| "Runaway Love" | ||||
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| Single byLudacris featuringMary J. Blige | ||||
| from the albumRelease Therapy | ||||
| B-side | "Girls Gone Wild"(UK only) | |||
| Released | February 12, 2007 | |||
| Recorded | 2006 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:41 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriters | ||||
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| Ludacris singles chronology | ||||
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| Mary J. Blige singles chronology | ||||
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"Runaway Love" is the thirdsingle released fromLudacris' fifthalbum,Release Therapy (2006). The song, which featuresMary J. Blige on the vocals, was produced byPolow da Don and reached #2 on theBillboard Hot 100 singles chart only behindJustin Timberlake's "What Goes Around... Comes Around". The song was the first single fromRelease Therapy in the United Kingdom and was released as adouble A-side with "Girls Gone Wild" included. The song was performed at the 2007 Grammy Awards show by Ludacris, Mary J. Blige andEarth, Wind & Fire. A remix of the song is available byT-Pain featuringCassie.
"Runaway Love" was written by Ludacris,Keri Hilson,Polow da Don,Doug E. Fresh, andSlick Rick, while production was handled by Polow da Don.[1] The song contains a sample from the 1985 single "La Di Da Di" by Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick. It was recorded by Jason Monroy at The Ludaplex and Dan Cheung at Right Track–Sound on Sound Recording – recording studios inAtlanta,Georgia andNew York City respectively.[1] During the recording of "Runaway Love",guitars and bass instruments were played by Mike Hartnett, and Jason Monroy andJ. R. Rotem providedkeyboards.[1] As well as partly writing the song, Hilson provides background vocals, although she is not credited as having appeared on the song.[1]The mix was carried out by Phil Tan at The Tanning Booth, Soapbox Studios, with additionalengineering provided by Josh Houghkirk.[1] The song wasmastered by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering.[1]
Each of the three verses provides a fictional account of the troubles faced by a differentrunaway femalepreadolescent: nine-year-old Lisa, ten-year-old Nicole, and eleven-year-old Erika, all of whom end up running away to escape their individual problems.
A brief, commonly used sample ofSlick Rick saying "Like this" appears in the beginning and at approximately 1:08 in the song. At the end of the song, Ludacris expresses that he feels like running away himself sometimes.
The 1st account involves nine-year-old Lisa (played by Arielle Lopez), who has never met her father and has a drug-addicted mother (played byKim Delaney) who brings home men at different hours of the night (including one played byMichael Rapaport). When the drugs render her mother unconscious, the men that her mother brought home go to Lisa's room and molest her, hitting her whenever she resists. Lisa tries to explain this to her mom, who doubts her. She then decides to run away.
The second plot involves lonely ten-year-old Nicole (played byRaquel Castro), who believes she is notbeautiful, and thinks nobody likes her, and wonders why this is so. Heralcoholicstepfather (played byJon Seda) physically abuses her, and when her schoolteachers constantly ask her about herbruises (which her stepfather caused), she lies to them. Nicole promises her only best friend, Stacy, that they'll be close forever. However, one day, Stacy is unintentionally killed in an accidentaldrive-by shooting. Feeling alone again, Nicole decides to run away.
The final tale involves eleven-year-old Erika (played byKeke Palmer), who is taking drugs such as ecstasy to escape pain. She is also, with guilt, having sex with her sixteen-year-old boyfriend (played by Julito McCullum). As the relationship progresses, Erika starts to believe she is truly in love with her boyfriend, and they have sex withoutprotection. After Erika becomespregnant by him, he leaves her because he feels unprepared to raise a child. Additionally, her family is poor, so she cannot afford anabortion. Aware that if she tells her mom she is pregnant, her mom will be very disappointed and overreact with implied consequences too harsh for her, Erika eventually decides to run away. In the music video, it is shown that as Erika contemplates going home, she imagines her mom yelling at and physically abusing her. She is seen on a park bench crying while Mary J. Blige sings next to her.
Themusic video for "Runaway Love" was directed byJessy Terrero. Ludacris originally wantedSpike Lee to direct the video,[2] but he was unavailable due to filming the motion pictureMiracle at St. Anna. It premiered on the Internet on November 29, 2006, onYahoo! Music. A day later it was released on television, onBET's106 & Park as aNew Joint. The video, which is also divided in three situations, follows a storyline faithfully based on the song. Mary J. Blige is featured in all of the three situations as a pedestrian that passes by the runaway girls. Featured in the background are orange posters for theNational Runaway Switchboard, acrisis hotline serving runaway and homeless youth and their families. The hotline for the National Runaway Switchboard is also displayed on several of the "missing child" posters that are shown in the music video. This promotional effort highlights the partnership between The Ludacris Foundation and the National Runaway Switchboard to promote November as National Runaway Prevention Month and to increase awareness of issues related to runaway adolescents.[3][4]
WhilstRelease Therapy was released to a largely mixed reception, "Runaway Love" drew general acclaim from music critics. In particular, many praised Ludacris and the serious subject matter addressed on the song, and the stylistic and thematic departure from his previous work.[5][6] Writing forAllmusic, Marisa Brown noted that the subject of violence against women had already been addressed in previousconscious hip hop songs, calling it "a fairly normal underground hip-hop theme" but commented that it was "nice to see a new side to Luda".[5] Nathan Rabin ofThe A.V. Club noted "Runaway Love"'s "bleak ghetto-griot storytelling", calling it a "departure" from the songs he recorded earlier in his career: he went on to praise Ludacris' attempts to address an unfamiliar topic, stating that "the song's grim subject matter works against his innate exuberance, but it's refreshing to see a rap superstar challenging himself".[6] In his review ofRelease Therapy forStylus Magazine, Barry Schwartz praised Ludacris for confronting the song's theme with a "solemn resignation no Ludacris song has ever approached", and noted that this was accomplished without "compromising his steez", despite noting that "serious doesn't suit him" on the other introspective material featured onRelease Therapy.[7]
The credits for "Runaway Love" are adapted from the liner notes ofRelease Therapy.[1]
Weekly charts[edit]
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| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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| United States (RIAA)[20] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
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