My Love Is Like...Wo

"My Love Is Like... Wo" is a song by American singer Mýa, released as the lead single from her third studio album, Moodring (2003). Mýa re-teamed up with rapper Missy Elliott after the global success of "Lady Marmalade" (2001) to record the song. Before being released, it took Mýa a whole year to decide to record the song because of its graphic lyrical content. The song was written by Elliott along with brothers Charles and Kenneth Bereal. Lyrically, the mid-tempo song is about self-love.

"My Love Is Like... Wo"
Single by Mýa
from the album Moodring
ReleasedJune 10, 2003 (2003-06-10)
Recorded
GenreR&B
Length3:29
LabelInterscope
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Missy Elliott
  • CKB
Mýa singles chronology
"Lady Marmalade"
(2001)		 "My Love Is Like... Wo"
(2003)		 "Fallen"
(2003)

The song received generally mixed to positive reviews from contemporary music critics, applauding Mýa for her newfound sexual freedom. "My Love Is Like...Wo" became a top twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for week of September 6, 2003; peaking and spending four consecutive weeks at number thirteen. It performed similarly on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it peaked at number seventeen. Internationally, the single charted within the top forty in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

The song's accompanying music video was filmed by director Paul Hunter, who envisioned Harrison to perform a one-woman show. The video earned her two nominations at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Dance Video and Best Choreography, while choreographer Travis Payne garnered a nomination at the American Choreography Awards for Outstanding Achievement – Music Video.

Background and composition

Recorded in 2001, "My Love Is Like...Wo" was written and produced by American rapper Missy Elliott along with production duo CKB, consisting of brothers Charles and Kenneth Bereal.[1] Additional production on the song was handled by Ron Fair.[1] Before Harrison decided to release "My Love Is...Wo" as the first single from Moodring (2003), she admitted she was not always comfortable with the song and its graphic lyric content. Speaking to Billboard magazine, she explained, "Back then, I wasn't so confident in saying, 'My a** is like wo' [...] I was coming out of doing a program with young girls that talked about self-esteem and body image. I realized that I really couldn't worry about what people think of me. I'm at that point in my life now where I can say, 'My ass is like wo.' I wasn't even considering the song to be on the album at that time, but I later fought for it to be the single."[2]

"My Love Is Like...Wo" is a mid-tempo song composed in the key of G major. The song's tempo is set a slow moderate sixty-nine beats per minute in common time. Mýa's vocal range spans from G3 to D5.[3] The lyrics for "My Love Is Like...Wo" are composed in the traditional verse-chorus form. Mýa opens the song with brief spoken lyrics. She begins the first verse, followed by the chorus leading her into the second verse. The song continues to the bridge, chorus, then fades out with the piano and Mýa chanting "Wo! Wo! Wo! Wo! Wo!".

Critical reception

Billboard magazine gave "My Love Is Like...Wo" a positive review writing, "The doe-eyed girl next door is proving to be quite a versatile performer, with a decidedly vampish performance in the movie Chicago and new imaging that redresses Mýa as a sexy and certain young woman. The first single from forthcoming Moodring [...] is a playfully coy call to arms for the singer's more tactile attributes, from her love, her kiss, and her touch to her sex, ass, and body—all of which 'are like wo.' Get it? An appropriately hip-swaying beat swirls around the vocal, courtesy of ever-hitworthy producer Missy Elliott. This is the record that will propel Mýa to the A-list among today's pop/R&B icons; throughout the song, she delivers womanly strength and sass with a knowing wink. Moodring sounds like a perfect fit."[4]

Accolades
Year Ceremony Award Result Ref.
2003MTV Video Music AwardsBest Dance VideoNominated[5]
Best ChoreographyNominated
2004Music Video Production AwardsBest R&B VideoNominated[6]
Best ChoreographyNominated

Commercial performance

In the United States, "My Love Is Like...Wo" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number eighty-one on the issue dated June 28, 2003.[7] The song reached its peak position of number thirteen on the chart dated September 6, 2003, spending four consecutive weeks at its peak.[8] It spent twenty consecutive weeks altogether on the chart and became Mýa's fifth non-consecutive top forty solo hit on that chart. On Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, the single debuted at number sixty-two on June 21, 2003,[9] peaking at number seventeen on August 23, 2003. It spent a total of nineteen consecutive weeks on the chart and became Mýa's sixth non-consecutive top forty solo hit on that chart.

Elsewhere, "My Love Is Like...Wo" became a modest hit. The single debuted and peaked at number thirty-three on the UK Singles Chart for the week of September 14, 2003, dropping to number fifty-three the following week before falling off the top seventy-five.[10] It debuted on the Irish Singles Chart at number thirty-six on September 11, 2003, and it remained on the chart for one week.[11] In Australia, "My Love Is Like...Wo" debuted and peaked at number twenty-five on the ARIA Singles Chart during the week of September 1, 2003, spending three consecutive weeks at its peak position and twelve weeks in the top fifty.[12] The song debuted at number forty-nine in New Zealand for the week of September 21, 2003, peaking at number thirty-three six weeks later.[13]

Music video

The song's music video was featured on MTV's Making the Video. The video was filmed and directed by Paul Hunter, who had previously worked with Mýa on "Lady Marmalade" (2001) with Christina Aguilera, Pink, Lil' Kim, and Missy Elliott. His concept for the video was to have Mýa act as a one-woman show. Although this initially was not Mýa's vision or idea for the song's video, she agreed to it. However, she did voice her opinion in the styling of the video from the many different costumes changes. She came up with the ideas of the pimpstress and gangster look. In the video, Mýa displayed her tap-dancing during the song's breakdown as well. The dance sequence in the video was choreographed by Travis Payne. The video was released on May 29, 2003.[14]

Live performances

Mýa made several television appearances to promote and perform "My Love Is Like...Wo". She first performed the song on Live! with Regis and Kelly on the release day of Moodring album on July 22, 2003.[15] Mýa appeared on BET's 106 & Park and performed "My Love Is Like...Wo" again on July 25, 2003.[16] On August 6, 2003, Mýa performed a medley of "My Love Is Like...Wo" and "Whatever Bitch" (a track from Moodring) on The WB's Pepsi Smash. During the performance breakdown of "Whatever Bitch", she vogued with drag queens.[17]

Remixes

"My Love Is Like...Wo" spawned several remixes, including two official sequel remixes.[18] "Part II – My Love Is Like...Wo (Allstar Remix)" features additional production by Allen "Allstar" Gordon Jr. and contains an interpolation from Black Rob's 2000 song "Whoa!", written by Rob, Harve Pierre, and Buckwild and originally produced by the latter.[18] Rapper John Doe contributed additional vocals to this version.[18] "Part III – My Love Is Like...Wo (Swizz Mix)" was produced by Swizz Beatz, who recorded additional vocals with rapper Cassidy for the track.[18] It contains an interpolation from Eve's song "Double R What", which appeared on her 2002 album Eve-Olution and was also produced by Swizz Beatz.[18]

Legacy

In her interview with Singersroom former Bad Boy signee turned indie recording artist D∆WN praised Mýa as a dancer and her "My Love Is Like...Wo" video, commenting, "That’s something I want people to see as an R&B artist, because you haven’t seen any R&B artist do that many techniques and styles since really, Mýa. She was tap dancing in one of her videos. She was one of the first artists to really push different styles of dance in her videos." Speaking on behalf of "My Love Is Like...Wo" and its video, she gushed, In “[My Love is Like] Whoa” she was tap dancing and she did a little bit of hip-hop, then there was jazz moments." Concluding, Mýa was "really pushing the bar."[19] Australian singer Nicole Millar covered "My Love Is Like...Wo" with DJ/producer Zuri Akoko for their Covers EP (2015).[20] Out of the three tracks they chose to cover, Nicole cited "My Love Is Like...Wo" as her favorite cover.[21]

Track listings

Personnel

Credits adapted from Moodring liner notes.[1]

Charts

Release history
Region Date Format Label Ref.
United States June 9, 2003 CHR/Rhythmic Interscope [43]
Urban
June 10, 2003 CD Single  · Maxi single [44]
Germany September 1, 2003 A&M Records [45]
United Kingdom September 8, 2003 Polydor Records [46]
Australia September 9, 2003 Universal Music [47]
New Zealand

References
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  2. Hall, Rashaun (July 5, 2003). "Music Best Fits Mya's 'Mood'". Billboard. 115 (27): 13. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  3. "Mýa – My Love Is Like...Wo Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  4. "My Love Is Like . . . Wo". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  5. "2003 MTV Video Music Awards". MTV. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  6. "2004 MVPA Awards". DV. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
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  12. "Mýa – My Love Is Like... Wo". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
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  19. "Dawn Richard Talks Being a Dancer's Artist, Spirit-Killing Shoes, Her Pick For President, More". Singersroom. Retrieved 2017-12-19.
  20. "mtv video premiere: nicole millar x zuri akoko!". MTV. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
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