Top 10 R&B Love Songs

Since I did my top 10 Hip Hop love songs it only makes sense to do R&B as well. Love songs are some of my favorite type of songs to listen to, when I'm in that mood of course. Let's begin shall we?

1&2. Case - Missing You/ Joe - Missing You

Album: Open Letter(Case)

Released: 2001

This song here is a classic to me, I've spent quite some time listening to it and thinking about the women of my life. It's just as the title says, a song about missing that person that you love. The song was originally recorded by another singer, Joe, but it was given to Case for his album. That being said both their versions are great, and personally I listen to Joe's more but that's only because I didn't know of Case's version until later on. Whichever one you decide to listen to is purely up to liking the singer's voice really, as the lyrics are the same and the production only has slight differences if any. The lyrics use simple similes such as
"Like a cold summer afternoon
Like the snow coming down in June
Like a wedding without a groom"

to show just how much the women in question is missed, simple  but strong imagery there. What would a wedding be without a groom? It just wouldn't make sense, which is the idea. It just doesn't make sense to be without you.

3. Ginuwine - Love You More

Album: The Senior

Released: 2004
The song that you listen to when you realize that you love that person, and further yet as the chorus says you love them more everyday.
"I love you more everyday
You show me love in every way
There's nothing left for me to say
But I love you
I love you more everyday
You show me love in every way
There's nothing left for me to say
But I love you"
A simple statement, no need to be complex. A true sentiment on how true love really should be, the more you find out about that person the more your love grows, if the opposite happens then it seems like you're not following this song. In all seriousness, there's not many love songs out there that can top this for me. The alluring instrumental, Ginuwine's harmony and passionate vocals serenade the hearts of women everywhere.

4. Ginuwine - How Deep is your Love
Album: The Life
Released: 2001
 Questioning the very depth of the woman in question's love with this one, Ginuwine once again makes my list. This is a question that I'm sure comes to the mind of anyone who has felt love for someone else, whether you're a man or a woman it's a relatable inquiry. I know I've surely had this question for any woman I've fallen in love with. The woman in question apparently has had problem with men in the past and he's trying to be the one to show her that all men aren't the same, she just needs to put her trust in him and love him in return and he won't let her down. Something that hits me on a personal level defintely and something that is a fairly typical story but to no detriment of my enjoyment of the song.


5.  Michael Jackson - Break of Dawn
Album:Invincible
Released: 2001
It just wouldn't be right to make this list without having a Michael Jackson song here, I just can't see it. "I don’t want the sun to shine I want to make love
Just this magic in your eyes and in my heart
I don’t know what I’m going to do - I can’t stop loving you
I won’t stop ‘til break of dawn making love"
Singing a chorus like this just makes memories rush back of good times with that special someone. Feeling hopelessly in love and not knowing how to live without them, or at least you feel like it at that point. The central theme is making love until the break of dawn, another very simple concept yet a beautiful one at that. Also the instrumental sounds beautiful and a bit nature-like, thanks to the sound of the birds chirping at the beginning and later on in the song as well.

6. Craig David - Fill me In
 Album: Born to do It
Released: 2000
If you were a teenager in love with someone and had parents that were maybe too over protective than the whole subject of this song probably relates to you. Not to me too much but it's still a great song for me musically and although I can't relate personally to it it's still a favorite of mine. The whole song comes from the view of a teenager trying to spend time with his girlfriend who is also his neighbor and how she has to sneak out to see him because her parents do not approve and how they're always asking questions and suspicious of her actions and whereabouts. A childhood favorite of mine and still one to this day. A song about young love at it's finest.

7. New Edition - Can you Stand the Rain
Album: Heart Break
Released: 1988
The title says it all, this song has New Edition asking the woman in question if she can stand the rain, or in other words can you stay by me even when times get rough, or will you leave the relationship because things aren't as easy anymore. A question that I've asked a few women in the past myself I'm sure, not quite in those words though. The production sets the tone of the song quite well with the sound of a storm going on the background. New Edition doesn't fail to deliver love ballads, it's really that simple for me. 

8. New Edition - Something About You
Album: Home Again
Released: 1996
   As I said, they just do not fail to deliver love ballads, this one is a bit more uptempo but another great one. 
"Over and over and over I try
To get you off of my mind
But I can't win the fight
There's a feeling I know
When I'm losing in love
It's the feeling I get when I can't get enough"
Basically having that woman stuck on your mind to the point where it seems obsessive, but it's just love, and at times it can feel that way. It's an internal struggle trying to get someone that means that much to you out of your thoughts, and this song sums it up nicely. Something about the woman in question is addicting and based on these lyrics it's pretty obvious. I know the feeling all to well and this song is one that hits close to home pretty often for me. Musically it has a bit of a hip hop sounding production which is nice as well.

9. Ralph Tresvant - Sensitivity
 Album: Ralph Tresvant
Released: 1990
Another track with a New Edition member, this one is a solo song by Ralph Tresvant, the lead singer of N.E for a while.  The name of the song is the idea, he wants to be the sensitive man who is caring and loving, in contrast to the man that the female he refers to is used to dealing with. As shown pretty clearly here. "Girl, I know it's been hard since he went away
And left so sad you cry everyday
Let me kiss your tears erase all your doubts
Because for you I'm here, you won't be without, love"
Far too relatable of a song for me, very personal strong connection I have to this song from prior dealings with women and knowing about their former relationships. A hit with that New Jack Swing feel, that really drives the point home that some women need that sensitive man, they just don't always realize it.

10. Carl Thomas - Emotional
 Album: Emotional

Released: 2000

Emotional, a phrase people use to describe me which is pretty fitting I suppose. Makes sense for me to like this song as much as I do then. This is another one that probably relates to people quite well, what do you do when that relationship with that person just starts to lose it's luster? "What's a man to do when he just can't take no more
What am I to do when my heart leads me to the door
Now we've tried and tried again
But now this is the end
Tell me what's the use of holding on
If we can't be friends"

When the option of even being friends is no longer what is the point of continuing the relationship? After all the best relationships are built on friendship they say. Easily one of the most beautiful songs I've had the pleasure of hearing.

It's a challenge to listen to all songs and not have the memories come rushing back, really almost impossible it seems. It's a challenge though that I accept willingly, and lay out for others to see.

Top 10 Hip Hop Love Songs

 Alright so, Love songs in hip hop might not seem like they're too prevalent of a thing, and at times it really can seem like the only thing artists show love for is money, cars, and clothes but that couldn't be further from the truth.  If you look for something hard enough you will often find it, here's 10 songs that I love about love. 

1. Common Sense - I Used to Love H.E.R.

Album: Resurrection

Released: 1994

Sample: George Benson - The changing world 

Favorite lines:

"I met this girl, when I was ten years old
And what I loved most she had so much soul
She was old school, when I was just a shorty
Never knew throughout my life she would be there for me"

A classic, an early example of personification, story telling and plot twists in hip hop story telling, as shown by the ending "cause who I'm talking 'bout, y'all, is hip-hop" letting the listeners know that hip hop is the subject of the song and not a woman as it would appear. A good love song albeit about a culture rather than a person but love is love and you can tell easily that Common (then known as Common Sense) truly loves hip hop and has no problem putting it on record.

2. Lupe Fiasco - Sunshine

Album: Food and Liquor

Released: 2006

Sample: Diana Ross - Friend to Friend

Favorite lines:

"Relationship is just thirty minutes long
It's kinda heavy, maybe a little strong
Gonna take much more than once
Can't trust what each of us say at least for a month
Or two, before I bid you adieu
Do this one thing for me: out of the trillions
Of numbers that's in the world just leave me a few
That lead to you
Won't be longin, I'll see you in the morning
Cool"

Basically the concept of this song is the same as the previous one, it's a song about his love for hip hop. On first listen, or for a few you might think he's talking about a woman as well,  but on further examination it's pretty clear that hip hop is his true love and he expresses that quite well. Now that these two are out of the way though, the next will more traditional in the sense of low so on to the next one.

3. QuEst - Biscayne Blvd

Mixtape: Searching Slyvan

Released: 2014

Sample: The Hics - Lines

Favorite Lines:

"Shit is lookin' shallow on the surface
But feelings get real when you get caught up in the deep end
Sittin' in your car, all we listen to is Nas late nights
We don't even have a reason
Too afraid to ask if you leavin'
I know you got work in the mornin', I don't wanna keep you out late
This love shit feelin' like an outbreak
Plus I keep staring everywhere, swear to god those lips look sweeter than a pound cake"

Easily one of my more recent favorites. In this song unlike the previous two the references are all to an actual woman and not hip hop or anything else. It's clear that he loves her, or might be falling in love with her and that the relationship means something to him. From the hook to the verses to the beat itself, everything just fits and makes you think of past relationships you've had yourself.

4. 2Pac - Do for Love
Album: R U Still Down? (Remember Me)

Released: 1998

Sample: Bobby Caldwell - What You Won't Do for Love

Favorite lines:

"I shoulda seen you was trouble but I was lost, trapped in your eyes
Preoccupied with gettin' tossed, no need to lie
You had a man and I knew it, you told me
Don't worry bout it we can do it now I'm under pressure
Make a decision cause I'm waitin', when I'm alone
I'm on the phone havin' secret conversations, huh
I wanna take your misery, replace it with happiness
But I need your faith in me, I'm a sucka for love"

Not only is it one of my favorite 2Pac songs, it's also one of my favorite hip hop songs about love, as well as my favorite song on entire album it's placed on but I digress, once again this song is a bit different. It's surely about love and a woman at that, but here you find him questioning the faithfulness of the woman and showing that even when you're a celebrity there's the chance that your relationship can still be lost if your partner is not trustworthy or trusting of you.

5. Immortal Technique - You Never Know

Album: Revolutionary Vol. 2

Released: 2003

Sample: Spyro Gyra - Lost and Found

Favorite lines:

"Hold the person that you love closely if they're next to you
The one you love, not the person that'll simply have sex with you
Appreciate them to the fullest extent, and then beyond
Cause you never really know what you got, until it's gone"

Great storytelling, yet again in another aspect of love, this one focused clearly on the whole relationship from the meeting to the tragic end. Descriptive, easy to understand and laid smoothly over a pretty mellow beat, this song is one that just can't be left off the list. Four verses and over seven minutes long, he shows that this relationship was real and had a deep impact on him without a doubt. Vividly he shows you that this woman was his first true love and vice versa, though the unfortunate twisting at the end that they just couldn't be together long but the time they did spend was irreplaceable.

6. Drake - Brand New

Mixtape: So Far Gone

Released: 2009

Sample: None that I know of

Favorite lines:

"This here is on some truthful shit
It seems like everything I do you're used to it
And I hate hearing stories bout who you've been with
That's when I gotta hide what I'm feeling inside
So you still think I am confident and damn
Is this gonna last?
You're up on a pedestal
Are we moving too fast?
Feels like I'm in crazy competition with the past
That's why I gotta ask..."

Now this one here is more of an R&B song I suppose because he doesn't rap on it at all, but I'll still include it since he does both genres and the mixtape it's on can be considered a mixture of both. It's still within the realm of hip hop for that reason. The song itself is great and probably my favorite song from So Far Gone, it's relatable, emotional, and really makes question your own relationship and insecurities. Who hasn't had that thought at one point in a new relationship about how their partner might be comparing them to their ex? What can you bring new to the relationship that the last man/woman hasn't? That's the question this song asks, and the answer is... Up to you to decide.

7. Kendrick Lamar - She Needs Me

Album: Kendrick Lamar EP

Released: 2009

Sample: Dimlite - Byrdshot and Bye

Favorite lines:

"On the red carpet, dress matching his suit, she holding his arm
She waves at her moms and wave at the world, got the world in her palms
Head in the clouds, star gazing, caught her on the stage, a proposal was waiting
He bent down, got on one knee, she looked him in the eye and said she needs me
She needs me, she needs me, she needs me, she needs me
Even if we seem to separate, eventually it’ll come to pass, and she’ll need me
I need her, we need we"

Kendrick tells the story of a relationship of his over the course of the song starting from the beginning, painting the vivid picture of a typical woman that you'd like to be with. Liked by parents, not competitive, dependable, kind, and beautiful. Over the story it shows that these traits make her successful in business, and it then leads her to being in a relationship with a famous actor but once he proposes her love for Kendrick doesn't let her say yes to him. Clearly he's correct when he says "she needs me"

8. Lost Boyz - Renee

Album: Legal Drug Money

Released: 1996

Sample: Janet Jackson - Funny How Time Flies(When You're Having Fun)

Favorite lines:

"She started feeling on my chest
I started feeling on the breasts
And there's no need for me to stress the rest
A yo, I got myself a winner
We sparked a blunt before we ate
And a blunt after we ate dinner
She had a tattoo she only wanted yo to see
But first dim the lights and turn up the Jodeci
I'm like whatever shorty rock
We can swing it like that
Cause on the real this is where it's at"

  

Once again storytelling with a nice description of the relationship from the meeting to the tragic end of it. The woman in question here, same name as the title of the song dies from a shooting, hence the hook "A ghetto love is the law that we live by Day by day I wonder why my shorty had to die I reminisce over my ghetto princess everyday Give it up for my shorty" love can be found in the ghetto, but it can be taken away just as quickly due to things such as violence as shown clearly in the track.

9. Charles Hamilton - In Case I Actually Get Her

Mixtape: Well Isn't This Awkward

Released: 2009

Sample: Rihanna - P.S (I'm Still Not Over You)

Favorite lines:

"I don't even know what I'm about to do
But I do know that eyes give out the truth
Lies are mouth pollution
So I gotta figure out a solution
Without abusin'
Everything I am about, so how can I do this
Feels like I'm about to lose it
Girl you got a mouth just use it
Your eyes f*ckin' talk to much
For me to hear you
I think it's time I be near you, in clear view"

From the title to the sample to the hook and everything just screams love song. The mixtape this song is from is properly titled also, "Well Isn't This Awkward" the whole mixtape samples Rihanna songs, and it's pretty much a dedication to his love for Rihanna, although they were never in a relationship, hence titles like "In Case I Actually Get Her" and the title of the mixtape itself. The lyrics paint the picture of a man viewing a woman from afar and hoping to be with her one day and it's something I can relate to myself as well as many others would be able to, so it's definitely one of my favorites.

10.  LL Cool J - Hey Lover

Album: Mr. Smith

Released: 1996

Sample: Michael Jackson - The Lady in my Life

Favorite lines:

"I kissed you softly and you yearned for more
We experienced pleasure unparalleled
Into an ocean of love we both fell
Swimming in the timeless, currents of pure bliss
Fantasies interchanging with each kiss
Undying passion unities our souls
  Together we swim until the point of no control
But it's a fantasy it you won't come true
We never even spoke and your man swear he love you
So I'm gonna keep all these feelins inside
Keep my dreams alive until the right time"

Like the previous song this is once again about a woman he's not in a relationship with, just someone he's simply seen before and is fantasizing about. Starting the story off from when he first sees her to seeing her more often, he sees her from a distance more and more slowly becoming more enamored with her. Seeing her current boyfriend he feels that he's the better option, but he decides not to act on his feelings and to just wait until the right time. Classic LL Cool J.