How to Love

For other uses, see How to Love (disambiguation).
"How to Love"
Single by Lil Wayne
from the album Tha Carter IV
Released May 26, 2011 (2011-05-26)
Format CD single, digital download
Recorded 2011
Genre Pop, 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, Bryan Williams
Producer(s) Drum Up, Noel "Detail" Fisher
Certification 4x Platinum (RIAA)
Lil Wayne singles chronology
"I'm on One"
(2011)		 "How to Love"
(2011)		 "She Will"
(2011)

"How to Love" is a song by American rapper and occasional singer Lil Wayne, released as the third single from his ninth studio album, Tha Carter IV. The song features production from LaMar and LaNelle Seymour p/k/a Drum Up with Noel "Detail" Fisher 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 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 LaMar and LaNelle Seymour a/k/a Drum Up with Noel "Detail" Fisher 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]

Lil Wayne also revealed that for the acoustic-driven How To Love, he pulled inspiration from late rapper Tupac Shakur’s inspirational 1993 hit, Keep Ya Head Up and said “That song is just sweeping the world. It’s touching every woman, that’s what it was for,” he said. “It was like Tupac had ‘Keep Ya Head Up’ and it was a message to women and little girls across the world just to keep your head up even though things are hard.[4][5]

Music video

The music video premiered August 23, 2011 on MTV Jams as "Jam of the Week."[6][7] 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."[8] It is also directed by Chris Robinson and stars Chanta Patton.[9] 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.

The video first shows a young 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 physically abusive, wife-beating father being in jail. When the girl is an adolescent, her mother's boyfriend molests her. When she becomes a teenager, she is promiscuous. When she became an adult, she has two children and soon 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 with a clear view of a healthy, respectful, and loving marriage. In the end, the daughter grows up to be smarter and more mature, and graduates from high school, making her mother and grandmother proud. When she becomes an adult, she is in the same hospital again awaiting a test result. The doctor tells her she is pregnant, and 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 haven’t 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.

Covers

The song has been covered by Demi Lovato, K. Michelle, Justin Bieber, PJ Morton, Tinashe, Christina Grimmie, Jes Hudak, Tae Brooks, and Cimorelli. There is also a remix featuring Enrique Iglesias.[10][11][12]

Track listing

Digital single[13]
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "How to Love"  Dwayne Carter, Jr., Noel "Detail" Fisher, LaMar Seymour, LaNelle Seymour, Jermaine PreyanDrum Up, Noel "Detail" Fisher 4:00

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2011–12) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[14] 76
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[15] 20
France (SNEP)[16] 97
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17] 24
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[18] 67
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[19] 48
UK R&B (The Official Charts Company)[20] 20
US Billboard Hot 100[21] 5
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[22] 2
US Hot Rap Songs (Billboard)[23] 2
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[24] 9
US Rhythmic (Billboard)[25] 1

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)[26] 4× Platinum 4,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Year-end charts

Chart (2011) Position
US Billboard Hot 100[27] 23

Release history

Country Date Format Label
United States[13] May 26, 2011 Digital download Young Money, Cash Money, Universal Republic
May 31, 2011 Urban contemporary airplay[1]
United Kingdom[28] June 3, 2011 Digital download
Germany[29]

References

  1. 1 2 "Urban/UAC Future Releases". All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on 2011-06-01.
  2. 1 2 3 "Lil Wayne, ‘How to Love’ – Song Review". PopCrush. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  3. ↑ "Lil Wayne's Carter IV 'Totally Done'". MTV. 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2011-08-25.
  4. ↑ http://rollingout.com/music/music-news/lil-wayne%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98how-to-love%E2%80%99-inspired-by-tupac-shakur/
  5. ↑ http://www.mtv.co.uk/lil-wayne/news/lil-wayne-confirms-tha-carter-iv-is-totally-done
  6. ↑ https://twitter.com/MTVJams/status/106214698696966145
  7. ↑ https://twitter.com/MTVJams/status/106214225449467905
  8. ↑ Markman, Rob (2011-05-31). "Lil Wayne's 'How To Love' Video Will 'Shock You,' Producer Says - cMusic, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV. Retrieved 2011-06-02.
  9. ↑ "Lil Wayne's 'How To Love' Video 'Harsh' But 'Real'". MTV.com. 2011-08-24. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
  10. ↑ Rubenstein, Jenna Hally (September 27, 2011). "Demi Lovato Covers Lil Wayne's 'How To Love' (VIDEO)". MTV. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Tinashe - How To Love (Lil Wayne Cover) Music Video". Youtube. June 24, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Lil Wayne - How to Love - Cover by Tae Brooks Ft Juke - (Remix BeatsByiTALY)". Youtube. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  13. 1 2 "How to Love – Single – United States". iTunes. Apple, Inc. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Lil Wayne – How to Love". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  15. ↑ "Lil Wayne – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Lil Wayne.
  16. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Lil Wayne – How to Love" (in French). Les classement single.
  17. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Lil Wayne – How to Love". Top 40 Singles.
  18. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Lil Wayne – How to Love". Swiss Singles Chart.
  19. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2011-06-18" UK Singles Chart.
  20. ↑ "Archive Chart". Theofficialcharts.com. 2011-09-24. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  21. ↑ "Lil Wayne – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Lil Wayne.
  22. ↑ "Lil Wayne – Chart history" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for Lil Wayne.
  23. ↑ "Lil Wayne – Chart history" Billboard Hot Rap Songs for Lil Wayne.
  24. ↑ "Lil Wayne – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Lil Wayne.
  25. ↑ "Lil Wayne – Chart history" Billboard Rhythmic Songs for Lil Wayne.
  26. ↑ "American single certifications – Lil Wayne – How to Love". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  27. ↑ "Best of 2011: Hot 100 Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  28. ↑ "How to Love - Single - United Kingdom". iTunes. Apple, Inc. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
  29. ↑ http://www.amazon.de/How-To-Love/dp/B0054JCZD2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318369159&sr=8-1
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