I Need U (Lay song)

"I Need U" (Chinese: 需要你) is a single recorded by Chinese singer Lay (Zhang Yixing) for his solo album Lay 02 Sheep, which was released on October 7, 2017. The song was pre-released on September 25, 2017, by S.M. Entertainment and dedicated to Lay's grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary.

"I Need U"
Single by Lay
from the album Lay 02 Sheep
ReleasedSeptember 25, 2017
Recorded2017
StudioZhang Yixing studio
Genre
Length3:39
LabelS.M. Entertainment
Songwriter(s)Zhou Wei Jie, Lay
Producer(s)Lay, Devine Channel
Lay singles chronology
"Lose Control"
(2016)		 "I Need U"
(2017)		 "Sheep"
(2017)
Music video
"I Need U" on YouTube

Background and release

"I Need U" is described as an urban R&B pop genre song where Lay participated in its composing and lyrics-writing.[1] The song is dedicated to Lay's grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary with lyrics confessing eternity to the beloved.[2]

In a letter on S.M. Entertainment’s social media account which was posted one day before the release of the music video, Lay talked about his grandparent’s love and how they care for one another. He also described his relationship with them and how he hoped to give them a touching memory through “I Need U”. He stated, "Love can sometimes be like a habit, but also refreshing and touching like a scene in a movie, a single book, or a song. But I believe that love, from what I have felt, is being able to do even the smallest of things for your loved one thousands, if not tens of thousands, of times.”[3]

Lay revealed in a video hosted by Chaumet that this song was in fact written beforehand together with "what U need?" as a response to the latter and expressed that a song is the best fit as an answer to the suspense posed by another song.[4]

Music video

The music video begins with a piano version of Gymnopédie No.3 by Erik Satie and the phrase "Ce n'est pas une histoire d'amour. C'est une histoire qui parle d'amour". It tells the story of a young man, portrayed by Lay himself, strolling through Paris while planning to ask his beloved to marry him. After many years, the two return to Paris to reminisce the past.

The music video, featuring Lay's grandparents, was filmed in Paris, France and personally planned and directed by Lay himself.[5]

Reception

The accompanying music video for "I Need U" ranked #1 on Billboard's China Weibo Live Chart.[6] In 12 hours, "I Need U" hit more than 26 million views online, consecutively being the major 3 music chart's winner.[7][8] Additionally, the music video was charted in 17 countries and ranked #1 on iTunes in 12 countries, including the United States, Canada, Malaysia, Portugal, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, Hong Kong, China and more.[9][10]

Charts
Chart (2017) Peak

position

Chinese Singles (Billboard)[11] 3
Chinese Singles (QQ Music)[12] 91
gollark: English_irl.
gollark: At least the UK... has... Llanfairpwllgwyngyll?
gollark: Over here you *pay* for university, ish, via somewhat convoluted financial arrangements which result in most people not actually paying the full price anyway.
gollark: The whole thing of working for a particular amount of hours at particular times is very uncool and unnecessary in a lot of cases.
gollark: It doesn't seem like a very *good* spectrum, given that it's different traits at each... frequency...

References
  1. "EXO张艺兴10月推第二张个人专辑". 韩联社（韩国联合通讯社） (in Chinese). Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  2. "EXO's Lay proposes in Paris for his new "I NEED U" music video". Scout Magazine. 2017-09-25. Archived from the original on 2017-09-27. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  3. "EXO's Lay Surprises With New Song 'I Need U' Dedicated to His Grandparents". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
  4. Layshands. "170929 Merci CHAUMET - Yixing I NEED U MV behind the scene". Youtube. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  5. "Watch: EXO's Lay Answers His Own Question With Special Pre-Release "I NEED U" | Soompi". www.soompi.com. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
  6. "厉害了张艺兴！新歌获得多个国家和地区第一，连创纪录". kknews.cc (in Chinese). Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  7. "Yixing Studio Weibo: 'I NEED U' 26M Views Online, 1.2 Youtube". Weibo (in Chinese). Retrieved 2017-09-26.
  8. "EXO's Lay Joins 1 Million Views Club In Less Than 24 Hours Since "What U Need" Release | Soompi". www.soompi.com. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
  9. "Yixing Studio Weibo: MV "I NEED U" iTunes". Weibo (in Chinese). Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  10. "EXO's Lay Sees International Success On Charts With "What U Need" | Soompi". www.soompi.com. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
  11. "China V Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  12. "巅峰榜·内地 - QQ音乐-中国最新最全的免费正版高品质无损音乐平台！". y.qq.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 2017-10-25.
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