U Got It Bad

"U Got It Bad" is a song by American singer Usher. It was released through Arista Records as the second official single from his third studio album 8701 (2001). It was written by Usher, Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox, and produced by Dupri, with Cox credited as co-producer. Released in the United States on August 21, 2001, "U Got It Bad" is an R&B ballad that, according to MTV, incorporates "digi-coustic" guitars, a "slow-burning bass line" and "sex funk" drums. The lyrics notably contain some quick direct allusions to other soul music ballads, mainly Maxwell's "Fortunate" and Prince's "Adore".

"U Got It Bad" was released to generally favorable reviews from critics. It became Usher's third song to top the US Billboard Hot 100 as well as the second consecutive single from 8701 to do so. Elsewhere, it entered the top five in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, and reached the top 40 on most charts that it appeared on. The song's accompanying music video, directed by Little X, was filmed as a two-part story with "U Don't Have to Call" and features Usher's then-girlfriend, TLC's Chilli, as his love interest.

Background and writing
"U Got It Bad" was written by Usher, Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox, with production helmed by the former and co-production from the latter. Recording was done by Brian Frye and mixing by Dupri and Phil Tan, at Southside Studios, Atlanta, Georgia in 2000. John Horesco IV provided mixing assistance, William "Billy" Odum performed the Guitar and Usher provided all vocals. Talking to Complex, Dupri stated that "U Got It Bad" was inspired by Usher's previous single "Nice & Slow", saying that he produced the song as he wanted to re-produce a track similar to the latter in terms of success, for Usher's 8701 (2001).

The lyrics to the song were, according to Dupri, inspired by a true story after he and Usher had been in the studio trying to record some music for the album, but Usher was continually distracted by a girl he had brought into the studio. Following an argument, the girl left. A while later, they started on talking on the phone, which prompted Dupri to kick Usher out of the studio telling him, "We're going to do this [session] later on. You got it completely too bad right now. You got it bad." This ignited the inspiration for the song, and once Usher had left, Dupri started writing its lyrics, with the notion that it was going to be a big hit. Once Usher had returned to the studio, Dupri shared the story of the song with him.

Composition and release
"U Got It Bad" is an R&B ballad. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, it is written in the key of B minor and has a tempo of 66 beats per minute. Usher's vocal range spans from the low note of F♯4 to the high note of A5. The song is actually a semitone lower in the key of B-flat minor, which would have the vocals span from F4 to A♭5. "U Got It Bad" is a slow jam, that makes use of "digi-coustic" guitars, a "slow-burning bass line" and "sex funk" drums. Usher's vocals "floats and runs" between the song's melodies, before intensifying when entering the chorus.

The Neptunes-produced track, "I Don't Know", was initially intended as the album's second single. Rapper P. Diddy was to direct its music video in Los Angeles in July 2001. The song was receiving radio play prior to the release of 8701 first single "U Remind Me". However, Usher instead released "U Got It Bad" as the album's second single, as it presents his own unique sound, "If you wanna know what a Usher record is, then ["U Got It Bad" is] it," while using both Michael Jackson and Bobby Brown as examples of artists who "solidified" their music through their own unique music. "U Got it Bad" was released as a CD single in the US on December 18, 2001.

Reception
"U Got It Bad" earned generally favorable reviews from music critics. NME called the song 8701's "stand-out track [that] deals with the spectre of first love with passion, honesty and some raw beats." Kelefa Sanneh from The New York Times cited "U Got It Bad" as 2001's "best slow jam, coasting along on a double-time vocal line and a whisper of acoustic guitar." Austin Williams from Vibe noted that "U Got It Bad" "isn't like most begging music that's celebrated. Though it certainly contains the fundamental elements of the subgenre – passionate singing, dramatic declarations of love, and a music video with a grand gesture of desperation – there's a generality to its writing that's preserved its resonance."

"U Got It Bad" was nominated for several prizes, including the 2002 Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single – Male. In 2002, it won the 2002 Teen Choice Love Song award, and in 2003, the song was awarded an ASCAP Award for Publisher of the Year. In 2016, Complex ranked the song number eight on their list of the 25 greatest Usher songs, with editor Edwin Ortiz calling it a "slow-burning ballad meant to top anything Usher had released prior," further writing: "Whereas "Nice & Slow" delivered a slow jam vibe ripe for a late night rendezvous, "U Got It Bad" was the antithesis of an erotic fantasy, with Usher exploring a relationship he can't sensibly appreciate." In 2021, American Songwriter ranked the song number five on their list of the 10 greatest Usher songs.

Chart performance
"U Got It Bad" topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week of December 15, 2001, becoming Usher's third number-one song on the chart. It was his second Hot 100 number one from 8701 after "U Remind Me", which reached the position in July of the same year. "U Got It Bad" marked the first time he obtained two consecutive number one hits. In December 2001, Usher became one of the few Arista acts to have more than one Hot 100 number one hit, with Whitney Houston having eleven, Barry Manilow and Milli Vanilli with three, and Monica with two. "U Got It Bad" was also atop the Hot 100 Airplay chart that week, with an audience impression of 135 million. The following week, the song was replaced by Nickelback's "How You Remind Me", moving it to number two. Nickelback's single remained number one for four consecutive weeks, before being replaced by "U Got It Bad" on the week of January 8, 2002, which went on to top the Hot 100 for five weeks. On the same week, the song broke the record for the highest audience impression on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, previously held by Alicia Keys, with 149,858,700 listeners. The song's popularity helped 8701 rise from number twenty-three to eight on the US Billboard 200 on the week of October 11, 2001.

Music video
A music video for "U Got It Bad" was directed by Canadian filmmaker Little X. Co-starring TLC member Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas as the female lead, the video starts with Usher tossing and turning in bed, troubled by the thought of his ex-girlfriend (Thomas). After awakening, he turns on the TV, only to see his ex, a celebrity on her own, on every station. The video proceeds to introduce flashbacks of happier times between the two, suggesting that he still longs for his ex. In his desperation to find her, he braves the rain, bursting into her trailer to apologize and reconcile with her. However, this is revealed to be his imagination, and instead of opening the door of the trailer, he walks away ashamed. Disgusted, he makes his way home and lies in his bed, alone.

The visuals for follow-up single "U Don't Have to Call", filmed in February 2002, served as a continuation from "U Got It Bad". At the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, the video was nominated for Best Male Video and Best R&B Video. It also received a Video of the Year nod at the 2002 BET Awards. In 2018, Little X told Billboard: "This one was a little more personal. I was young and was kind of venting through my own life experience through the song. Usher and I were around the same age, and it was just one of those [videos] that really clicked. I think there was something special about that video, having a really young director with a really young artist making this thing happen together."

The music video on YouTube has received over 305 million views as of May 2024.

Track listing
Notes Sample credits
 * $undefined$ denotes co-producer
 * "U Remind Me (remix)" contains samples from "The Message" as performed by Grandmaster Flash.