Hate It or Love It

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"Hate It or Love It"
Single by The Game featuring 50 Cent
from the album The Documentary
Released January 28, 2005 (2005-01-28)
Format Digital download, CD single, 12 inch
Recorded 2004
Genre Hip hop
Length 3:26
Label G-Unit/Aftermath/Interscope
Writer(s) Jayceon Taylor, Curtis Jackson, Andre Lyon, Marcello Valenzano
Producer(s) Cool & Dre & Dr. Dre
Certification Gold (RIAA)
The Game singles chronology
"How We Do"
(2004)		 "Hate It or Love It"
(2005)		 "Dreams"
(2005)
50 Cent chronology
Disco Inferno
(2004)		 "Hate It or Love It"
(2005)		 "Candy Shop"
(2005)

"Hate It or Love It" is a single by American rapper and West Coast hip hop artist The Game, featuring vocals from 50 Cent. It was released as the third official single from The Game's debut studio album The Documentary (2005). The song features production from duo Cool & Dre, with additional production from Dr. Dre and B.G. Knocc Out. The song features a music sample of "Rubber Band" by The Trammps from their debut album The Legendary Zing Album (1975). "Hate It or Love It" achieved commercial success worldwide. The track peaked within the top 10 in multiple countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Netherlands and New Zealand. The single was commercially successful in the United States, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks, becoming The Game's second top-five single on the chart as a lead artist and 50 Cent's eighth overall top-ten hit.

The song was blocked from the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 by The Game's former G-Unit member-turnt-rival, 50 Cent (who was also featured in this song), with his hit single, "Candy Shop", (featuring G-Unit Records' first female artist Olivia). "Hate It or Love It" reached the number one spot on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, making it yet again another top five hit on the chart alongside How We Do which also featured 50 Cent. At the 2006 48th Annual Grammy Awards the song was nominated for two Grammy Awards, including Grammy Award for Best Rap Song and Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group but lost in both categories to Kanye West's "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" and The Black Eyed Peas' "Don't Phunk with My Heart", respectively. Music critics praised the song as some of The Game's best work to date, as well for the nature of the song.

Background and conception

The song first began to be conceived during the middle period of the recording process for The Documentary,[1] in early 2004, during a recording process in which The Game would frequently fly to recording locations in New York City to work with 50 Cent: He would be given beats to hear along the way, to help inspire him artistically. When he initially heard the production that would later become "Hate It or Love It", he did not display much interest, as he was "in a different mind frame" — artistically, he was conceiving more "hard hitting" records.[1] However, on the flight home later that day, he took more of an interest and began to write the first components of the song.[1]

The chorus is sung and written by 50 Cent, who helped with the rest of the writing process and recording for the song, along with The Game, at his mansion in Connecticut.[1] The song was even suggested for 50 Cent's album The Massacre (2005),[1] due to 50 Cent's large artistic input: When The Game arrived at the mansion on the day of recording, 50 Cent presented him with several already part-completed records, with variously placed verses and choruses.[1] The Game wrote his final verse first and worked backward: He apparently did this to avoid tiredness affecting his later verses.[1] After 50 Cent heard the final version of the song after the recording process had finished, he was very excited by its potential and felt the song would have to be one of the album's singles.[1] It was later released as the album's third, after "Westside Story" and "How We Do", both of which also featured 50 Cent.

The aforementioned original production for "Hate It or Love It" first surfaced on a compilation CD, put together by Cool & Dre (who had been in contact with The Game since early 2002)[1] released unofficially to the local rap community.[1] After G-Unit Records producer Sha Money XL received a copy of this disc, he requested a meeting with the duo, feeling that the song had much potential to be a hit.[1] After Dr. Dre heard the original production, he made sonic alterations and, according to Aftermath Entertainment A&R Mike Lynn, "made it sound like a record", a process he carried out on all of the other tracks on The Documentary.[1] When Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine later requested to hear the original production, he admitted could not tell the difference: Cool & Dre later praised the quality of Dr. Dre's mix, stating that "Dre brought it to life... [As a mixer is what] I think is his best quality... his ear for instrument placement is amazing".[1]

Composition

Built around a sample of the song "Rubber Band" by The Trammps,[2] "Hate It or Love It" is backed by a soul-orientated production, which contains a "smoothed out R&B funk vibe".[3][4]

Critical reception

"Hate It or Love It" received general acclaim from critics. Scott McKeating of Stylus Magazine wrote that "It’s a great piece of warm soul-fuelled hip-hop, in which guest star 50 Cent manages to steal the show, considerably stepping up his lyrical content to squash together some great but clichéd lines against a level of his infamous smart arsed profundity."[3] IGN described the song as "a smoothed out R&B funk vibe underneath the tales of the hood."[4] Pitchfork listed the song as the 93rd best song of the 2000's.[5]

The song has earned The Game award nominations. In 2006 "Hate It or Love It" was nominated at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards for both Grammy Award for Best Rap Song and Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, but lost in both categories to Kanye West's "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" and The Black Eyed Peas' "Don't Phunk with My Heart", respectively. "Hate It or Love It" was named number one on About.com's Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2005 and was ranked at #43 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop".

Music video

The setting of the music video alternates between Compton, California and Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York. The video recalls the rough childhoods of 50 Cent and The Game, showing where they come from, what it was like living in their neighborhoods, and the struggles they overcame as kids to become rappers. Tequan Richmond portrays The Game and Zachary Williams plays 50 Cent in their youth. In one scene, the two are caught spraypainting "N.W.A" on a wall, resulting in their subsequent arrest by two policemen. Big Fase 100, members of Black Wall Street, Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks make cameos appearances. The filming of the video was when tensions of their feud were high when 50 Cent refused to shoot a scene in the front seat of a car with The Game, instead sitting in the back (The Game's brother, Big Fase 100, would replace him).

This video was nominated at the MTV Video Music Awards of 2005 for Best Rap Video, but lost to the video for Ludacris' song "Number One Spot".

The music video was directed by The Saline Project.

Remixes

There have been several remixes of the track:

  • The official remix appears as track 22 on 50 Cent's album The Massacre as "Hate It or Love It (G-Unit Remix)" as a bonus track. It features the rest of the G-Unit members: Lloyd Banks, Young Buck and Tony Yayo. The first time the chorus is performed in this version, it is identical to the original, but the consecutive choruses have 50 Cent's line followed by another member of G-Unit rapping The Game's original line. While 50 Cent's opening verse and bridge are included in this version (though the bridge is altered), The Game's second verse is omitted and replaced with new lyrics.
  • Mary J. Blige covers the song on the single "MJB Da MVP" from her multi-platinum album The Breakthrough, with 50 Cent rapping his chorus line and Blige continuing with an altered version of The Game's original line. The Game is featured on the remix of the song. This is the second official remix.
  • The Game's mixtape, You Know What It Is, Vol. 3, remastered into a diss towards G-Unit called "Hate It or Love It (G-Unot Remix)". On this, the lyrics are insulting all the members of G-Unit.
  • The Re-Up Gang featured a remix of the track on their mixtape, We Got It 4 Cheap: Vol. 2. The song features the four members of the group rapping about their troubles in the past.

Awards

Year Ceremony Award Result
2005 BET Awards Best Collaboration[6] Nominated
MTV Video Music Awards Best Rap Video[7] Nominated
2006 Grammy Awards Best Rap Song[8] Nominated
Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group[8] Nominated

Charts and certifications

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