You may have arrived here while searching for Seal’s single "Love’s Divine" "I Need Love" was the second single from LL Cool J's second album, Bigger and Deffer. The song is considered the first rap ballad and was released in the fall of 1987. It reached #1 on the R&B/Hip Hop charts and was a well-received single on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, reaching #14, while becoming one of the first rap songs to enjoy mainstream popularity in the UK, reaching #8 in the UK Singles Chart. The single won a Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap - Single in 1987. The song was parodied in 2000 by Brooklyn rapper Necro in his song "I Need Drugs", which alters the lyrics to a narrative of a man's addiction to crack cocaine. The piano melody in "I Need Love" was lifted off a Jayson Dyall instrumental called "Zoraida" but was never given credit. The song ranked #13 on the 100 Greatest Rap Songs.

Note: This was the first Hip-Hop song to reach number one on the R&B charts.