“All I Have” by Jennifer Lopez (ft. LL Cool J)

“All I Have” is a breakup song, in which it’s pretty clear that neither party really wants the relationship to end. But Jennifer has resolved that it must, as Uncle L has damaged her “pride”, which she feels, as suggested by the title, is ‘all she has’, or let’s say a very valuable asset to her. 

Or put otherwise, he has cheated on her to the point where she can no longer rationalize the two of them being romantically involved. Indeed, in definitively standing up to a playa she loves, the female vocalist feels as if she’s doing so for all sistren in the ‘hood going through similar ordeals.

Meanwhile the male, himself being in love, is basically begging J-Lo not to go. Or put more simply, he’s on the verge of being dumped.

Facts about “All I Have”

“All I Have” has an official release date of December 14 of 2002. It was launched as a single from the following albums:

• “This Is Me… Then” by Jennifer Lopez
• “10” by LL Cool J

The song was composed through the collaborative efforts of its performers and several other songwriters. Some of these names include:

• Makeba Riddick
• Ron G
• Lisa Peters
• William Jeffrey

“All I Have” was released through Epic Records, an American record label owned by Sony Music.

Epic Records and Sony were sued by American singer, Debra Laws in March of 2003. Her claims were, portions of her 1981 single with the title, “Very Special” were sampled in “All I Have” without her approval. However, the writers of “Very Special” and the record label through which it was released admitted an approval was given to Epic and Sony for the sampling.

The song peaked at No. 1 in the US becoming LL Cool J’s first song to achieve that feat and Jennifer’s fourth No. 1 song on the chart. Aside from the US, the song was No. 1 in a number of countries including the following:

• Australia
• Croatia
• New Zealand
• Panama
• UK

It also ranked among the top-10 in the following countries:

• Canada – 6
• Portugal – 9
• Scotland – 6
• Switzerland – 4

The song’s success attracted a lot of accolades. For example, it was certified Gold in New Zealand, Silver in the UK. In Australia, it went 2x Platinum.

Covers

In 2003, a collaboration between Savana and LeAnne led to the release of a cover version of the song. In the same year, the duo, Chi K Monkey also put out their own version.