Hate That I Love You
"Hate That I Love You" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna for her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007). It features vocals by American singer and songwriter Ne-Yo, who co-wrote the song with its producers Stargate. Def Jam Recordings released the song on August 21, 2007, as the third single from Good Girl Gone Bad. A Spanglish version featuring Spanish singer David Bisbal was made available on April 28, 2008. "Hate That I Love You" is a mid-tempo pop and R&B song about the power of love, with influences of folk music. "Hate That I Love You" received generally positive reviews from critics, many of whom compared it to previous works by Ne-Yo.
"Hate That I Love You"
August 24, 2007
2007
Battery Studios (New York City); Westlake Recording Studios (Los Angeles); Lethal Studios (Bridgetown, Barbados)
3:39
- Def Jam
- SRP
The song achieved moderate success in comparison to other singles from the album, reaching the top twenty in thirteen countries. It reached number 15 on the UK Singles Chart, and number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Hate That I Love You" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) denoting shipments of over one million copies. The music video was directed by Anthony Mandler; in it, Rihanna's and Ne-Yo's characters meet their respective love interests. An edited Spanglish version of the video features scenes by Bisbal instead of Ne-Yo. Rihanna performed the song at the American Music Awards of 2007, and on Operación Triunfo respectively. "Hate That I Love You" was performed on Rihanna's four worldwide tours—Good Girl Gone Bad, Last Girl on Earth, Loud and the Diamonds World Tour.
Composition[edit]
"Hate That I Love You" is a midtempo pop and R&B song with folk influences that runs for 3 minutes and 39 seconds.[11] According to the digital sheet music published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing at Musicnotes.com, it is written in the key of A-flat major and Rihanna's vocal range spans nearly an octave and a half from F3 to B♭5.[10] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine wrote that "Hate That I Love You" maximizes Rihanna's vocal range.[12] The song uses piano, strummed guitars and 4/4 beats, combined with Rihanna and Ne-Yo's vocals, following the D♭2-E♭2-E♭7-B♭7 chord progression.[10]
Critics compared "Hate That I Love You" to previous works by Ne-Yo.[12] Nick Levine from Digital Spy called the song a "second cousin" of Ne-Yo's singles "Sexy Love" and "Because of You".[11] Regarding the lyrics, Rihanna said, "When you're in love with someone, even though they keep hurting you, you're so naive and you love them so much that you put all the negative behind even though you keep getting hurt."[13]
Chart performance[edit]
"Hate That I Love You" debuted at number 98 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for the issue dated September 15, 2007.[21] After eight weeks on the chart, the song reached number nine and stayed on the position for five non-consecutive weeks,[22] before peaking at number seven on December 22, 2007,[23] making it Rihanna's fifth top-ten single on this chart.[23] The song stayed on the chart for total of 26 weeks, becoming Rihanna's sixth longest-running single on the US Billboard Hot 100, behind "Needed Me" (43 weeks), "We Found Love" (41 weeks), "Love on the Brain" (31 weeks), "Don't Stop the Music" (30 weeks) and "Umbrella" (27 weeks).[24] "Hate That I Love You" also peaked at number three on the US Pop Songs chart and became Rihanna's fourth top-five single there.[25] It also peaked at number 20 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.[26] The song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on August 8, 2008, having sold more than one million downloads,[27] but was less successful in Canada where it peaked at number 17 and stayed on the chart for 23 weeks.[28]
The song debuted on the Australian Singles Chart at number 48 on November 25, 2007.[29] After three weeks on the chart, it reached number 14 where it stayed for one week.[29] It was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) denoting shipments of 35,000.[30] Worldwide, the song's highest chart peak was on the New Zealand Singles Chart, where it reached number six.[31] "Hate That I Love You" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for selling more than 7,500 digital copies.
"Hate That I Love You" debuted at number 57 on the UK Singles Chart on October 20, 2007, where it peaked at number 15 on November 24, 2007, after six weeks on the chart.[32] More than 150,000 copies of the song have been sold in the UK.[33] "Hate That I Love You" reached number 13 in Ireland.[34] In mainland Europe, the song achieved moderate success, reaching the top-thirty in ten countries. The single was most successful in Sweden, where it reached number 10 on the singles chart, and stayed at that position for two consecutive weeks.[35] The song entered and peaked at number 16 on the French Singles Chart on January 12, 2008.[36] It stayed at the peak position for two consecutive weeks, and spent 25 weeks on the chart.[36] In Spain, the Spanglish version of "Hate That I Love You" charted on the Spanish Singles Chart. It entered the chart at number 39 on January 4, 2009.[37] The following week it reached its peak of 37, becoming Rihanna's fourth top-fifty single on that chart. It was certified triple platinum by the Productores de Música de España (PROMUSICAE) for selling more than 120,000 copies.[38]
Music video[edit]
The music video for "Hate That I Love You" was directed by Anthony Mandler, who also directed the videos for Rihanna's singles "Unfaithful" and "Shut Up and Drive". Photographs of the production showing Rihanna wearing a cream bra and gray skirt were leaked on the same day.[39] The video premiered on September 24, 2007,[40] and was digitally released September 27, 2007, on iTunes.[41]
The video's opening scene shows the sun rising and Rihanna waking up. Meanwhile, Ne-Yo walks along a street, wearing a hat that obscures most of his face. Rihanna is in her room; she is bored and wondering which clothes to wear, and she finds a gold necklace. As the song starts, Rihanna lies in bed and sings, while Ne-Yo continues walking along the street, approaches the hotel and cautiously looks around before entering it. Meanwhile, Rihanna dresses,[39] leaves the room and walks through the hallway of the hotel. Ne-Yo goes in an elevator to the floor of Rihanna's room. As Rihanna waits near the elevator, it opens. Ne-Yo and Rihanna meet and smile at each other as Rihanna enters the elevator and Ne-Yo exits. It is then revealed that Rihanna and Ne-Yo are not singing about each other, but different people. As the video progresses, Rihanna is downstairs, chanting the lyrics of the song and Ne-Yo is in a hallway. He knocks on a door, which his girlfriend opens, and he enters the room. Rihanna simultaneously climbs into her lover's car and they smile at each other. The video ends with the previous scenes showing Rihanna leaving her hotel room. A reviewer from MTV UK commented, "After Shut Up And Drive the 19 year old is going even raunchier for this vid- writhing around on a bed in her underwear and pearls."[42]
An edited version of the video was produced for the Spanglish version of the song, in which Ne-Yo's scenes are cut and replaced with scenes featuring David Bisbal. The Spanglish version of the video shows Bisbal watching the scenes of Rihanna on film being projected while he sings the song's lyrics.
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Good Girl Gone Bad, Def Jam Recordings, SRP Records.[3]
Recording
Personnel