My Love Is Your Love is the fourth studio album by American singer Whitney Houston, released worldwide on November 17, 1998. The album is one of the best-selling female albums of all time, having been certified four times platinum in both the United States and Europe. As of May 2000, My Love Is Your Love sold over 10 million copies worldwide. It was Houston's first studio album in eight years, following I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990) although she had contributed to three movie soundtracks during that period (performing all songs on the soundtrack to The Preacher's Wife). Musically, My Love Is Your Love is a hip hop and R&B album that is composed of elements of pop, gospel and dance music, produced by musicians such as Whitney Houston herself, Rodney Jerkins, Soulshock & Karlin, Missy Elliott, Wyclef Jean, David Foster, Lauryn Hill, and Babyface.
It is notable for introducing elements of hip hop into Houston's work, only sparingly used in her previous material. The album was a hit in Europe, peaking #1 for 6 weeks on European Top 100 Albums, selling over 4.3 million copies. It generated several hit singles: "When You Believe", a duet with Mariah Carey, which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 71st Academy Awards ceremony; "Heartbreak Hotel", which features Kelly Price and Faith Evans; "It's Not Right but It's Okay". The title track "My Love Is Your Love", was certified platinum and became Houston's third-best-selling single ever; and "I Learned from the Best".
My Love Is Your Love received positive reviews and is regarded as one of her best studio albums. At the 42nd Grammy Awards of 2000, the album received seven nominations, including Best R&B Album and Best R&B Song, twice. Houston won for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "It's Not Right But It's Okay", her sixth and final Grammy Award. The album cemented Houston’s status as a pop culture icon.
Background
By 1998, Houston had enjoyed a very successful career, releasing three studio albums and two official soundtrack albums along with contributing to a third soundtrack. It had been eight years since Houston had released a full-length studio album since I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990), which sold over ten million copies worldwide and became the best-selling R&B album by an artist in 1991. After Houston began her successful film career in 1992, Houston focused on that part of her career but still contributed a lot of music in the interim. The Bodyguard (1992) went on to be the singer's best-selling album ever, as well as one of the best-selling albums of all time thanks to hit ballads "I Will Always Love You" and "I Have Nothing", the former being the best-selling single ever by a woman while the soundtrack to The Preacher's Wife, earned a record as the best-selling gospel release in history. But by 1997, Houston's label boss, Arista head Clive Davis wrote her a letter reminding her that she had "not recorded a studio album in seven years" and that she had only released several singles that "were chosen to integrate into the characters of two motion pictures" and that "so insofar as your position as the number one contemporary artist in the world, you are practically missing in action".
Recording
Since contemporary R&B was becoming the dominant genre in music at the time, Houston opted to record with some of the genre's current producers, including Missy Elliott, The Fugees' Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill and Rodney Jerkins, fresh off the success of his production on singer Brandy's sophomore album, Never Say Never (1998). Davis added the rising European R&B production team Soulshock and Karlin, while retaining Houston's previous producers Babyface and David Foster. Most of the music was recorded at Houston's home studio, Crossway Studios, in Mendham, New Jersey. Due to this arrangement, it became the fastest-recording album of Houston's career at just six weeks, recorded mostly between August and October of 1998.
Prior to working on content for the album, Houston had been approached by songwriter Stephen Schwartz to contribute vocals to the song "When You Believe" off the soundtrack to the upcoming film, The Prince of Egypt without Houston knowing it would be a duet between her and fellow singer Mariah Carey. However, the duet recording, produced by Babyface, helped the two artists to become friends and Houston would later discuss meeting her after they met at another recording session for the song. After the song was recorded, Houston's and Carey's labels agreed to include the song as the leading single off their upcoming albums, with Carey putting the duet on her first compilation album, Number Ones. Houston and Carey's friendship carried on until Houston's death.
Soulshock and Karlin gave Houston the song "Heartbreak Hotel" after the R&B group TLC turned the song down; it was decided that the song would become a duet with younger singers Faith Evans and Kelly Price contributing complimentary vocals on the song's bridge and chorus. Initially, Houston's volatile husband, singer Bobby Brown contributed to the song by rapping the intro, "this is the heart-break ho-tel..." Only after Clive Davis heard playback did he demand Brown's vocals be removed from the track; he was replaced by Houston doing the rap herself. With Foster, Houston recorded the Diane Warren-penned "I Learned From the Best"; during the song's production, Houston convinced Foster to "add those Chicago horns in it". In addition to "When You Believe", Babyface produced the songs "Until You Come Back", "I Bow Out" and "You'll Never Stand Alone", the latter two, also penned or co-written by Warren in her first collaborations with Houston since the Aretha Franklin duet, "It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be" (1989). Elliott, with whom Houston had personally called herself, would give Houston the songs "Oh Yes" and "In My Business".
Hill, fresh from producing Aretha Franklin's comeback hit of that year, "A Rose Is Still a Rose", originally gave Houston the neo soul ballad, "All That I Can Say", but Houston figured the song was a better fit for fellow contemporary soul singer Mary J. Blige, who ended up recording the song for her fourth album, Mary (1999). Instead, Hill produced a rendition of Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made to Love Her", recorded with the genders reversed and Houston rewriting portions of the song in dedication to her husband and in which featured Houston's group, Sunday providing background vocals. Jean's contribution was for the song that was to be the title track. Jerkins would provide the album's remaining songs, "Get It Back", "If I Told You That" and "It's Not Right but It's Okay" as well as "I Bow Out", in which he co-produced with Babyface. Houston later told the press that initially, she and Davis had discussed recording a couple of songs for a greatest-hits compilation but said that the more she began working on new music, the more that it turned into a completely full new album.
Music, themes and content
Considered a departure from Houston's trademark urban pop music and considered a hip-hop and R&B album, Houston recorded under a variety of genres including hip-hop soul, gospel, funk, neo soul, reggae fusion, pop rock, quiet storm, Latin soul and torch songs with most of the songs focusing on relationship themes such as infidelity while also focusing on family and tabloid media, making the album a little personal than in most of Houston's records up until that time in her career.
The opening track, "It's Not Right but It's Okay" featured tribal R&B beats similar to works by Brandy and Aaliyah, whose One in a Million (1996) was helping to shape the current R&B sound, dealt with infidelity and featured an aggressive vocal from Houston, who vocally arranged the song with ad-libs and additional lyrics. At one point, Houston began singing with the cadence of a Baptist preacher, especially near the end of the song. The song's style was later deemed R&B and neo soul. "Heartbreak Hotel", another song that dealt with infidelity, was a complimentary duet between Houston and younger singers Faith Evans and Kelly Price, that had elements of hip-hop soul. "My Love Is Your Love", the title track that was dedicated to family, was a reggae fusion track that featured Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown contributing spoken background vocals to encourage her mother. "When You Believe", a duet with fellow contemporary singer Mariah Carey is a gospel song that explains miracles can happen if one believes in them.
"If I Told You That" is a hip-hop soul track about a woman wanting to be more than friends with a suitor of hers. "In My Business" is another hip-hop soul track that deals with negative attention from tabloid media and includes a rap from Missy Elliott. "I Learned From the Best" is an R&B song with pop rock elements and includes synthesized horns and returns to the album's earlier theme of infidelity. "Oh Yes" is a quiet storm ballad with Latin soul elements, dedicated to romance. "Get It Back", another hip-hop influenced tribal R&B song, talks of reviving a broken relationship, which is repeated in the torch soul ballad, "Until You Come Back". "I Bow Out" returns to the theme of infidelity with classical music and hip-hop elements and the narrator ending the relationship as if ending a stage play. "You'll Never Stand Alone", a more traditional Houston pop-soul ballad, was dedicated to her daughter, while the ending track, "I Was Made to Love Him", which featured Houston's group at the time, Sunday, was rewritten by Houston and Hill to reflect on Houston's marriage to Bobby Brown. During the album's initial release, it was labeled as a hidden track and was the only cover on the entire record.
Singles
Houston would release five singles on the album, all of whom were officially released worldwide. In the US, the album produced five top 40 hits, the most for a Houston release since Whitney (1987) produced five top ten singles. Four of the singles charted inside the top 20, while three were top five singles, Houston's fourth consecutive studio release to do so, and her fifth album overall (including The Bodyguard) to do so. Houston would sell a combined 3.9 million units of all five singles in the country alone, while in the UK, the five Houston singles, which also reached the top 40 there and also produce three top five singles, sold a combined total of 1.09 million units, making Houston the eighth best-selling singles artist of 1999. The singles also achieved success in other countries such as Canada, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Romania and Poland among other countries.
The duet single, "When You Believe", with singer Mariah Carey, became the leading single throughout November and December, first debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 50 on December 5, 1998, which was the first Hot 100 chart to allow airplay-only songs to enter the chart. Despite expectations the song would become a big hit due to the star power of Houston and Carey, it peaked at number fifteen on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 30, 1999, and peaked at a low number 33 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles & Tracks on February 13. Billboard was unfavorable towards the single, commenting "Given the potential of these two [Houston and Carey] powerhouse voices, however, the song falls flat with a surprisingly understated and downright disappointing bridge: You wait and wait for the duel of the divas, and it simply never materializes," but positive of Houston's performance; "The genuine story in this track is the return of Houston, who sounds fantasticㅡas clear and confident as ever." Despite its lower-than-expected chart performance, the song still was certified gold by the RIAA on March 24. Years later, on March 27, 2023, Carey's birthday, the song would be certified platinum for sales of a million copies. The duet was a huge global hit, reaching the top five in the UK, Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the top ten in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, and New Zealand. Thanks to popularity for the song across Europe, it eventually peaked at number two on the Eurochart Hot 100. It sold 260,000 copies sold in the UK at the end of 1999.
The second single, "Heartbreak Hotel", a duet between Faith Evans and Kelly Price, was officially released on December 15, 1998. Entering the Billboard Hot 100 at number 84 on December 26, after a commercial single was released, the song leaped to number 29, before peaking at number two six weeks later on March 27, making it Houston's first single to peak in the runner-up spot and was her biggest chart hit since "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" debuted at number one on the chart in November 1995. On the revamped Hot R&B Singles & Tracks chart, it debuted at number twenty three on January 9, 1999. In its first week of retail release, it shot up to number six and then climbed to number one the following week on February 13, where it would stay for seven consecutive weeks, her third longest tenure after "I Will Always Love You" and "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)". It would also become one of Houston's longest charting songs to date on the chart for 31 weeks. The single sold over 1,400,000 copies in the U.S. alone, becoming the third-best-selling single of 1999, and was certified Platinum by the RIAA on March 2, 1999.
"It's Not Right but It's Okay" became its third single, released on February 15, 1999. Prior to its North American release in May 1999, the song was the b-side of the "Heartbreak Hotel" maxi-single and, as a result, charted on several Billboard Hot 100 and R&B airplay and sales charts. It first debuted on the Hot R&B singles chart at number 64 on January 9, 1999. In its 24th week, the song reached its peak position of number seven. The song made its Billboard Hot 100 debut at number 87 on May 8, 1999. After its retail single was released, the song eventually peaked at number four on the chart on July 3, selling 522,000 units in the country alone. It was certified gold in the US on June 29. The song became another global hit, reaching number three in the UK, becoming her twelve top ten single there, and sold over 510,000 units, becoming the 25th best-selling song of the year in the region. The song made history in Canada by charting in the top five simultaneously on their official chart in August 1999, with the regular single reaching number three and the import single peaking at number five. Houston's promotion of the song in Europe helped to successfully reach several European charts, including Spain, where it reached number one. It would reach the top 20 in Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden. Due to its strong sales and chart success all over the European continent, it peaked at number nine on the Eurochart Hot 100.
The title track, "My Love Is Your Love" was the fourth single from the album, released on May 31, 1999. It was a massive hit worldwide, becoming another signature song for Whitney. The single was released in each European country around June 1999, prior to the United States. Upon release, the song was popular immediately across the continent, and became a bigger hit during the European leg of her My Love Is Your Love World Tour. In the UK, it peaked at number two on July 3rd. The single sold 525,000 copies there, becoming the twenty-second best-selling single of 1999. In Germany, it peaked at number two and was certified Platinum for shipments of 500,000 copies by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI). It also reached number two in other countries such as Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. In addition, it peaked inside the top ten in Belgium, Denmark, France, and Norway. Eventually the single topped the Eurochart Hot 100 for a week, becoming her fourth number one single, and was positioned at number six in the Eurochart top singles list of 1999. In New Zealand, it peaked at number one for a week, becoming Houston's third number-one single after 1987's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and 1992's "I Will Always Love You". Likewise, it was a hit in the United States. The song debuted at number eighty-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in September 1999 and peaked at number four in January 2000, becoming her 22nd top ten hit. In addition, it reached the number two position on the R&B singles chart, spending a total of thirty weeks on the chart. The single sold 1,100,000 copies and was certified Platinum by the RIAA on December 14, 1999. Worldwide it sold over 5 million copies and became her third-best-selling single ever, behind "I Will Always Love You" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)".
"I Learned from the Best" became the fifth and final single to be released from the album on November 15, 1999. The song debuted at number 83 on the Hot 100 and peaked at number 27. It reached number 13 on the R&B chart. According to SoundScan, the single sold 352,000 units in the US alone. Outside the US, it reached the top 40 in the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland., number 19 in the UK with 95,000 units sold, number 6 in Finland number 8 in Spain, and hit the top spot in both Romania and Poland.
Success on the dance charts
With this album, Houston released several dance and house remixes of the songs, all of which found huge success on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart. Houston became one of the few artists to produce four consecutive number one dance singles off a single album, first reaching number one in February 1999 with the Thunderpuss remix of "It's Not Right but It's Okay", which became one of her longest running number-ones at three weeks, then topping the chart again for a week with the Hex Hector remix of "Heartbreak Hotel", later in the year with "My Love Is Your Love" for two weeks, and finally the Junior Vasquez mix of "I Learned From the Best" for three weeks. Houston also topped the Billboard Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart twice with "My Love Is Your Love" topping for two weeks and "I Learned From the Best" topping for a single week. The two other maxi singles, "Heartbreak Hotel"/"It's Not Right but It's Okay" and "It's Not Right but It's Okay"/"I Will Always Love You" each reached number two.
Promotion and appearances
Tour
- Concerts
Houston performed three sold-out concerts, two shows a few days before the album's release, on November 13 and 14 at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. Both concerts showcased new songs from the album as well as hit songs from previous releases. Several media critics as well as a host of celebrities attended, including Luther Vandross, Brandy, and Wyclef Jean. The third show on November 19, Houston performed an expensive invitation-only charity concert at Cipriani's Wall Street's Grand Ballroom, audience attendees included Clive Davis, Kevin Costner, P. Diddy, Babyface, Mary J. Blige, and wealthy business socialites.
- Set list
- Notes
- Shows
- TV
Critical reception
Upon the album's debut, the album received positive responses from music critics. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone magazine commented that "It's easily her most consistent album ever—in fact, it's her first consistent album", and praised her mature voice as follows:
The former ingenue has some grown-up scars now, singing the marital blues with a bite in her voice that she's never come close to before. Did you think she'd crumble? Did you think she'd lay down and die? Then check out My Love, pal, and hear Houston prove beyond a doubt that she will survive.
Jon Pareles, in his review for the New York Times, praised her fully developed voice, too. He stated that her sound was "supple and devout", comparing Carey's fidgetting sound with every phrase in "When You Believe", and commented "Ms. Houston used to be similarly showy and disjointed, but now her improvisations bring emotional coherence to technical feats." With expressing his interest about any connections between her troubled marriage and her new materials, commented "Lest anyone draw other conclusions from the songs, the album carries a disclaimer." Also, he was almost positive about songs such as "It's Not Right But It's Okay", "Heartbreak Hotel" and "My Love Is Your Love". In Billboard magazine's review, the issue dated November 28, 1999, the magazine called the album "A tour de force that showcases her strengths in a wide array of musical genres from pop to R&B to gospel to dance." The publication also opined: "On an album with writing and production input from a diverse roster of players, Houston keeps it all together with her spectacular voice and singular artistic persona", declaring the album had "immense crossover potential"
Mark Bautz of Entertainment Weekly gave the album B , calling My Love Is Your Love "A schizophrenic album" and "A primer on today's hip-hop/R&B scene: the good, the bad." by reason of the unevenness of the album. He commented "Wyclef Jean's gorgeous reggae-tinged title song and three funky cuts by Rodney Jerkins showcase the 35-year-old Whitney Houston in all her creative, soulful maturity. In contrast, a trio of schmaltzy Babyface-produced tunes expose her as merely a gifted interpreter of bland radio-ready fare.". Similarly, TIME praised some new songs, calling the title song "superb" and Houston's remake of Stevie Wonder's classic "fabulous", but criticized the old-fashioned songs of the album sharply, commenting "The problem is with the Old Guard: producer David Foster's work is dull, and Dianne Warren and Babyface, who both wrote tracks, have better work on their respective resumes."
Writing for USA Today in November 1998, Steve Jones made a favorable comment on almost every song whether it is a ballad with her formula for success or a new styled song produced by hot, young producers who've updated and diversified her sound, stating "There's something here for just about everybody, whether you favor R&B, pop or adult contemporary radio." But he chose the remake "I Was Made To Love Him" as the best track of the album, complimenting the song highly, "The rollicking, gender-flipping remake". Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic, who gave the album four out of five stars, called it "easily ranks among her best" and complimented the musical diversity "Houston has never been quite so subtle before, nor has she ever shown this desire to branch out musically." But he also wasn't positive for adult contemporary ballads of the album, stating "In fact, the songs that feel the stiffest are the big production numbers; tellingly, they're the songs that are the most reminiscent of old-school Houston." Los Angeles Times gave it three out of four stars, writing "[It] reflect her growth as an artist and as an individual."
Commercial performance
Worldwide, the album's release was not preceded by that of any commercial singles, which initially resulted in it underperforming commercially. In the United States, My Love Is Your Love was released on November 17, 1998, when major records were released simultaneously for the holidays by high-profile musicians like Garth Brooks, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Jewel, Method Man, The Offspring and Seal besides her. Time magazine wrote, "Music-industry folks have dubbed it Super Tuesday because more than ten major pop acts issued new CDs on the single day, making it the heaviest release date ever." The week of December 5, 1998, the album entered the US Billboard 200 chart at number thirteen, which was the peak position of the album, and her lowest chart position at that point in time, with sales of 123,000 copies in its first week. That result was disappointing initially because the release was Houston's first non-soundtrack album in eight years and was highly anticipated. But eventually, the album became a commercial success, thanks to a series of hit singles, her energetic promotions and a successful world tour. My Love Is Your Love was present on the Billboard 200 chart for over a year, at 75 weeks, and on Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for 79 weeks, peaking at number seven. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album four-times platinum on November 1, 1999, for shipments of four million copies. According to the Nielson SoundScan, the album has sold 2,753,000 copies.
Across Europe, it was more successful than in the United States. In early times of its release, the commercial response for the album was short of expectations, but its sales rose sharply during the European leg of the My Love Is Your Love World Tour, which was the highest grossing arena concert tour of 1999 on the continent, and consequently My Love Is Your Love became the second best-selling album of 1999 in Europe, behind Cher's Believe, spending more than one year on the charts in many countries. In the United Kingdom, it reached number four on the albums chart and was certified 3× Platinum for shipments of 900,000 copies of the album by the British Phonographic Industry(BPI). In France, the album peaked at number two on the albums chart, and was certified 2× platinum by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP). In Germany, it climbed to the number two on the albums chart on its 35th week and has sold more than 670,000 copies. The album reached number one on the albums charts in Austria, Switzerland and Netherlands, and the top five in Belgium, Denmark, Norway and Finland. My Love Is Your Love was certified 4× platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for shipments of four million copies of the album in Europe. As of May 2000, the album sold over 10 million copies worldwide.
Track listing
Notes
- ^a denotes additional producer
Personnel
Adapted from AllMusic.
Charts
Certifications and sales
Accolades
Academy Awards
American Latino Media Arts (ALMA) Awards
American Music Awards
During Houston's career, she was nominated a total of seven times for "Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist" and "Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist" category, which of them won four and three respectively. Also, My Love Is Your Love was her fourth nomination for "Favorite Soul/R&B Album" category.
Bambi Verleihung (Bambi Awards)
Houston was honored with "Pop International" award for her 20 years outstanding career as a musical artist.
Billboard Music Awards
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
BMI Pop Awards
All winners are determined by the number of feature broadcast performances on American radio and TV during the eligibility year.
BRIT Awards
Golden Globe Awards
Grammy Awards
Houston won her first "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" award through her career. She had been nominated six times for this category but not won. This was her sixth and final Grammy Award.
MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Awards
MTV Europe Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
Houston was nominated for "Best R&B Video" for "Heartbreak Hotel" music video directed by Kevin Bray, which was her first nomination in thirteen years at VMAs since she has won the "Best Female Video" for "How Will I Know" at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards.
NAACP Image Awards
NRJ Music Awards
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Awards
Certification awards
Artists of the Century Awards
Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards
Soul Train Music Awards
Houston was honored "the Artist of the Decade, female" award in recognition of extraordinary artistic contributions during the 1990s.
Billboard Magazine Year-End Charts
See also
- List of best-selling albums by women
References
