“I Hate U, I Love U” by Gnash (ft. Olivia O’Brien)
“I Hate U, I Love U” (formally written as “i hate u, i love u”) is a breakup song by American singer, songwriter and rapper, Gnash. The song also features the vocals of fellow American singer Olivia O’Brien.
On this track, two lovers (Gnash and O’Brien) have gone their separate ways due to the collapse of their relationship. However, their hearts still greatly miss each other because their love for each other isn’t totally dead yet.
Are the lyrics of this song based on a real life event?
During his appearance on the talk show, Today, Gnash said the lyrics are about “a real situation”. In another interview, O’Brien also said the lyrics were also inspired by “real events” in her life. According to her, the lyrics aren’t just a bunch of “bs, fake stuff”. They are 100% real. She said the fact that the emotions expressed in the song are real are the reason why many listeners can identify with it.
Facts about “i hate u, i love u”
- “i hate u, i love u” was written by both Olivia O’Brien and Gnash. However, it was initially only penned by O’Brien and uploaded on her SoundCloud account. Upon stumbling upon the track (which was pretty raw), Gnash instantly fell in love with it. He then re-recorded it and added new lyrics to it.
- The original title of this song was “hate u love u”. After Gnash contributed songwriting to it and re-recorded O’Brien’s original version, the title was changed.
- “i hate u, i love u” was officially released by Atlantic Records on February 17, 2016. It’s the first single from the 2016 EP titled Us. The aforementioned EP was Gnash’s third EP.
- This track was a global success. It hit number 10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. This gave both Gnash and O’Brien their first ever top 10 on the Hot 100. On the UK Singles Chart, the song performed even better, reaching number 7. It went on to peak at number 1 in both Australia and Israel.
- To date, “I Hate U, I Love U” is Gnash and O’Brien’s most successful song.
- O’Brien later recorded a solo version of the song. This version, entitled “Hate U Love U” came out on December 9, 2016.
- O’Brien’s solo version wasn’t as successful as the version she was featured on. Hers only managed to peak at number 99 on the Hot 100.
- In October 2017, a songwriter named Angel Benitez claimed he deserved songwriting credit on the track. According to him, he came up with one of the famous lines from the song. The line in question is “I’m always tired, but never of you”. After being ignored by Gnash, he threatened to take the matter to court.
