Love Drought
{{Short description|2016 song by Beyoncé}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Love Drought
| cover =
| caption =
| alt =
| type =
| artist = Beyoncé
| album = Lemonade
| released = April 24, 2016
| recorded = 2014
| studio = Jungle Studios (New York City)
| venue =
| genre = R&B
| length = {{Duration|m=3|s=58}}
| label = {{hlist|Parkwood|Columbia}}
| writer = {{hlist|Ingrid Burley|Mike Dean|Beyoncé}}
| producer = {{hlist|Dean|Beyoncé}}
| misc = {{External music video|type=song|{{YouTube|CUyQSKe75L4|"Love Drought"}}}}
}}
"Love Drought" is a song by American singer Beyoncé from her sixth studio album, Lemonade (2016). The song's music video, directed by Kahlil Joseph, is part of Beyoncé's 2016 film Lemonade, aired on HBO alongside the album's release.{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/news/63381-beyonce-releases-new-album-lemonade-featuring-kendrick-lamar-jack-white-the-weeknd-james-blake/|title=Beyoncé Releases New Album Lemonade Featuring Kendrick Lamar, Jack White, the Weeknd, James Blake|date=April 23, 2016|access-date=April 23, 2016|website=Pitchfork Media|archive-date=April 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425100613/http://pitchfork.com/news/63381-beyonce-releases-new-album-lemonade-featuring-kendrick-lamar-jack-white-the-weeknd-james-blake/|url-status=live}}
It was written by Ingrid Burley, Mike Dean and Beyoncé while the production was handled by the latter two. Burley was inspired to write "Love Drought" following an unpleasant experience with representatives at Parkwood Entertainment. Following the release of Lemonade, the track appeared on several music charts, including 47 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and top 100 in the UK, Scotland, and Canada. Beyoncé performed the song in a medley with "Sandcastles" at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2017.
Background
"Love Drought" is an R&B track{{Cite web |date=2016-04-27 |title=The Shortlist's album reviews: April 29 |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/the-shortlists-album-reviews-april-29-20160421-goc265.html |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald}} written by Ingrid Burley, Mike Dean and Beyoncé while the production was handled by the latter two.{{cite AV media notes|title=Lemonade|others=Beyoncé|year=2016|publisher=Columbia Records/Parkwood Entertainment}} During an interview in June 2016, Burley revealed that the song was not inspired by Jay Z's infidelity, although such speculations circulated in the media. She revealed that Beyoncé herself, was also unaware that the lyrics of "Love Drought" were aimed at Parkwood Entertainment. Describing it as a "metaphor about music", she recalled that the song was conceived after two representatives of the label lied to her that Beyoncé was not considering working on new music. Following a Los Angeles writing camp, she witnessed that the singer wrote notes for new material and explained that she wrote the lyrics "Ten times out of nine I know you're lying / But nine times out of ten, I know you're trying", "just thinking as I'm looping this beat I couldn't get out of my head the fact that they just lied to me".{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7408728/beyonce-love-drought-cowriter-meaning-lemonade|title=Beyonce Co-Writer Reveals Real Meaning Behind 'Love Drought' From 'Lemonade'|magazine=Billboard|first=Gil|last=Kaufman|date=June 16, 2016|accessdate=June 18, 2016}}
Commercial performance
After the release of Lemonade, "Love Drought" appeared on several music charts. It debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 47 for the chart issue dated May 14, 2016.{{cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/7350446/all-12-of-beyonces-lemonade-tracks-debut-on-hot-100|title=All 12 of Beyonce's 'Lemonade' Tracks Debut on Hot 100|publisher=Billboard.biz|accessdate=April 30, 2016}} The same week, the song also entered the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs and the Canadian Hot 100 charts at numbers 28 and 84, respectively. "Love Drought" debuted at a position of 69 on the UK Singles Chart for the chart dated April 29, 2016. The following week it descended to the position of 84 before falling off the chart.{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/20160506/7501/|title=Official Singles Chart Top 100: 06 May 2016 - 12 May 2016|publisher=Official Charts Company|accessdate=June 18, 2016}} On the UK R&B Chart it peaked at 26 in its first week of charting. For the week of April 22, 2016, the track debuted at number 152 on the singles chart in France. In Australia, it peaked at number 19 on the ARIA Urban Chart following the release of Lemonade.
Personnel
Credits adapted from Beyoncé's website{{Cite web|title=Beyoncé: LEMONADE: Credits: LEMONADE|url=https://www.beyonce.com/album/lemonade-visual-album/credits/|access-date=2021-06-29|website=Beyoncé.com|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-04-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415172852/https://www.beyonce.com/album/lemonade-visual-album/credits/|url-status=dead}}
; Song credits
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
- Writing – Mike Dean, Ingrid Burley, Beyoncé
- Production – Mike Dean, Beyoncé
- Vocal production – Beyoncé
- Keyboards and drum programming – Mike Dean
- Recording – Stuart White; Jungle City Studios, New York City
- Audio mixing – Stuart White; Pacifique Studio, Los Angeles
- Track engineering – Mike Dean
- Second engineering – Ramon Rivas
- Assistant mix engineering – John Cranfield
- Mastering – Dave Kutch, The Mastering Palace, New York City
{{div col end}}
Charts
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certification for "Love Drought"}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=Beyoncé|title=Love Drought|award=Platinum|relyear=2016|certyear=2024|access-date=December 17, 2024}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{YouTube|pvD6z-ufWb8|"Love Drought"}}
{{Beyoncé songs}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Song recordings produced by Beyoncé