Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)

The original mix of the song was recorded by DJ Tedsmooth, a native of Spanish Harlem where Lumidee was raised, for DJ Tedsmooth's independent record label Straight Face. The song became the number-one requested song on many New York radio stations. The success resulted in many major record label offering deals to both Lumidee and DJ Tedsmooth. After signing with Universal, the song was remixed with guest appearances by Busta Rhymes and Fabolous.^[1] "Never Leave You" was incorporated into the 2010 re-release of the Diwali riddim album on Greensleeves/VP Records. It included other songs derived from the Diwali riddim, along with Sean Paul's "Get Busy," which was a late entry that never made the original release.

"Never Leave You (Uh Ooh, Uh Ooh)" is an R&B song written by Lumidee Cedeño, Teddy "Tedsmooth" Mendez and Eddie Perez, and features a prominent dancehall reggae riddim called "Diwali" written by Steven "Lenky" Marsden,^[2][3] although it is slightly altered from the original riddim. Belgian artist Luc van Acker made allegations that the song resembles "Zanna," a song he wrote. However, in an interview he said Belgian anti-piracy agency SABAM advised him not to waste money on a lawsuit.^[4]

"Never Leave You (Uh Ooh, Uh Ooh)" debuted at number 61 on the US Billboard Hot 100.^[5] Due to the increase of radio plays for the song, it later ascended up the chart from number ten to number five, before peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100.^[6] In the United Kingdom, the song debuted and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart on August 3, 2003 – for the week ending date August 9, 2003 – beaten to the summit by Blu Cantrell and Sean Paul's "Breathe".^[7] The song reached the top spot on the European Hot 100, as well as topping the charts of Flanders, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.^[8] The song additionally entered the top 20 in France, Norway, Sweden and Spain, the top 30 in Canada and New Zealand, and the top 40 in Australia.

The music video of "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" was directed by Nzingha Stewart^[9] and it features American actor J.D. Williams as Lumidee's love interest.^[10]

• Lumidee – lead vocals, background vocals
• DJ Tedsmooth – producer
• Trendsetta – producer, drums, programming, mixing, engineering, keyboards
• Stevie J. – engineering, mixing
• Jamie "S.S" Garcia – mixing assistant

• Hot 100 number-one hits of 2003 (Europe)
• Ultratop 50 number-one hits of 2003
• Dutch Top 40 number-one hits of 2003
• Number-one hits of 2003 (Germany)
• FIMI number-one hits of 2003
• List of Swiss number-one hits of 2003