"Love in This Club" is a song by American R&B singer Usher nominated for 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. The song was released as the first single from his 2008 album, Here I Stand. It features rapper Young Jeezy, and was produced by Atlanta-based producer Polow da Don. This was also the opening performance for the 2008 Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards.

The song was digitally released on February 26 2008 in the U.S., and peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Background

Atlanta-based music producer Polow da Don was inspired to create a beat during his weekend stay in Las Vegas, Nevada for the MTV Video Music Awards, which later became "Love in This Club". When he finished working on the material, da Don felt it fit for Usher and played it for him.

Usher left the studio during one of his sessions for the album. Young Jeezy went in after Usher had gone. He heard the song and he wanted to contribute to it. Da Don was skeptical, but allowed Young Jeezy to make his verse. He played the new version to Usher, who loved the new version, allowing Young Jeezy's verse to stay.

Composition

"Love in This Club" is a mid-tempo song that strongly seems to be made out of a couple stock loops (Euro Hero Synths) from the Apple Inc. GarageBand software, although denied by Polow da Don. The song features guest vocals from Young Jeezy. According to Polow da Don, the lyrics are not about sex, they're about having the urge. Polow da Don wanted to call the song "Lust at first sight".

Release

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, to street DJs late in 2003. Polow da Don confessed that he had leaked "Love in This Club", following what Lil Jon did. 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".

Reception

"Love in This Club" received mixed reviews from critics. Sophia Baratta of Billboard magazine gave the track a positive review, noting the "slow ballad tempo and smooth vocals transition to an upbeat hip-hop twist." She called the song evident enough of an "evolved sound", summing it up as "a catchy tune with enough fuel to return Usher to the top of R&B. Bill Lamb of About.com found that the vocals in the song sound like a "close cousin" of Akon. Lamb, however, noted that it failed to equal the "sheer beauty of Akon's best vocals or any particular soulfulness." He complimented da Don for producing an "atmospheric synth groove" and Young Jeezy's "reliably gritty" rap, but Lamb expected more after a "four year wait. Blender gave the track a lukewarm response, awarding it 2 and 1/2 out of 5 stars, saying it was reminiscent to one of Usher's previous hits, "Lovers and Friends". They called the track "too safe" and that it was "strictly PG". They felt that one of the other leaked songs, "Dat Girl Right There", would have made a more adventurous first single choice. Digital Spy awarded the song three stars out of five, contending that it was "hardly the most original of comeback singles", but sounded "very, very now".

Chart performance

"Love in This Club" began receiving airplay on urban and rhythmic radio stations across the U.S. upon the song's leak and debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number eighty-three on the issue date of March 1, 2008. In the song's third week on the Hot 100 it skyrocketed from number fifty-one to number one, becoming Usher's eighth chart-topping single and the first for Young Jeezy. It is the fifth highest jump to number one of all time on the Hot 100, behind only T.I.'s "Whatever You Like" (71-1), Maroon 5's "Makes Me Wonder" (64-1), Rihanna's "Take a Bow" (53-1) and Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This" (52-1).It is Usher's fifteenth top ten hit on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it has reached number one, also making it his ninth number one on the chart.

Internationally, the single debuted at number twenty-seven on the Sweden Singles Top 60, number eleven on the Canadian Hot 100, number six on the United World Chart, number seven on the New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart, number forty-nine on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, number 19 on the UK Singles Chart and number thirty-six on the Swiss Singles Top 100. So far, Love In This Club has peaked at number 8 on the Canadian Hot 100 and Sweden Top 60, number one in New Zealand as of the week ending May 10 2008. It debuted at number 19 on the UK Singles Chart and in its fourth charting week, it reached number six. After falling down to number seven, it jumped back up the chart to number four upon it's physical release. On the week ending April 19, "Love In This Club" moved back into the Top 10 on the Canadian Hot 100, by making a 2-point jump from 12-10, and then the following week reached a new peak position of number six. In Australia, it has become a huge hit peaking at number eight, rising 13 spots from number 21. To date, this is Young Jeezy's biggest hit (his biggest hit as a solo artist would be Soul Survivor).

Music video

Usher was concerned with the premature public exposure of the song because "everything has to be set up on their end." He noted the necessity of its accompanying music video as soon as it would have released properly. However, the song received favorable responses from radio industries, similar to "Yeah!!"'s early reception. Eventually, the video was released on April 7, 2008. It features cameos by Keri Hilson (as Usher's love interest), Diddy, Rick Ross, One Chance, Robin Thicke, Nelly and Kanye West. It also has cameos from adult film stars Havana Ginger and Savannah Stern. Polow da Don, the producer of the track, also appears in the video as the DJ for the club. The music video contains an extended dance sequence which is not part of the album version of the song.

The music video starts with Usher waking up inside of an empty club. He calls out to see if anyone is there and a girl comes out. The music video is spent with Usher escaping the temptation of women while trying to escape from the club at the same time. At the end of the video, Usher finally escapes from the club but it is seen all burned down. It is a cliffhanger leading in to his next video, "Moving Mountains".

The video features a slightly remixed version of the song, compared to the radio edit, with added sound effects.

Some music channels have cut out the beginning scene where Usher first meets his love interest and the ending scene where he finds the club is destroyed, namely on the music channel Bubble Hits Ireland.

Remixes

Three official remixes have been released so far. The first features T.I. in addition to Young Jeezy, and the second features R. Kelly in addition to Young Jeezy.

The official remix titled "Love in This Club, Part II" features American singer Beyoncé Knowles and rapper Lil Wayne, and is being serviced to urban stations. Due to strong airplay and digital downloads, "Love in This Club, Part II" has already peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It was released on iTunes as a pre-order track. MSTRKRFT also produced an official remix of the track and have been using it in their live DJ sets.

Whilst not a remix, the song was parodied by BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles and side-kick, Comedy Dave. The title of their reworked track was Lunch in this Pub.

Tracklistings

US Promo CDM

1. "Love in This Club" (Clean version)
2. "Love in This Club" [Clean version (no rap)]
3. "Love in This Club" (Instrumental)UK Promo CDM
4. "Love in This Club" (Album version)
5. "Love in This Club" (Reavers remix)
6. "Love in This Club" (Stonebridge remix)
7. "Love in This Club" (J Sweet remix)

UK CD Single (2 Track)

1. "Love in This Club" (Main version)
2. "Love in This Club" (Instrumental)Australia CD Single/EU Maxi Single
3. "Love in This Club" (Album version)
4. "Love in This Club" (Instrumental)
5. "Love in This Club" (Reavers remix)
6. "Love in This Club" (Stonebridge remix)
7. "Love in This Club" (Music video)

Charts

Chart (2008)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	8
Belgian Singles Chart	5
Bulgarian National Top 40	6
Brazilian Hot 100 Singles	3
Portugal Singles Top 50	39
Canadian Hot 100	6
Croatian Singles Chart	1
Danish Singles Chart	16
Eurochart Hot 100	3
German Singles Chart	5
Irish Singles Chart	3
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	1
Norwegian Singles Chart	10
Swedish Singles Top 60	8
Swiss Singles Chart	9
Turkish Billboard Top 20	4
UK Singles Chart	3
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	1
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	3
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40	1
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	4
United World Chart	3

References