“Really Love” by D’Angelo and the Vanguard
In the song “Really Love”, D’Angelo talks about the nature of his partner in entirety while he comes to the realization that he truly loves her.
The song begins with a Spanish spoken intro supposedly representing the voice of his lover. She expresses her undying love for D’Angelo but makes a profound observation. In her view, D’Angelo is jealous and overly possessive, almost wanting to be her owner. She then tells him that she’s not sure if she can trust him however, she loves him very much.
D’Angelo, on the other hand, maintains a positive outlook of his lover, praising her tremendously for always sticking by his side. The singer continually displays his affection for his woman, but admits his flaw which was earlier mentioned in the intro. He acknowledges that he can be extremely difficult at times, but because of her patience for him, he loves her even more. Not only does he want to keep loving her, but he wants her by his side as always.
Facts about “Really Love”
- “Really Love” was released as a lead single from D’Angelo’s third album, The Messiah. It came out on December 15, 2014.
- This song was composed by three songwriters, including D’Angelo. The other two writers are: Kendra Foster and Gina Figueroa. D’Angelo also produced the track.
- “Really Love” includes samples of the classic hit track, “We the People Who Are Darker Than Blue”. The aforementioned track was released in 1970 by iconic soul singer, Curtis Mayfield.
- In 2017, hip-hop artist, Charles Hamilton released a track, titled, “Antenna”, which features samples of “Really Love” in it.
Grammy Awards
The song was adjudged the winner of the 2016 Grammy Awards in the category of Best R&B Song. It was also selected for the award of Record of the Year at that year’s ceremony. However, it was conquered by “Uptown Funk”, a track performed by Mark Ronson (ft. Bruno Mars).
Chart Performance
Even though, it is a Grammy Award-winning song, “Really Love” did not perform as great as other hit singles of D’Angelo on the charts.
