"Rain on Me" | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Ashanti | ||||||||
from the album Chapter II | ||||||||
Released | August 19, 2003 | |||||||
Format | CD single | |||||||
Recorded | 2001 | |||||||
Genre | R&B | |||||||
Length | 4:57 | |||||||
Label | Murder Inc. | |||||||
Writer(s) | Ashanti Douglas, Irving Lorenzo, Andre Parker, Burt Bacharach, Hal David | |||||||
Producer(s) | Irv Gotti, Chink Santana | |||||||
Ashanti singles chronology | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
"Rain on Me" is a single released by R&B singer Ashanti in 2003 from her second album Chapter II. The single reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States and the top 20 in the United Kingdom. In the video Ashanti plays a superstar abused by a jealous boyfriend, played by actor Larenz Tate. The video was released on August 28, 2003. The video was shot in Barcelona, Spain, and directed by Hype Williams. It contains a sample of "The Look Of Love" by Isaac Hayes. The rap remix found on her "Collectibles" album interpolates "Can I Live?" by rapper Jay-Z, which also samples the same Hayes song (and also produced by Irv Gotti). The remix also features Hussein Fatal and fellow The Inc. Records labelmates Charli "Chuck" Baltimore and Ja Rule. There are two videos for the song.
In 2004, the song earned Ashanti a Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
Ashanti's lyrics for "Rain on Me" address the pains and challenges of facing, and eventually overcoming, an abusive relationship. Wanting to bring her lyrics to life in a cinematically ambitious, narrative driven way, the singer/songwriter worked with LidRock & director Hype Williams to produce the mini-movie version of the song.
"We wanted to make a short movie that was 'real' — that showed that no matter if you're rich or poor, black or white, famous or not, domestic violence can touch your life" explained Ashanti.