Love Hate - Background and Recording

Background and Recording

The album was produced by The-Dream, his production partner Tricky Stewart, and Carlos "Los da Mystro" McKinney. Its featured guests were originally listed as Fabolous, Jay-Z, and André 3000, whom The-Dream identified indirectly. The final list was cut down to Fabolous and Rihanna.

The album was written and recorded in eight days with twelve tracks making the final cut. Some of the tracks were written in regards to The-Dream's personal life, most notably "Nikki", written about his ex-wife Nivea and how he has moved on since their divorce. The-Dream explained the title, Love Hate, as short for, "Love me all summer, hate me all winter, because they love you when you hot and when you're cold they don't... I'm hot right now and they love me, but I was cold and they wasn't fuckin' with me." He also discussed how this album was made to set the creative standard that the current industry was lacking, stating:

Music is uninspiring right now. The bar needs to be raised; a creative standard should be set in music. I'm hoping that the real quality in these songs shines through, and leaves a sounding impact on the listeners... It's more of what I'm giving other people. It's like the 80s; it's musical. I'm doing the 'Umbrella' routine to this whole album. All of my records are singles. The album is really visual as well. It appeals to all your senses, similar to 'Thriller'... very 80's, very Prince, sensual, sexy stuff... Artists are gonna have to do some homework to find out who they are.

Recording sessions for the album took place at Larrabee North in Universal City, California, Legacy Studios in New York, with additional recording in Las Vegas, Nevada, Atlanta, Georgia, and Westlake Audio in Los Angeles, California.