When in Love

According to Lyte in an Atlantic press release, the song is about "the stupid things people do when they're in love,"{{cite web|title=MC, Lyte|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/mc-lyte|publisher=Encyclopedia.com|access-date=13 February 2021}} describing situations like "I'm talkin like pickin your lover's nose/Cooking his food and washing his clothes/And if you thought that was goin too far/What about givin him the keys to your car?"{{cite web|title=MC Lyte – When in Love Lyrics - Genius Lyrics|url=https://genius.com/Mc-lyte-when-in-love-lyrics|publisher=Genius|access-date=13 February 2021}}

During an interview with Vibe in 2011 Lyte reflected on her music video: "When I was dancing in my video for ‘When In Love,’ I was just ready to try something different. I wasn't really concerned about any backlash. I did what I wanted to do."{{cite web|url=http://www.vibe.com/photo-gallery/full-clip-mc-lyte-breaks-down-her-entire-catalogue-brandy-janet-jackson-ll-cool-j-more |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715064736/http://www.vibe.com/photo-gallery/full-clip-mc-lyte-breaks-down-her-entire-catalogue-brandy-janet-jackson-ll-cool-j-more |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 15, 2014 |title=Full Clip: MC Lyte Breaks Down Her Entire Catalogue |website=Vibe |date=September 3, 2011 |accessdate=February 13, 2021}}

The original version of the album contains an interpolation of Bill Withers's "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" in his chorus. Carmen Rizzo's remix with Wolf & Epic, which was used in the music video, is built around a sample of James Brown 's "Hot (I Need to Be Loved, Loved, Loved)".

"When in Love" was included in her compilation albums The Very Best of MC Lyte (2001), Rhyme Masters (2005),{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/rhyme-masters-mw0000170877 |website=AllMusic |date=

|accessdate=January 28, 2021 |title= MC Lyte - Rhyme Masters}} and Cold Rock a Party - Best Of MC Lyte (2019).{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/cold-rock-a-party-best-of/1461763211|title=Cold Rock a Party Best Of - MC Lyte - Release Info|website=Apple Music}} Her music video was included on her compilation video album Lyte Years (1991).{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/lyte-years-mw0000269596|title=Lyte Years - MC Lyte · Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic|accessdate=May 18, 2021}}

In the fall of 1991 she performed the song at the Pay-per-view TV concert Sisters In The Name of Rap.{{cite web|date=April 24, 1992|title=Sisters in the Name of Rap|url=http://www.ew.com/article/1992/04/24/sisters-name-rap|publisher=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=February 13, 2021}} In February 1992 Lyte performed the song on the dance and music show Soul Train.

Gil Griffin of The Washington Post highlighted the song in his album review for his way of approaching obsessive love.{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/09/27/rapping-not-only-about-opposite-sex/6b42833f-1762-4fae-b4f8-b7d788b8cf05/|title=RAPPING NOT ONLY ABOUT OPPOSITE SEX|first=Gil|last=Griffin|date=September 27, 1991|via=The Washington Post (website)}}

In hindsight, Damon Brown of RapReviews would criticize the song, commenting that "is too convoluted, especially when compared to Rakim’s “Mahogany” or even Ghostface Killah’s recent “Love Sessions."{{cite web|url=http://www.rapreviews.com/2002/02/mc-lyte-the-very-best-of-mc-lyte/ |title=MC LYTE :: THE VERY BEST OF MC LYTE |website=RapReviews |date= February 1, 2002|accessdate=June 30, 2021}}

In the book Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture (2007),{{cite book|title=Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture|author=Hess, M.|date=2007|volume=2|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=9780313339042|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXy2wTEsbCsC|page=313|accessdate=2021-06-30}} the writer Jennifer R. Young would comment on the song:

{{blockquote|"(When in Love) works as one of MC Lyte’s love anthems. Reminiscent of a piece that Aretha Franklin might have composed, an R&B soprano songstress emphasizes the word crazy in the refrain of the song. Crazy seems to serve as a euphemism for those who are strung out (or who have been strung out) on love.

The song shows regular people doing regular things. Perhaps this is why Lyte has been referred to as a "Hip-Hop Zora Neale Hurston". Like Hurston, Lyte celebrates black folk for what they are while revealing the beauty and absurdity of their lives. In the widely read novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God", readers discover how the protagonist Janie endures many relationships before discovering true self-love and love for another man. Lyte’s "When in Love" challenges listeners to redirect their energy, to invest time in themselves and those who truly love them, notsimply those who find them attractive."{{cite book|title=Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture|author=Hess, M.|date=2007|volume=2|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=9780313339042|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXy2wTEsbCsC|page=313|accessdate=2021-06-30}}}}

1. "When In Love" (Remix) (5:15)
2. "When In Love" (Acapella) (3:50)

1. "When In Love" (Instrumental) (4:02)

• "When In Love" (Remix Edit)
• "When In Love" (Remix)

• "When In Love" (Remix Edit)
• "When In Love" (Remix)

Credits are taken from the liner notes.{{cite AV media notes | others=MC Lyte & DJ K Rock | date=1991 | title=When In Love | type=track listing | publisher=First Priority Music, Atlantic Street | id=0-96294}}

• Lyrics By – MC Lyte
• Mastered By – Chris Gehringer (cg☮)
• Mixed By – Carmen Rizzo
• Music By – Bret Mazur, Richard Wolf
• Producer – Wolf & Epic
• Scratches – DJ K-Rock, DJ Master Tee

{{Reflist}}

{{MC Lyte|state=autocollapse}}

{{authority control}}

Category:MC Lyte songs

Category:Songs written by Richard Wolf

Category:Songs written by Epic Mazur

Category:1991 singles

Category:1991 songs

Category:Atlantic Records singles

Category:Songs written by MC Lyte