He Loves U Not

"He Loves U Not" is a song by American girl group Dream. It was released on September 5, 2000 as the group's debut single and is featured on their debut album It Was All a Dream (2001). It was written in 1999 by Steve Kipner, David Frank and Pamela Sheyne, with the former two doing the production. A pop and R&B song, "He Loves U Not" is about a girl confronting another girl trying to steal her boyfriend. An early version of the song started with a young girl's voice saying "He loves me, he loves you not," but was removed from both album and single versions, with the phrase "He loves you not" being heard at the end of the album version.

"He Loves U Not"
Single by Dream
from the album It Was All a Dream
ReleasedSeptember 5, 2000
RecordedDecember 1999
StudioSony Studios (California, U.S.)
Genre
Length3:46
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • David Frank
  • Steve Kipner
Dream singles chronology
"He Loves U Not"
(2000)		 "This Is Me"
(2001)
Music video
"He Loves U Not" on YouTube

"He Loves U Not" received mixed reviews from critics who gave credit to the production and lyrics but felt that it was derivative compared to other songs of its time. The song peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks, behind Destiny's Child's "Independent Women". It also peaked at No. 3, No. 9, and No. 15 on the Mainstream Top 40, Rhythmic, and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts, respectively. Worldwide, it reach the top 40 in several countries, including Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom. The song was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling over 500,000 copies in the United States.

An accompanying music video for the song, directed by Marcus Raboy, premiered on MTV's Total Request Live and features the girls dancing in three different settings: a white room with the Dream logo behind them, a California desert and a rotating white room. They first performed the song live by touring with fellow pop group *NSYNC on their No Strings Attached Tour. They made their television debut performing the song live on TRL and would make later appearances at Live with Regis, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, the 2001 Walt Disney World Summer Jam Concert, The Early Show and the 7th Annual Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards.

Content

Upon Dream's signing to P. Diddy's Bad Boy Records, the quartet recorded "He Loves U Not" as their breakthrough single, setting aside previously recorded songs "Do U Wanna Dance," "Baby," and "Miss You" that they had done while signed to Clockwork Entertainment with Judith Fontaine as their manager.

Lead vocals are performed by Holly Arnstein with speaking breaks by Melissa Schuman. Diana Ortiz can be heard saying a few Spanish phrases, such as Él me quiere ("He loves me") and No te quiere ("He doesn't love you"). An early version of the song opened with a young girl's voice saying "He loves me, he loves you not," though this opening was removed on the album and single versions, although the phrase "he loves you not" is heard at the end of the album version.

The song is sung from the point of view of a girl confronting another girl who is trying to steal her boyfriend, to whom she claims, "He loves me, he loves you not."

Critical reception

"He Loves U Not" received a mixed reception from music critics who praised the production and lyrics but felt that it was derivative compared to other songs of its ilk. Billboard praised the song for having a street edge in its production, the group's performance and compared the lyrics positively to Brandy and Monica's duet "The Boy Is Mine", concluding that "With Bad Boy's genius and solid talent here, "He Loves U Not" has a good shot at becoming a dream come true."[1] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine highlighted the song as a "Track Pick", giving credit to P. Diddy's team of producers and songwriters.[2] Arion Berger of Rolling Stone praised the song for exuding bright attitude, saying that it has a "whipping elasticity and sass to spare."[3] David Browne of Entertainment Weekly called the song "an utterly derivative piece of song-and-dance pop-R&B," but did highlight the rhythm and guitar sounds as "intriguing" and the lyrical catfight for having "enough hiss in it to be interesting."[4] A writer for People, reviewing the album, was less positive towards the song's adult content and preferred the tracks "Mr. Telephone Man" and "How Long" for how "the girls sound their age."[5]

The song gave them a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award nomination for Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist, Group, Band or Duo[6] but lost to 3LW's "No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)".[7]

Billboard placed "He Loves U Not" at No. 36 on their list of the 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.[8]

Commercial performance

"He Loves U Not" was a U.S. hit, peaking at No. 1 on the Hot Singles Sales chart, and No. 3 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart. The song debuted at No. 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of September 30, 2000.[9] Six weeks later, it entered the top 40 at No. 32 for the week of November 11, 2000.[10] It entered the top 10 at No. 8 for the week of December 16, 2000.[11] Despite impressive sales, the song couldn't get past rival girl group Destiny's Child's 11-week reign at No. 1 with "Independent Women", thus as a result, the song peaked at No. 2 for two weeks. It also reached No. 15 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart the week of January 6, 2001.[12] It was certified Gold by the RIAA on January 2, 2001 for selling over 500,000 copies in the United States.[13]

In Australia, the song entered the ARIA Singles Chart on March 11, 2001 and stayed there for three weeks, peaking at No. 35. The song was also released in the United Kingdom, peaking at No. 17 on the UK Singles Chart on March 17, 2001 and stayed there for seven weeks.

Music video

The music video for "He Loves U Not" was shot June 28–30, 2000 and directed by Marcus Raboy. It featured three settings: in the first, the girls, clad in pink outfits, danced in a white room with the Dream logo flashing behind them; in the second, the girls danced on stage in a California desert; in the third, the girls moved around a rotating white room; the same one used previously in the videos for *NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye" and Sugar Ray's "Fly".[14]

The video debuted at No. 9 on MTV's Total Request Live (TRL) on December 11, 2000. The video peaked at No. 2 on March 29, 2001 and was retired after spending 65 days on the countdown. It was the first video by an all-female group to be retired on TRL.

Live performances

Dream first performed the song live on November 26, 2000 by touring with fellow pop group *NSYNC on the second leg of their No Strings Attached Tour in the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The song was also performed when they opened alongside Baha Men and Debelah Morgan for 98 Degrees on their Revelation Tour (2001)[15] and on MTV's Total Request Live Tour (2001).[16]

They made their television debut performing it live on TRL on December 11, 2000 to promote the premiere of the song's music video. On January 24, 2001, they performed it on two talk shows to promote the release of their debut album a day before: Live with Regis in Las Vegas[17] and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.[18] On February 12, it was performed on The Rosie O'Donnell Show.[19] On June 10, they performed this and "This Is Me" at the 2001 Walt Disney World Summer Jam Concert, aboard the Disney Wonder cruise ship in the Bahamas.[20] A week later, they performed it at Wango Tango, an annual all-day concert organized by KIIS-FM, in California.[21] Troy J. Augusto of Variety put their performance alongside Eden's Crush and Vertical Horizon's, saying that they were "easy to forget."[22] Eight days later, they appeared on The Early Show on June 25, 2001 to perform this and "This Is Me".[23] On August 28, 2001, they performed both album and remix versions of the song at the 7th Annual Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards.[7]

Track listings

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of It Was All a Dream.[24]

Recording

  • Recorded and mixed at Canyon Reverb, The Sweatbox & Sony Studios, CA

Personnel

Charts and certifications

References
  1. Billboard (August 26, 2000). Reviews & Previews: Singles. 112. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 22. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "It Was All a Dream - Dream". AllMusic. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  3. Berger, Arion (January 23, 2001). "It Was All A Dream : Dream : Review". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Archived from the original on January 3, 2008. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  4. Browne, David (January 26, 2001). "It Was All a Dream". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Archived from the original on January 3, 2008. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  5. "Picks and Pans Review: It Was All a Dream". People. Meredith Corporation. January 22, 2001. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  6. "Scott, 3LW, Anderson Lead Lady Soul Noms". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. July 31, 2001. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  7. van Horn, Teri (August 29, 2001). "Aaliyah's Absence Felt At Lady Of Soul Awards". MTV. Viacom. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  8. "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time: Critics' Picks". Billboard. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  9. "The Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 30, 2000. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  10. "The Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. November 11, 2000. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  11. "The Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. December 16, 2000. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  12. "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. January 6, 2001. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  13. "American single certifications – Dream – He Loves U Not". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
  14. "Rando / Other pages / Broadcast/Film/Commercial". Rando Productions. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  15. Schumacher-Rasmussen, Eric (February 22, 2001). "Baha Men, Debelah Morgan Join Dream/98 Degrees Tour". MTV. Viacom. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  16. Chung, Sandra M. (August 24, 2001). "Concert Review: MTV's TRL Tour Arrives". The Tech. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  17. "Episode 93". Live with Regis. Season 13. January 24, 2001. WABC-TV.
  18. "Episode 27". The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Season 9. January 24, 2001. NBC.
  19. "Episode 110". The Rosie O'Donnell Show. Season 5. February 12, 2001. NBC.
  20. "The Summer Kicks Off With the 'Walt Disney World Summer Jam Concert'". PR Newswire. May 25, 2001. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  21. Nichols, Natalie (June 19, 2001). "Wango Tango Serves Up Pop-Pourri". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  22. Augusto, Troy J. (June 18, 2001). "Review: 'Wango Tango, Day Two'". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  23. "Episode 445". The Early Show. June 25, 2001. CBS.
  24. It Was All a Dream (liner notes). Bad Boy Records. 2001. 78612-73037-2.
  25. "Australian-charts.com – Dream – He Loves U Not". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  26. "Dream Chart History (Canadian Digital Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  27. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 18 no. 14. March 31, 2001. p. 19. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  28. "Offiziellecharts.de – Dream – He Loves U Not". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  29. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Dream". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  30. "Dutchcharts.nl – Dream – He Loves U Not" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  31. "Charts.nz – Dream – He Loves U Not". Top 40 Singles.
  32. "Norwegiancharts.com – Dream – He Loves U Not". VG-lista.
  33. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  34. "Swedishcharts.com – Dream – He Loves U Not". Singles Top 100.
  35. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  36. "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  37. "Official R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  38. "Dream Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  39. "Dream Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  40. "Dream Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  41. "Dream Chart History (Tropical Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  42. "Dream Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  43. "Dream Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
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