From The Vault this week salutes one of the biggest Hip-Hop/R&B tracks of all time: it’s ‘Hey Lover’ by LL Cool J & Boyz II Men.
Based on a sample of ‘The Lady In My Life’ by the King Of Pop Michael Jackson, ‘Lover’ was the first single to be lifted from LL’s sixth album, 1995’s ‘Mr Smith’ and was helmed by Trackmasters. 90’s fantastic four Boyz II Men were brought in to bring that certain R&B sweetener to the romantic Hip-Hop serenade.
A critical success, it was a chart homerun as well peaking at #3 on both the Hot 100 and Hot Hip-Hop/R&B charts and topped the now-defunct Hot Rap Singles tally. In the UK it was a Top 20 smash, where it reached the 17th position of the UK Official Singles Chart.
To cap it off, the classic won a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance, LL’s second in that category.
Hype Williams was enlisted (again!) to direct the song’s accompanying video which stands as Mr Todd Smith’s most celebrated visual offering.
**********
Collaborations like this always leave us wondering what would be their modern-day equivalents. Granted the talent is more sparse in this day and age, we feel no time is better than the present for the next iconic Rap-Sung collaboration to manifest. While we have our wishlist, we’d like to know yours: