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I love that. It felt like '90s, Aaliyah, Destiny's Child. I like that it has that throwback feeling to it. And that's when I grew up and it was such a feel-good song to me. And I love what it says. I love it's about loving somebody so much that you just don't know what to say. I think that's really cute. I laughed the first time I heard the lyrics. I like that I get to sing a little more on it... It's quirky.

– Ariana Grande talking about the background of Baby I

"Baby I" is the second single and second track from Ariana Grande's debut album, Yours Truly. It was released through Republic Records, on August 1, 2013. "Baby I" is an R&B-influenced song with urban drums, horns, a syncopated beat, finger snaps, handclaps and strings during the bridge. It also contains an up-tempo '90s-inspired beat with '70s disco energy.

Lyrically, the song is "a confession on Grande's behalf admitting a special love for someone and how she can't formulate her strong feelings into words."[1] Regarding this matter, Grande said that she could be related to the song's lyrics because she is "so awkward and so flustered," especially if it's towards the beginning of a relationship.[2]

Background[]

In an interview, Grande said that "Baby I" was more "sophisticated" and "mature" than her previous single "The Way", which was part of what made her excited to release the song.

The song was originally written by "Babyface" for Beyoncé, however, the singer rejected it. During sessions at Brandon's Way Recording Studios in Los Angeles, "Babyface" played the song to Grande, she immediately agreed to record the song. Following its recording, the song was mixed by Jaycen Joshua at Larrabee Studios and mastered by Tom Coyne and Aya Marrill at Sterling Sound. "Baby I" was released for digital download on August 1, 2013. In an interview with Complex, Grande stated that it was actually Mac Miller who picked "Baby I" to be the second single for her album."I didn't pick 'Baby I' as the second single, Mac Miller picked 'Baby I' as the second single and that's honestly the only reason why it was the second single. I was skeptical about it but I loved the song just because it feels a lot like Dreamgirls to me." She added.

Composition[]

"Baby I" is an up-tempo R&B and pop song that runs for a duration of three minutes and seventeen seconds. It was written and produced by Babyface, Tony Dixon and J.Que. A writer from Rap-Up describes the track as a "summertime record" which features Grande's "big vocals" over a "breezy beat". Several critics noted the '90s R&B music influence demonstrated in "Baby I", which is also musically present on the rest of her album, Yours Truly. Additionally, '70s disco energy is also present in the song, with PopCrush describing it as "Mariah Carey has gone retro".

Lyrically, the song is a confession on Grande's behalf admitting a special love for someone and how she can't formulate her feelings into words. The first verse introduces the concept of the song: "Baby I got love for thee so deep inside of me / I don’t know where to start / I love you more than anything / But the words can’t even touch what’s in my heart / When I try to explain it I be sounding insane / The words don’t ever come out right / I get all tongue tied (and twisted) / I can’t explain what I’m feeling."

Reception[]

Critical reception[]

"Baby I" received acclaim from music critics. Sam Lansky of the website Idolator opined that Grande succeeded in "meeting the bar where she set it with her debut," while praising her "extraordinary vocal performance" and describing her vocal runs as "nothing short of everything." He also stated, "Comparisons to Mariah Carey are starting to grow tiresome, but truly — who else has a range like that?" Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly praised the production of "Baby I" as a "real throwback" and felt that the song argued Grande as "the new Mariah", writing: "Her range isn’t anywhere near Carey’s was at her peak (the runs at the end of 'Baby, I' sound like they push her to the limit), but her ability to shift between cooing and belting is pretty spot-on."

A reviewer from The Honesty Hour declared that the song was a "great followup" to "The Way" and complimented Grande's vocal performance, "In comparison to her contemporaries around the same age, Grande’s vocal ability is more advanced and she shows it off with this mature arrangement." Writing for the MTV Buzzworthy blog, Jenna Hally Rubenstein wrote, "While 'The Way' set the bar pretty high for Ariana, I'm super pumped to say that her latest single, 'Baby, I,' sets the bar even higher" and referred to the song as "a more than worthy follow-up." The Huffington Post wrote: "We've said it before and we'll say it again: Ariana is channeling some serious '90s Mariah Carey vibes in her new music – in the best way possible."

Amy Sciarretto of the entertainment website PopCrush also positively reviewed the song, commending it for focusing on Grande's "diva voice, and her deftness with the blue-eyed soul genre". Sciarretto further wrote, "Grande sings as though she is wise beyond her years, and she hits those notes without ever going so high she might make dogs bark."

Chart performance[]

The song sold 141,000 copies in its first week and debuted at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, her second top 40 hit. It also debuted at #6 on the Hot Digital Songs chart, making Ariana Grande the only woman to debut two songs in the top ten on the Digital Songs chart in the year 2013.

The song has surpassed 100 million streams on Spotify, and it's Ariana’s 73rd song to reach this milestone.


Music Video[]

Filming for the song's music video took place on July 28th – 29th, 2013. Grande hinted that the video would "travel" back to the 1990s and that there would be "lots of color" and "lots of baggy clothes." A "teaser video" was posted on Grande's personal YouTube channel on September 5, 2013. The official music video was released on September 6, 2013, on her VEVO account

Acoustic Video[]

Ariana Grande shared an Acoustic Video of "Baby I" and "The Way" on her channel with Dan Kanter (guitarist).

Live performances[]

Grande performed "Baby I" during Justin Bieber's Believe Tour on August 8, 2013,[3] and at the MTV Video Music Awards Pre-show on August 25, 2013.[4]

  • "Baby I" was also apart of the setlist from her debut tour The Listening Sessions.
  • "Baby I" was added to the The Honeymoon Tour setlist beginning with the Asian leg on August 15, 2015.
  • "Baby I" was performed during the "Yours Truly" 10th anniversary week in June 2023.
  • "Baby I" live version was released via "Yours Truly (10th Anniversary Edition)" on August 27, 2023.
  • On the Live 10th Anniversary version, Grande missed her iconic whistle note due to her forgetting how fast the song went.

Trivia[]

  • In 2021, the song gained popularity on TikTok.
  • This is Ariana's second most difficult song to sing live, with the first being "My Hair" from Positions.
  • The music video is Grande's first and only to be filmed entirely outside
  • There is a remix of this song on the Japanese edition of Yours Truly.
  • When Ariana posted snippet of the song 6 days before it came out in her car, you could partially see the file name of the final version is called "Baby I-Main Mix V6 Radio Edit CD".[5]

Taro Hakase Edition[]

A rendition of "Baby I" featuring Japanese violinist Taro Hakase is featured in the Japanese edition of My Everything. This track features the original musical and vocal tracks from the song with the violin tracked placed over the song. This song is only available to Japanese customers and was made available as a pre-release single 3 weeks prior to the Japanese release of My Everything on August 27, 2014. It was featured as the 2nd ending of GO-GO Tamagotchi and the final ending in the whole Tamagotchi series.

Videos[]

Gallery[]

Lyrics[]

[Verse 1]
Baby I got love for thee so deep inside of me
I don’t know where to start
(Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah) Yeah yeah
I love you more than anything
But the words can't even touch what’s in my heart
(Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah) No no

[Pre-Chorus 1]
When I try to explain it I be sounding insane
The words don't ever come out right
I get all tongue-tied (and twisted)
I can’t explain what I’m (feeling)
And I say baby, baby, baby

[Chorus]
Baby I, oh baby, oh baby, my baby
Baby I, oh baby, baby I
All I’m tryna say is you’re my everything baby
But everytime I try to say it
Words they only complicate it
Baby, baby

[Verse 2]
Baby I’m so down for you no matter what you do
(Real talk) I’ll be around
(Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah) Yeah yeah
Oh baby I been feeling you
Before I even knew what feelings were about
(Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah) Oh baby

[Pre-Chorus 2]
When I try to explain it I be sounding all crazy
The words don’t ever come out right
I get all tongue-tied and (twisted)
I can’t explain what I’m (feeling)
And I say baby, baby, baby

[Chorus]
Baby I, oh baby, oh baby, my baby
Baby I, oh baby, Baby I
All I’m tryna say is you’re my everything baby
But everytime I try to say it
Words they only complicate it
Baby, baby

[Bridge]
Straight up you got me all in
How could I not be I sure hope you know (I sure hope you know)
If it’s even possible
I love you more
Than the word love can say it
It’s better not explaining that why I keep saying baby I

[Chorus]
Baby I, oh baby, oh baby, my baby
Baby I, oh baby, baby I
All I'm tryna say is you're my everything baby
But everytime I try to say it
Words they only complicate it
Baby, baby, (baby), baby, baby

Baby I, oh baby, oh baby, my baby
Baby I, oh baby, baby I
All I'm tryna say is you're my everything baby
But everytime I try to say it words they only complicate it
Everytime I try to say it words they only complicate it
Everytime I try to say it words they only complicate it
Baby, baby, baby, baby

References[]

Yours Truly
August 30, 2013 • 46:28 • Republic Records
Songs
Released Almost Is Never EnoughBaby IBetter Left UnsaidDaydreamin'Honeymoon AvenueLovin' ItPianoPopular SongRight ThereTattooed HeartThe WayYou'll Never Know
Unreleased 3OH!3 Outtake 13OH!3 Outtake 2Boyfriend MaterialButterfliesDo You Love MeFirst TimeHumanILABLa Vie En RoseNobody Does It BetterOh, DarlingParachutePink ChampagnePlease Don't Let Me GoPut Your Hearts UpRealSandmanSaturday Love'Til We Finally MeetUnknown Nick Jonas DuetUnknown Nick Jonas BalladUnknown Sean Kingston CollaborationVoodoo LoveYoung LoveYou're My Only Shawty
Artists
Ariana GrandeBig SeanDemi LovatoGreyson ChanceJ BalvinJade NovahKing LosMac MillerMIKANathan SykesPebe SebertSean KingstonSky BluTaro HakaseThe Dap Kings
Tour
The Listening Sessions
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