Hip-Hop Love Songs

Nearly 20 years ago, LL Cool J dared to lay down his boom box, open up his heart, and declare "I Need Love" . . . to which the hip-hop community let out a collective "Say what?" Except the ladies, naturally (that's why Ladies Love Cool J) who all knew something it took the fellas a few years to pick up on — jams like 50 Cent's "21 Questions," (a inquiry testing the strength of devotion) and "Beautiful" (Snoop Dogg getting horny in Rio, alongside Pharrell) just feel right. OutKast, Common, T.I. — everyone's got the hots, in Next Steps.

Considering its cup-of-sugar proximity to the get-freakiest music on the planet, R&B, it's only natural that rap music has cultivated a waterbed-sized love jones. Borrowing a finger lickin' groove here and a deep-dish delivery there, the Roots ("Break You Off") and Common ("Come Close") make sure the fireside vibe goes down just like it should. OutKast transforms a bassline into pure, liquid lust on "Prototype" and T.I. reveals his generosity on "Whatever You Like." Time to dim the lights and pop a sonic aphrodisiac with Moka Only and Kardinal Offishall, in Deep Cuts.

Still with us? Yeah, somehow we knew you would be. There's something about a hip-hop love song that keeps 'em hanging around, waiting for just another taste. Well, here's the payoff: a few more fistfuls of the good stuff — deep-crate declarations of love and devotion from Eminem ("Crazy In Love") and Nas ("Getting Married") brush up close to Moka Only's jelly-kneed declaration of devotion "And I Love Her," and Kardinal Offishall's sexed-up statement of desire, "Go Home With You."

It's the flipside of the gangsta/thug/hustla coin; the place to go to escape the cash-money world of pimps and ho's; the softer side of rap lying just beyond the bedroom door, where no caps are popped and no bodies are bagged. We're talking about the hip-hop love song, and it's been going strong for two decades now, keeping up with the hard jams thanks to an arsenal of satin-sheet flows, black velvet grooves, and tender hearts where you might not expect to find them. From Jay-Z to 50 Cent, Eminem to OutKast, Snoop to Mary J. & Method Man, hip-hop's finest have spent years crafting love jams all their own . . . and these are the best of them.