I Need Love

The drums were played with a Roland TR-808 and the keyboard tone was played with a Yamaha DX7 using the Fulltines patch.

It reached #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 while becoming one of the first rap songs to enjoy mainstream popularity in the UK, reaching #8 in the UK Singles Chart. The single won a Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap Single in 1988 Soul Train Music Awards. The song ranked #13 on About.com's Top 100 Rap Songs.[1] It was Number 60 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.

A-side

1. "I Need Love" – 5:23

B-side

1. "I Need Love" (edit) – 4:15
2. "My Rhyme Ain't Done" – 3:45

The music, both melody and beats, were lifted from an instrumental by Brooklyn songwriter Jayson Dyall entitled "Zoraida's Heartbeat" which was written and recorded in 1984.[4] This song, along with other songs on a cassette tape of several raw recordings by Jayson Dyall, was presented to LL Cool J by an associate, who met Dyall through a music classifieds ad in early 1986 and told him he could get LL to listen to his music. Dyall never received any acknowledgment from LL Cool J or Def Jam Records for originally writing the music for this song.(You can listen to original instrumental recording of song at: https://www.reverbnation.com/jaydyallsongbook/song/24220571-zoraidas-heart-1984-instrumental)

• Irish singer-songwriter Luka Bloom recorded a cover version of the song on his 1992 album The Acoustic Motorbike.
• R&B group Blaque sampled the song on their track "Don't Go Looking for Love", which originally appeared on their 1999 self-titled debut album.
• Rapper Necro used the beat on his song "I Need Drugs", which was released on his 2000 album, I Need Drugs.
• Master P sampled this song on his single "I Need Dubs", featuring son Romeo, on his 2005 album Ghetto Bill.
• Amanda Blank sampled the song on "A Love Song" from her 2009 album I Love You.
• Krizz Kaliko copied lyrics of the song for the first few lines of his song "Anxiety", on his debut album Vitiligo by saying, "When I'm alone in my room, sometimes I stare at the wall/And in the back of my mind, I hear my conscious call/Telling me I need a gun."
• Yo Gotti sampled the song on his single "Let's Vibe" featuring Pleasure P.
• Rick Ross sampled the song on the single "Aston Martin Music" featuring Drake and Chrisette Michele from his 2010 album Teflon Don.