My Love Is Your Love (song)

Throughout the 1990s, Whitney Houston had enjoyed huge success in both music and movies but hadn't released a full-length studio album in nearly eight years since I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990).^[3] Following the end of a brief ten-date European tour, Houston began recording a batch of new songs aimed at R&B and hip-hop audiences.

Arista Records CEO Clive Davis had first contacted Wyclef Jean to work on a song for Houston while the producer and artist was on tour to promote his hit album, Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival. At the time Jean was reached to give Houston a song, he had just produced a hit remix on Destiny's Child's 1998 hit, "No, No, No" and at the same time was working on the song "Maria Maria" with the rock band Santana, who had recently signed to Arista.

According to Jerry Duplessis, he told The Boombox that he and Jean came up with the beat of the song while on their tour bus.^[4]

Jean claimed that he had the idea of Houston and her family, namely her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown in mind when he and Duplessis composed the song. The song's recording took place at The Hit Factory in Manhattan.^[1]

Jean admitted that prior to Houston showing up at the studio that he was unsure how she would react to his song and how she would be in person since they hadn't met before. The musician told Rolling Stone magazine shortly after Houston's death that at first, he was "very nervous – like, 'Man, is she going to feel this song?'"^[5]

But the producer stated that once she entered the studio, she "lit up the room to the point where we forgot that she was a diva. We just thought she was a friend from back in the day in Newark. Everyone will tell you that Whitney was witty, she loved to have fun, she loved to make people laugh. I was having so much fun with Whitney – the Whitney from Newark, New Jersey – that I don’t really know when we got the song done."^[5]

Jean also noted of their shared faith in the interview, stating that Houston and him talked about religion daily.^[5]

During the recording session, Jean stopped because he felt Houston had gone flat or sharp on a note; when he told her, Houston explained to him that she wasn't flat or sharp, only that she "bend[ed]" the notes she was singing, which Jean was admittedly impressed by.^[6]

Said Jean: "Her ear was so beyond mine. Like a keyboard, like you could take a note and stretch it, and bring it back. So she was so in tune that she could take the note out of pitch and bring it back."^[7]

Houston later referred to the song as her "island song".^[8]

Houston was accompanied in the studio with her five-year-old daughter. Inspired by their closeness and warmth towards each other, Jean and Duplessis suggested Bobbi Kristina to add a "rap" to the song to accompany Houston, which reportedly delighted the singer.^[4][9]

Bobbi Kristina could be heard saying "sing mommy" during Houston's first verse and rapped "clap your hands" and "I said the record is not over yet" near the end of the song.^[10]

Houston contributed background vocals as did future City High bandmates Robbie Pardlo and Ryan Toby.

"My Love Is Your Love" is a R&B and reggae fusion song that walks at a tempo of 84 beats per minute and is set in the time signature of ⁴
₄ common time, according to its sheet notes published by Sony/ATV Tunes on Musicnotes.com.^[11]

The song starts and mostly plays in the key of C major.^[11] The song interpolates the hook from the Meters' funk song "Handclapping Song" (1970), with a background singer repeating the line, "clap your hands y'all / it's alright".^[12]

Daily Record wrote, "A fantastic return to form and another great single from her latest album of the same name. This once again uses a hip-hop beat to perfectly capture Whitney's soaring vocals."^[13] They also stated that "this is the best track in years from the soul diva."^[14] Entertainment Weekly editor Mark Bautz praised the song, "Wyclef Jean's gorgeous reggae-tinged title song and three funky cuts by Rodney Jerkins showcase the 35-year-old Whitney Houston in all her creative, soulful maturity."^[15] Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield praised the song as a one with some "creative juice"; "on the excellent title track, Wyclef gives Houston the sexiest Bob Marley rip-off he's ever written."^[16] USA Today editor Rachel D. called this track "a spiritual, reggae-tinged jam from Wyclef Jean."^[17]

The music video for "My Love Is Your Love" was shot in Manhattan during the early spring of 1999.

The video starts with a bored ticket girl at a movie theater gazing at the stars in the nighttime sky when suddenly, a blackout occurs, knocking out all power.

The scene then changes to show a curly Afro-sporting Houston walking around the dark neighborhood witnessing a mixture of chaos and calm in the darkened street, dressed in a long brown leather trench coat. Later, she discards the trench coat to reveal a denim jacket, beige blouse and dark denim jeans.^[18]

Houston's casual look was inspired by singer Lauryn Hill.^[18]

Midway through, someone sets up a neighborhood party to which Houston joins. Houston then takes the stage singing the song to an audience in front of Wyclef Jean and Jerry Duplessis playing deejays.

The video ends with the audience cheering and clapping hands along with Houston, Jean and Duplessis.

The music video was the third straight Houston video directed by Kevin Bray. The video was a departure from most of Houston's music videos as she embraced a grittier street sound influenced by hip-hop as well as a more casual look, compared to past videos where she wore colorful, elegant outfits.

According to Duplessis, Houston insisted on bringing the two producers into the music video despite initial reservations from Arista executives. Eventually they were allowed after Houston issued an ultimatum.

The video became a hit upon its premiere on the video channels MTV, BET and VH1 and, like many of Houston's music videos for the My Love Is Your Love album, spun on heavy rotation. Since being uploaded on Houston's official channel on YouTube, the video has been viewed over 119 million times.^[19]

"My Love Is Your Love" was released throughout Europe in mid-1999, prior to the United States. Upon release, the song was popular immediately across Europe and became a bigger hit during her European leg of My Love Is Your Love World Tour.

On June 27, 1999, the single went straight to its peak position, number two, in the United Kingdom for the week ending date of July 3, 1999.^[20] According to The Official Charts Company, it has sold 525,000 copies there, becoming Britain's 22nd best-selling single of 1999.^[21][22]

In Germany, it was also very successful. The single entered Media Control Top 100 Singles Chart at number 39, the week dated June 14, 1999, and three weeks later reached a peak of two, spending fifteen consecutive weeks within the top 10 on the chart.^[23] It was certified Platinum by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) for shipments of 500,000 copies of the single.^[24]

The song also reached the number two position in countries such as Austria,^[25] Ireland,^[26] the Netherlands,^[27] Sweden,^[28] and Switzerland.^[29] It went to top five in Belgium (Flanders),^[30] Denmark,^[31] and Norway,^[32] and reached the top 10 on the singles charts in Belgium (Wallonia),^[33] Canada,^[34] Poland,^[35] and France.^[36]

Eventually, the single topped the European Hot 100 Singles Chart for a week, replacing the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way" from the top spot, becoming her fourth number one single on the chart and was positioned at number six on Europe's Top Singles list of 1999.^[37][38][39] By September 1999, it was reported that the song had sold over 1.4 million copies worldwide and that at that time, all but 50,000 of those copies were from Europe.^[40]

In Australia, the song reached a peak of number 27.^[41] In New Zealand, it peaked at number one for a week, making it Houston's third number-one single in the country after 1987's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and 1992's "I Will Always Love You."^[42]

Likewise, "My Love Is Your Love" was a big hit in the United States. The song debuted at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the issue dated September 4, 1999, without a retail release.^[43]

With its official single in two weeks, it shot up on the chart and reached the top 10 in the next three weeks, the issue date of October 9, 1999, becoming her 22nd Hot 100 top-10 hit.^[44][45]

On January 1, 2000, the single peaked at number four, making her the first artist to have a top-10 hit in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, staying within the top 10 of the chart for 17 weeks.^[46] It also reached the number two position on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (formerly "Hot R&B Singles & Tracks"), the issue date of September 25, 1999, spending a total of 29 weeks on the chart, and topped Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play, making it Houston's eighth number-one song of the chart.^[47][48] The song also reached top 10 on the Billboard Pop Songs,^[49] becoming her final single on the chart.

According to Nielsen SoundScan in 1999, it had sold 900,000 copies in the US.^[50] The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of a million copies on December 14, 1999.^[51] In June 2025, the song was certified double platinum for equivalent sales of two million copies alone.^[52] In Canada, the song peaked at number 10, giving Houston her career 20th top ten entry in the country.^[34]

Houston gave several live performances of the song over the years. During promotion of the album, the singer constantly performed it. In November 1998, she premiered the song while appearing on Late Show with David Letterman in her first Letterman appearance since 1985.^[53] Wyclef Jean joined her onstage during the performance.^[53] Houston also performed the song while appearing on the Rosie O'Donnell Show in December of the same year as well as Today that same month.

Houston also performed the song at the 26th American Music Awards at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium in January 1999 with Jean and Babyface on piano.^[54] In April of that year, she performed the song at Divas Live '99 with her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown singing alongside her while sitting in a chair and was later accompanied by rap artist Treach of the American hip-hop group Naughty by Nature.^[55] Houston also performed the song, along with "It's Not Right but It's Okay" and "I Learned From the Best", on the British music show, Top of the Pops. She also performed the song on the Oprah Winfrey Show in June 1999, just as the singer was about to launch a world tour.

In November 1999, the song was performed alongside the album track "Get It Back" at the 1999 MTV Europe Music Awards. During her performance at Arista's 25th anniversary concert special in May 2000, she performed the song as the closer to her show-stealing five-song set.^[56][57] Nine years later, she performed the song alongside her now-teenage daughter for Good Morning America.

Houston performed the song on two of her final world tours and the co-headlining territorial Soul Divas Tour in 2004. During some concert dates for the My Love Is Your Love World Tour (1999), Houston would be joined onstage by husband Bobby Brown, who would perform JT Money's "Who Dat". On other occasions Houston would bring her daughter onstage. For the Nothing but Love World Tour (2009–2010), Houston performed it solo.^[58]

"My Love Is Your Love" has been cited as one of Houston's signature songs.^[59] The song was voted the 15th "Best '90s Love Song" by Cosmopolitan, becoming one of two Houston entries on the list, with her 1992 hit, "I Will Always Love You", topping the list.^[60] Slant voted the song the 15th best of Houston's songs, writing that the song was her "most soulful single. Further disproving the suspicion that she was incapable of conveying emotion in any form other than shouting, Whitney’s restrained vocal performance here rides a smooth, shuffling groove into eternity."^[61]

On their list of "The 40 Best Whitney Houston Songs", BET voted the song the twelfth best.^[62] Entertainment Weekly ranked the song the fourth best Houston song out of 25 entries, writing that the song "redefined her for a younger generation".^[63] Forbes ranked it the 17th best out of 20 Houston songs, writing that "even though the song’s reggae-inspired beat was a departure from Houston’s usual sound, it worked beautifully".^[64] About.com voted the song the 13th best Houston song out of 20.^[65] The Guardian ranked the song the 40th greatest No. 2 song on their list of 70 songs that peaked at number two on the UK singles chart, comparing the song to Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry", writing "'My Love Is Your Love' remains a fantastic song, projecting a warmth and intimacy so infectious that Houston dialled down the vocal fireworks to sing it."^[66]

The song has been sampled many times, according to WhoSampled with artists such as Duke Dumont and Jax Jones sampling it for the song "I Got U".^[67][68] The song would become a hit, later topping the official UK singles chart. Other prominent artists who sampled the song include George the Poet, HBz and Bugzy Malone.^[69][70][71]

In addition, the song—like many of Houston's songs—has been covered by numerous artists, including Trisha Yearwood,^[72] Sam Smith,^[73] Durand Bernarr,^[74] Glennis Grace^[75] and the entire cast of Glee, who covered it for the Houston tribute episode, "Dance with Somebody".^[76] In 2025, the song started being used in commercial ads for jewelry brand Pandora's "Be Love" campaign featuring Iman and Winona Ryder.^[77]