"Real Love" is a 1992 hit single by hip hop soul singer Mary J. Blige. It was the second single from Blige's debut album, What's the 411?. Written and produced by Mark C. Rooney and Mark Morales (of The Fat Boys fame) and built off a drum sample from hip hop duo Audio Two's 1988 track "Top Billin'" and MC Lyte's song "10% Diss". It was one of the songs which gave Blige's reputation as "the queen of hip-hop soul."
"Real Love" was her first top-ten pop hit, peaking at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, and her second number one hit on Billboard's R&B singles chart. The remix featured the second appearance of rapper The Notorious B.I.G., who was then going by the name Biggie Smalls, and a sample of Betty Wright's 1972 single, "Clean Up Woman." The song eventually helped What's the 411? sell more than three million copies in America alone.
The song has since been covered by Mike Doughty (on his 2000 LP Skittish), by Toby Lightman (on her 2004 album Little Things) and the Twilight Singers (on their 2004 album She Loves You), as well as by a dancehall artist by the name of Fiona.
In 2007, the song was sampled on "Real Love", an album-track that appears on rapper/singer Eve's album Here I Am which features Mary J. Blige herself. In addition, Lloyd Banks sampled the drum beat on his single Help which featured Keri Hilson.
In 2010, the song was used as the theme to the TV One reality television dating game show The Ultimate Merger, which is produced by Donald Trump and stars former Apprentice contestant Omarosa.
The backing beat has been sampled by R&B group, Dru Hill in the track, "Whatever You Want" from their 1996 self-titled debut album. R&B singer Frank Ocean uses the chorus for his song "Super Rich Kids" in his album Channel Orange.
Famous quotes containing the words real and/or love:
“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. And also the only real tragedy in life is being used by personally minded men for purposes which you recognize to be base.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“this man, this Douglass, this former slave, this Negro
beaten to his knees, exiled, visioning a world
where none is lonely, none hunted, alien,
this man, superb in love and logic, this man
shall be remembered.”
—Robert Earl Hayden (1913–1980)