"Your Love" is the debut single recorded by Trinidadian-born American rapper and singer Nicki Minaj, taken from her debut studio album Pink Friday (2010). It was released on June 1, 2010 by Young Money, Cash Money, and Universal Motown as the lead single of the album. The song was written by Minaj, Joseph Hughes, David Freeman, and Andrew "Pop" Wansel, and was produced by the latter. Minaj originally intended to release "Massive Attack" as the lead single from Pink Friday, though its release was scrapped after an underwhelming commercial performance.
Described as a "rap ballad", the song is a change of tempo compared to Minaj's previous work, and according to Mariel Concepcion of Billboard, the song contains a "new brand of hood majesty." The song samples Annie Lennox's 1995 cover version of the song "No More I Love You's" (1986) by The Lover Speaks, using its background vocals with additional bass, hip-hop backbeats and drum loops added. The song peaked at numbers 14 and four on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts, respectively. As of June 2016 the song has sold 1.5 million digital downloads.
Background[]
The first version of "Your Love" appeared on Nicki Minaj's unofficial mixtape Barbie World (2010), with different lyrics included in the pre-chorus along with a faster pace. Another version was later stolen and leaked online. The song underwent minor lyrical adjustments and mixing before being sent to mainstream radio, as the first official single from Minaj's debut album Pink Friday (2010). In an interview with Hot 93.7 radio, Minaj spoke about the leak of the song, saying "That was a leak and I was so upset they put it out 'cause I recorded that song like two years ago. Next thing you know, people started falling in love with it." Whilst on set on the music video for "Your Love", Minaj further explain about the song's theft and leak, saying,
"I was not planning on putting the song out at all. But then I heard it one day, somebody told me it was online. And I was like, 'No way, no way in the world that song is out.' I went and listened to it and was really upset. It wasn't mixed, it wasn't finished, it wasn't anything — I wasn't gonna use it at all. But then radio started playing it."
Rap-Up posted cover art featuring a close up of Minaj smirking to her right, however for unknown reasons the art work was changed. The new cover features a cartoon version of Minaj, made by illustrator Asia Kendrick-Horton who posted it for Minaj on Twitter.