"One Love" is a song by American rapper Nas, released October 25, 1994 on Columbia Records. It was issued as the fifth and final radio single in promotion of his debut studio album Illmatic (1994). The song was produced by Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, who also contributed vocals for the chorus line. According to Nas, the title of the song originates from Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician Bob Marley's song of the same name.

"One Love" is composed as a series of letters written by Nas to his incarcerated friends, describing events that have occurred prior to and after the receivers' imprisonment. "One Love" contains samples of the Heath Brothers' "Smilin' Billy Suite Part II" (1975) and Parliament's "Come In Out of the Rain" (1972), along with an interpolation of Whodini's One Love (1986). In the song's first verse, Nas references fellow Queensbridge emcee Cormega, whose rapping career had been put on hold due to his incarceration during the early 1990s. In 2008, VH1 named "One Love" the forty-eighth greatest hip-hop song.Hip Hop Press: VH1's '100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs'

Background and recording While producing A Tribe Called Quest's Midnight Marauders album, Q-Tip had his production setup in the house basement of Phife Dawg's grandmother.Q-Tip Red Bull Music Academy. Accessed on October 13, 2017.Large Professor Remembers His 'Witty, Sharp, Smooth' Friend Phife Dawg Billboard. Accessed on October 13, 2017. After Q-Tip met with Nas in the basement, Nas heard the main sample and decided to use it for "One Love". Q-Tip created the beat there, using the pause tape method of production.“Summoned By Aliens”: How Beastie Boys, Pete Rock, Q-Tip & Others Changed Rap Music With The Pause-Tape HipHopDX. Accessed on August 12, 2017. At the recording session, after Nas's verses were recorded, Q-Tip "finessed" the song's drum programming.

Composition "One Love" samples the mbira (thumb piano), double bass and piano from the Heath Brothers' "Smilin' Billy Suite Part II" (1975) and contains a drum break from Parliament's "Come in out the Rain" (1970), which add to the song's mystical and hypnotic soundscape.Love, Dan. Deconstructing Illmatic . Oh Word. Retrieved on 2008-02-15.

Lyrically, "One Love" is composed of a series of letters written by Nas to incarcerated friends,Weinstein, S. "Nas." In Hess, M. (ed.), Icons of Hip-Hop, vol. 1, pp. 341–363 recounting mutual acquaintances and events that have occurred since the receiver's imprisonment,Hill, Marc. Illmatic (Anniversary Edition). PopMatters. Retrieved on 2006-02-11. including unfaithful girlfriends, emotionally tortured mothers and underdog loyalty.Illmatic: Ten-Year Anniversary Series Review on Blender . Maxim Digital. Retrieved on 2009-02-11. According to one writer, the phrase "one love" represents street loyalty in the song.IGN: Illmatic - 10 Year Anniversary Platinum Series . IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved on 2009-02-12. Nas later explained that the title of the song originated from Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley's song of the same name, which, according to writer Mickey Hess, "echoed the ubiquitous street salutation 'one' (similar to 'peace') used around Nas's neighborhood." In a 1994 article on the distinct styles of East Coast and West Coast hip-hop, music journalist Touré referred to "One Love" as an example of the thematic differences between the two regional scenes, stating:

Among those referenced in the song was fellow Queensbridge-based rapper Cormega ("And night time is more trife than ever/What up with Cormega, did you see him, are y'all together?").Birchmeier, Jason. [ Cormgea: Biography]. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-02-22. Cormega's rapping career had been put on hold due to his incarceration during the early 1990s, before his release in 1995. After delivering "shout-outs to locked down comrades", Nas chastizes a youth who seems destined for prison in the final verse, "Shorty's laugh was cold blooded as he spoke so foul/Only twelve tryin to tell me that he liked my style ... Words of wisdom from Nas, try to rise up above/Keep a eye out for Jake, shorty-wop, one love".RapReviews: Illmatic. RapReviews. Retrieved on 2009-02-11. Music writer Susan Weinstein wrote that "the literary technique Nas most strongly excels in is the one that would seem to be most pedestrian: rhyme", and cited "One Love" as the first display of Nas's "formal inventiveness".

Retrospect From artist:

Track listing A-side "One Love" (Album Version) (5:23) "One Love" (Radio Edit) (5:23) "One Love" (Album Instrumental) (5:23) "One Love" (Acappella) (5:21)

B-side "One Love" (LG Main Mix) (5:33) Produced by The LG Experience "One Love" (LG Radio Edit) (4:29) "One Love" (LG Instrumental) (2:06) "One Love" (One L Main Mix) (5:43) Produced by Godfather Don and Victor Padilla "One Love" (One L Radio Edit) (4:48) "One Love" (One L Instrumental) (1:55)

Charts Chart (1994) Peakposition

Notes

References

External links One Love Single at Discogs One Love Lyrics at Genius