He Loves U Not

2000 single by Dream

"He Loves U Not" is a song by American girl group Dream. It was released on August 22, 2000, as the group's debut single and is featured on their debut album, It Was All a Dream (2001). The song was written in 1999 by Steve Kipner, David Frank and Pamela Sheyne, with the former two doing the production. A dance pop and R&B song, "He Loves U Not" is about a girl confronting another girl trying to steal her boyfriend. An early version of the song started with a young girl's voice saying "He loves me, he loves you not," but was removed from both album and single versions, with the phrase "He loves you not" being heard at the end of the album version. "He Loves U Not" received mixed reviews from critics who gave credit to the production and lyrics but felt that it was derivative compared to other songs of its time. The song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks. It also peaked at numbers three, nine, and 15 on the Mainstream Top 40, Rhythmic, and Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs charts, respectively. Worldwide, it reach the top 40 in several countries, including Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom. The song was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling over 500,000 copies in the United States. An accompanying music video for the song, directed by Marcus Raboy, premiered on MTV's Total Request Live and features the girls dancing in three different settings: a white room with the Dream logo behind them, a California desert and a rotating white room. They first performed the song live by touring with fellow pop group *NSYNC on their No Strings Attached Tour. They made their television debut performing the song live on TRL and would make later appearances at Live with Regis, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, the 2001 Walt Disney World Summer Jam Concert, The Early Show and the 7th Annual Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards.

Upon Dream's signing to P. Diddy's Bad Boy Entertainment, the quartet recorded "He Loves U Not" as their breakthrough single, setting aside previously recorded songs "Do U Wanna Dance," "Baby," and "Miss You" that they had done while signed to Clockwork Entertainment with Judith Fontaine as their manager. Lead vocals are performed by Holly Arnstein with speaking breaks by Melissa Schuman. Diana Ortiz can be heard saying a few Spanish phrases, such as Él me quiere ("He loves me") and No te quiere ("He doesn't love you"). An early version of the song opened with a young girl's voice saying "He loves me, he loves you not," though this opening was removed on the album and single versions, although the phrase "he loves you not" is heard at the end of the album version. The song is sung from the point of view of a girl confronting another girl who is trying to steal her boyfriend, to whom she claims, "He loves me, he loves you not."

"He Loves U Not" received a mixed reception from music critics who praised the production and lyrics but felt that it was derivative compared to other songs of its ilk. Billboard praised the song for having a street edge in its production, the group's performance and compared the lyrics positively to Brandy and Monica's duet "The Boy Is Mine", concluding that "With Bad Boy's genius and solid talent here, "He Loves U Not" has a good shot at becoming a dream come true." AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine highlighted the song as a "Track Pick", giving credit to P. Diddy's team of producers and songwriters. Arion Berger of Rolling Stone praised the song for exuding bright attitude, saying that it has a "whipping elasticity and sass to spare." David Browne of Entertainment Weekly called the song "an utterly derivative piece of song and dance pop R&B," but did highlight the rhythm and guitar sounds as "intriguing" and the lyrical catfight for having "enough hiss in it to be interesting." A writer for People, reviewing the album, was less positive towards the song's adult content and preferred the tracks "Mr. Telephone Man" and "How Long" for how "the girls sound their age." The song gave them a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award nomination for Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist, Group, Band or Duo but lost to 3LW's "No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)".

"He Loves U Not" debuted at number 99 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for the week of September 30, 2000. Six weeks later, it entered the top 40 at number 32 for the week of November 11. It entered the top 10 at number eight for the week of December 16. The song eventually peaked at number two for two weeks in December 2000 and January 2001. It also reached number 15 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart the week of January 6, 2001. It was certified Gold by the RIAA on January 2, selling over 500,000 copies in the United States. In Australia, where the song was released on February 26, 2001, "He Loves U Not" entered the ARIA Singles Chart on March 11, and stayed there for three weeks, peaking at number 30. The song was also released in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 17 on the UK Singles Chart on March 17, and staying on the chart for seven weeks.

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref. (Reference)United StatesAugust 22, 2000Rhythmic contemporary, contemporary hit radioBad BoyNovember 28, 2000Urban radioAustraliaFebruary 26, 2001CDBad Boy, Arista Records, Arista, Bertelsmann Music Group, BMGUnited KingdomMarch 5, 200112 inch vinyl, CD, cassette