“Hey Lover” is LL Cool J’s acclaimed 1995 collaboration with Boyz II Men, who at the time were a massively popular boy band still riding high on the success of their 1994 sophomore album, II, featuring such hits as “I’ll Make Love To You,” “On Bended Knee,” and “Water Runs Dry.”

The pairing helped the single from LL Cool J’s sixth album, Mr. Smith, rise to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on Hot Rap Singles.

The song, which tells the story of LL Cool J’s love at first sight and fantasies about dating and marrying that beautiful woman, won Best Rap Solo Performance at the 1997 Grammy Awards.

With “Hey Lover” – and previously with songs like 1987’s “I Need Love” and 1990’s “Around The Way Girl” – LL Cool J helped popularize this style of smooth rap about women.

Visually, actress Gillian Iliana Waters helped convey the “Hey Lover” lyrics as LL Cool J’s crush in the song’s music video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um99r6sgspY

The track samples Michael Jackson’s “The Lady In My Life” from 1982.