“How To Love” is a song by Lil Wayne, released as the third single from his ninth studio album, Tha Carter IV. The song features production from Noel “Detail” Fisher with LaMar and LaNelle Seymour p/k/a Drum Up. It was later released to urban contemporary radio stations in May 2011. The song also makes it his first entry on hot adult contemporary stations, as CJFM-FM Montreal began playing it a month later after the single’s release. It recently peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it his third highest peak on the chart. Lil Wayne performed the song at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. “How to Love” received generally positive reviews from critics, complimenting the low tone and mellow meaning in the lyrics. Watch the official music video below…
The song features a slow, “stripped down”production, based largely around the sounds of an acoustic guitar and drums. Wayne has said the song is about women who “don’t know how to love because there’s deep reasons for them not knowing how to love…And what I mean by deep reasons is deep and dark reasons.” Furthermore Wayne stated regarding the track that “A lot of people don’t open up that can and I figured that I can open up that can of worms and see what happens.”
The music video premiered in August 2011 on MTV Jams as “Jam of the Week”.In an interview with MTV News, Detail revealed that the video had been written entirely by Wayne himself, and felt that the video would “have a big, big effect, and it’s going to shock you because [of] the perspective you might look at it as”. He also felt that the video “crosses rap’s boundaries” with the song’s unusual style, and also stated that “after he showed me the video concept, it’s like, ‘Yo, dude, we’re gonna be at the Country Awards with this record,’… we gonna be sitting next to Taylor Swift.” It is also directed by Chris Robinson. Actor and singer Tristan Wilds makes a cameo appearance.
Pop Crush commended the “new side” displayed by Lil Wayne in the song, stating “we haven’t heard Young Weezy like this before, but if [it] is a result of his new lady friend, we welcome it with open arms. Not that we want the rap master to go all singer-songwriter on us, but this gem shows that even the hardest of exteriors can have a gooey center.” It also reached #1 in the Rhythmic Top 40 and two weeks later it returned to that spot.
The official remix features Enrique Iglesias singing in Spanish and the instrumental is slightly different. Young Money labelmate Shanell released a remix which she stated ‘tells the story from the girls point of view’. Pop singer Tinashe also released a cover version along with a music video (as seen above). R&B singer Pleasure P remixed the song, calling his version “How To Fuck”. Rapper Crooked I released a remix, entitled “How To Thug”. I have to say that I am amazed by this song. It leaves me with a feeling of sadness for the female in the video. His last song released in 2009 called “Prom Queen” and the story of a girl he was once in love with, during his high school years. Let me know what you think about the song below…
