(At Your Best) You Are Love

"(At Your Best) You Are Love"
Song by The Isley Brothers
from the album Harvest for the World
Released 1976
Recorded 1975
Genre R&B
Songwriter(s)
  • Ernie Isley
  • Marvin Isley
  • Chris Jasper
  • Rudolph Isley
  • O'Kelly Isley
  • Ronald Isley
  • Chris Jasper

"(At Your Best) You Are Love" is a song by The Isley Brothers, originally a radio hit in 1976. It was originally dedicated to their mother.

Personnel

Aaliyah version

"At Your Best (You Are Love)"
Single by Aaliyah
from the album Age Ain't Nothing but a Number
Released August 22, 1994
Format
Recorded 1993; Chicago Recording Company
(Chicago, Illinois)
Genre
Length 4:52 (original version)
4:30 (remix version)
Label Blackground/Jive
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) R. Kelly
Aaliyah singles chronology
"Back & Forth"
(1994) Back & Forth1994		 "At Your Best (You Are Love)"
(1994) At Your Best (You Are Love)1994		 "Age Ain't Nothing but a Number"
(1994) Age Ain't Nothing but a Number1994

Eighteen years later, the song was covered by American singer Aaliyah for her debut studio album Age Ain't Nothing but a Number. Released as the album's second single, it peaked at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the R&B singles chart, it also peaked at number 27 on the UK Singles Chart, and number 12 on the Tokio Hot 100 chart in Japan.[1] The song was certified gold single by RIAA on October 25, 1994.[2] In 2010 Canadian rapper Drake sampled Aaliyah's version of the song in his song "Unforgettable"; four years later singer Tamar Braxton sampled this song for her single "Let Me Know" featuring Future. In 2017, Sevyn Streeter used an interpolation of the song for her hit, "Before I Do", the lead single from her album Girl Disrupted.

Critical reception

Damien Scott from Complex felt that the song was a nice departure from the Hip Hop and New Jack Swing inspired songs that comprised a large portion of Aaliyah's debut album. He also mentioned that the song "showed a young women on the cusp of adulthood".[3]

Remix

The song became a hit based on remix versions Aaliyah cut with R. Kelly featured on the song chanting "this is for the steppers" and earlier saying, "1-2, check up, baby, lemme know what's up" before Aaliyah began singing.

Music video

The music video was shot back to back with R. Kelly's "Summer Bunnies" and were both released in fall 1994. The music video was directed by Millicent Shelton. The music video is for the remix not the original and R. Kelly, who produced the songs, is in the video.

Personnel

  • Aaliyah: lead and background vocals
  • R. Kelly: multi-instrumentation
  • Produced by R. Kelly

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single-releases of "At Your Best (You Are Love)". CD single Vinyl single

  1. "At Your Best (You Are Love)" (LP mix) – 4:43
  2. "At Your Best (You Are Love)" (Gangsta Child Remix) – 4:30
  3. "At Your Best (You Are Love)" (Stepper's Ball Remix) – 3:05
  4. "Back & Forth" (Ms. Mello Remix) – 3:50

Charts

Chart (1994) Peak
position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[4] 76
Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[5] 87
Netherlands (Tipparade)[6] 10
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[7] 40
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[8] 38
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[9] 90
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[10] 27
UK Dance (Official Charts Company)[11] 11
UK R&B (Official Charts Company)[12] 4
US Billboard Hot 100[13] 6
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[14] 2
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[15] 40
US Rhythmic (Billboard)[16] 2

Year-end charts

Chart (1994) Position
US Billboard Hot 100[17] 70
US Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Chart[18] 23

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
United States (RIAA)[19] Gold 500,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Other versions

In the Philippines, it was covered by two artists: MYMP on their album Versions and Nina from her love songs live album Nina Live!. Drake recently made a song with Young Jeezy called "Unforgettable" using the same beat. Swedish artist El Perro Del Mar covered the song in 2009 as a special Record Store Day release as well. Tamar Braxton sampled the song in her single with Future, "Let Me Know".

In 2015, Frank Ocean released a cover on his Tumblr account as a tribute to Aaliyah, one day after what would have been her 36th birthday. A slightly different version was also included on his visual album Endless[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Hits In Tokio". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
  2. ↑ RIAA Searchable Database Archived 2007-06-26 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ "The 25 Best Aaliyah Songs". Complex. May 19, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  4. ↑ Top Singles peak
  5. ↑ "Euro Chart Hot 100" (PDF). Music & Media. 1994-10-22. p. 17. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Aaliyah-(At Your Best) You Are Love" (in Dutch). top40.nl.
  7. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Aaliyah – At Your Best (You Are Love)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  8. ↑ "Charts.nz – Aaliyah – At Your Best (You Are Love)". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Aaliyah: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Official R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Aaliyah Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Aaliyah Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Aaliyah Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Aaliyah Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Billboard Top 100 - 1994". Archived from the original on 2009-03-01. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  18. ↑ http://www.soulsystem.it/yend.asp?date=31/12/1994
  19. ↑ "American single certifications – Aaliyah – (At Your Best) You Are Love". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 19, 2017. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
  20. ↑ "frank ocean". Archived from the original on 2015-03-25. Retrieved 2015-01-17.
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