"Love the Way You Lie" is a song by American rapper Eminem featuring Barbadian singer Rihanna from Eminem's seventh studio album Recovery (2010). Skylar Grey wrote and recorded a demo of the song alongside producer Alex da Kid. Eminem wrote the verses and chose Rihanna to sing the chorus, resulting in a collaboration influenced by their past experiences in difficult relationships. Recording sessions were held in Ferndale, Michigan, and Dublin, Ireland. Backed by guitar, piano and violin, the track is a midtempo hip-hop ballad with a pop refrain, sung by Rihanna, and describes two lovers who refuse to separate despite being in an abusive relationship.
Interscope Records released the song in June 2010 as the second single from Recovery. Critics praised its melody but were divided on its thematic aspects such as poignancy and accuracy. Eminem promoted the single with performances at the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo, the MTV Video Music Awards and festivals. The music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, stars Dominic Monaghan and Megan Fox as lovers in a violent relationship and shows Eminem and Rihanna in front of a burning house. The video met with a mixed reception due to scenes of domestic violence. Reporters suggested that the song and its accompanying video were influenced by Eminem's and Rihanna's abusive relationships with their respective ex-lovers, Kim Scott and Chris Brown.
Critics listed "Love the Way You Lie" among the best tracks of 2010 and of Eminem's career. The song won many awards and received five Grammy nominations. It is Eminem's best-selling single and ranked number one on several record charts, including the US Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks. The single sold over 12 million copies in the US and 1.5 million in the UK. Musical acts such as Cher Lloyd and the Band Perry have performed cover versions. Rihanna has said that the theme of domestic violence, a topic on which she claims many people do not have insight, is what makes the song impactful. She later recorded with him again on "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)", narrated mostly from her perspective. "Love the Way You Lie" peaked at number one in 22 countries.
Writing and production
The development of "Love the Way You Lie" began with the backing track and hook melody, which was created by British hip hop producer Alex da Kid. When making a track, he explained that he spends hours making loops and produces an electronic drum rhythm before adding live instrumentation. The drums are sampled from live recordings he saved. Alex da Kid recorded an acoustic guitar for the verses with a Neumann U 87 microphone and an Avid Mbox audio interface. He told Sound on Sound magazine that this song had given him an opportunity to reintroduce live guitar in hip hop music. During the session, he used Waves RVerb and REQ equalization on his main kick track and a MaxxBass plug-in on two others.
Writing began in late 2009, when singer Skylar Grey resided at the Artula Retreat in Bandon, Oregon, and wrote songs. Later, in New York City, she visited her Universal Music publisher, Jennifer Blakeman, to seek help presenting her work; Blakeman suggested she collaborate with Alex da Kid. The producer emailed Grey his track, which suggested a theme of abusive romantic relationships to her as she spontaneously sang lyrics to the melody. She told the Los Angeles Times that she was in an abusive relationship with the music industry: "I love it so much, and I give it all that I have, yet it beats me down." This idea inspired her writing, a process she found came naturally, as if she were creating an alternative pop song for herself. She wrote the chorus to "Love the Way You Lie" in fifteen minutes and recorded vocals for Alex da Kid's demo.
In early 2010, Alex da Kid offered Shady Records senior director Rigo Morales some backing tracks. Morales enjoyed the tracks and sent them to Eminem, who was seeking a different musical approach for his next album. Impressed with Alex da Kid's work, Eminem asked for more tracks and subsequently heard "Love the Way You Lie". He chose it and told his manager Paul Rosenberg he wanted to collaborate with the Barbadian singer Rihanna. Eminem told Skyrock, "It's one of those tracks that I felt like only she could pull it off." Rosenberg sent the track to Rihanna, who accepted Eminem's request "at the last moment." Eminem wrote the rapped verses to the song.
Rihanna has also said she joined the collaboration because she could relate to the theme of the song, as she and Eminem had been in difficult relationships on "different ends of the table". Eminem had released the songs "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" (1998) and "Kim" (2000), in which he fantasizes, respectively, about murdering and verbally abusing his then-wife Kim Scott. They had divorced in 2001 and again in 2006 after a remarriage. In February 2009, Rihanna's relationship with the R&B singer Chris Brown had ended following his felony assault on her. Rihanna described "Love the Way You Lie" as unique, realistic and deep, saying that it "broke down the cycle of domestic violence" because few people had insight on the topic.
Recording Mike Strange recorded and mixed Eminem's vocals at Effigy Studios in Ferndale, Michigan. The sessions took two days. Strange edited the vocals with D-Verb—a reverberation software—and an Extra Long Delay plug-in. He preferred to make few changes; for "Love the Way You Lie" he almost exclusively used board compression and console equalization. Strange used the Bricasti and Eventide Reverb 2016 mixing tools for "brighter" reverberation. Detroit musician Luis Resto has contributed to the arrangement on many of Eminem's songs, but did not do so for "Love the Way You Lie". According to Strange, "Everything we needed was already in the track, apart from the vocals." Two to three weeks after the sessions, Alex da Kid arrived to help mix and master the track. He wanted to replace the acoustic guitar on the demo, but Eminem chose to keep it. Strange said, "It was simply a matter of trying to match and then to improve on the demo [Alex da Kid]'d sent us." Strange's brother Joe engineered the track.
Rihanna's recording sessions took place at Sun Studios in Dublin, Ireland, and were engineered by Marcos Tovar. The R&B songwriter Makeba Riddick provided additional vocal production. Strange used equalization, compression and reverberation but left the vocal balance. He assumed that Rihanna was satisfied with her recorded vocals and did not make major changes on her seven stereo vocal tracks.
Composition
"Love the Way You Lie" is a midtempo hip hop ballad. The lyrics describe a couple's refusal to separate despite having an abusive relationship. The song's sheet music is in the key of G minor with a time signature and a tempo of 87 beats per minute. The vocal range spans from B3 to D5. "Love the Way You Lie" opens as Rihanna sings the pop refrain over a piano:
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn?Well, that's alright because I like the way it hurts.Just gonna stand there and hear me cry? Well, that's alright because I love the way you lie. I love the way you lie.
The refrain is based on a Gm–E(add2)–B–F/A chord progression. Fraser McAlpine of the BBC wrote that Rihanna feels confined "in a cell of [her] own creation". She sings without vibrato, a pulsating musical effect used to add expression. One commentator, The New York Times David Browne, wrote that despite this, her voice subtly shows grief and regret. Eminem then "zap[s] out into a ballady rap": "I can't tell you what it really is/ I can only tell you what it feels like." The verses follow a Gm–E(add2)B–Fsus/A chord progression. Eminem regrets an end to an abusive, failed relationship, describing mutual violence and expressing both fondness and anger. The two artists' roles are portrayed in a romantic relationship when he responds to Rihanna by concluding the verse: "I laid hands on her. I'll never stoop so low again/ I guess I don't know my own strength." Rihanna sings the hook again, backed by an electric guitar and a piano.
Acoustic guitar, violin and drums accompany Eminem's verses. The lyrics transition from discussing positive aspects of love to describing violent events. Eminem raps, "It's the rage that took over, it controls you both, so they say it's best to go your separate ways. Guess that they don't know ya, cause today that was yesterday." Sady Doyle of The Atlantic interpreted these lyrics as the rapper's confession to having abused Scott, as he "turns the anger and accusations toward himself". In the second verse, Eminem accepts the outcome after feeling sorry, admitting, "Yesterday is over, it's a different day." His frustration increases and he raps that two personalities can clash and devastate: "maybe that's what happens when a tornado meets a volcano". The described love–hate relationship worsens and leads to domestic violence. Eminem admits to lying about promises he makes and explains late in the song, "If she ever tries to fuckin' leave again, I'ma tie her to the bed and set this house on fire", a reference to Rihanna's lyrics. Ironically, Eminem writes about Chris Brown's 2009 abuse, rapping "Spewing venom in your words when you spit 'em, You push, pull each other's hair, scratch, claw, bit 'em".
Release and response On May 27, 2010, Eminem revealed the title of "Love the Way You Lie" as part of the track list of his seventh studio album Recovery, which came out on June 21. Initially a radio single, the song was released later by Polydor Records as a CD in the United Kingdom on August 9, 2010. Interscope Records distributed it in Germany on August 20.
"Love the Way You Lie" received generally favorable reviews. An editor for Rap-Up listed it among the four best tracks from the album. New York Times writer Jon Caramanica considered it "one of the album's most engaging songs" and praised Eminem's ability to assess issues from the perspectives of both sexes. MTV's Rodriguez wrote that the song echoes content from Eminem's earlier albums, but finds him "sober" and "more mature". He added that the lyrics allude to Eminem's relationship with Scott and that "Love the Way You Lie" is his closest approach to a love song. Editors of The A.V. Club compared the single with "Kim" and 97 Bonnie & Clyde"; they found he is more tempered in "Love the Way You Lie" when discussing a "mutually destructive relationship" and that Rihanna's involvement creates an eerie mood.
Critics especially praised Rihanna's contribution. Michael Menachem of Billboard complimented her "exquisitely melodic and surprisingly hopeful" vocal performance and "Eminem's dark, introspective" rapping. He noted that the percussion complements both artists and that Alex da Kid gave the classical arrangement a mainstream touch. Kyle Anderson, writing for MTV, remarked that the song showcases Rihanna's emotional vocals and Eminem's "most intense rhymes about his tumultuous relationships". He regarded "Love the Way You Lie" as an honest, "well-constructed pop song with a killer hook" and likened the "slow-burning" music to that of "Someone like You", a 2011 single by the British singer Adele. The Houston Chronicle pop critic Joey Guerra commented that Rihanna brought a "sandpaper and silk sheen" to the track.
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