees Hilson, whom he follows into a room full of people dancing as a disc jockey starts playing music. Usher chases Hilson around the club, who at times mysteriously vanishes. The two dance intimately throughout the video at the club's bar, dance floor and lounge. The video concludes with the club burning down and Usher waking up in a valley. The storyline is continued in the "Moving Mountains" clip. During the video Usher is shown using a Sony Ericsson W350i Walkman, as part of Usher's endorsement of the company.
The music video premiered on MTV on April 7, 2008, and was the fourteenth-most streamed video on MTV.com in 2008,and was nominated as the Best Male Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. However, it lost to Chris Brown's "With You" video.
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