"Tengo Un Amor" (English: "I Have One Love") is the debut single by Puerto Rican-American singer and songwriter Toby Love from his self-titled debut studio album. It was released on July 18, 2006 by Sony BMG Norte. A remix version with R.K.M & Ken-Y was also recorded and included on the album. After separating from the bachata group Aventura in 2006, Toby Love set out on his own to record his debut album. The song became a success in the Latin market, reaching number one in the Billboard Latin Rhythm Airplay chart, the top five of both the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks and Billboard Latin Tropical Airplay charts while peaking at number 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States.

"Tengo Un Amor"
Single by Toby Love
from the album Toby Love
ReleasedJuly 18, 2006
Recorded2006
Genre
Length4:18
LabelSony BMG Note
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Edwin "EZP" Pérez
  • Tony CJ
Toby Love singles chronology
"Tengo Un Amor"
(2006)
"Don't Cry"
(2006)
Audio sample
25 second sample of the English intro and first verse of the song by Toby Love.
Music video
"Tengo Un Amor" on YouTube

Background edit

Toby Love was born and raised in the Bronx, New York to Puerto Rican parents.[1] He has said that he fell in love with the genre of bachata after being exposed to it as a child. He explained that his mother had always listened to that type of music.[1] His mother had remarried to a Dominican and Love was raised around both cultures.[1] He stated that he is a big fan of R&B and found it easy to incorporate it in his music.[1]

After spending six years with the bachata group Aventura, first appearing on the album Generation Next at the age of 16, Love embarked on his solo career.[2][3] He met with Aventura while he was still in a merengue group as a teenager.[2] Living in the same neighborhood as the group, he became close friends with the member Max "Mikey" Santos, who later asked Love to join.[2]

Composition edit

His influential musicians include Michael Jackson and Lauryn Hill (both pictured) which helped combined the mixture of R&B and bachata found on "Tengo Un Amor".

"Tengo Un Amor" was written by Love with additional composition by Edwin Perez who also handled production for the song.[4] The song was written with Spanglish lyrics combining crunk hip hop with bachata.[5] David Jefferies, while reviewing the parent album, called the song an "incredibly smooth, lush, and glittery ballad" while listing the song as a selected "Allmusic Pick".[6] Love later called "Tengo Un Amor" the "door-opener" for all of his future success.[7]

His influential musicians include Michael Jackson, Lauryn Hill, Juan Luis Guerra and Héctor Lavoe, which helped combined the mixture of R&B and bachata found on "Tengo Un Amor".[8] According to Billboard, the original version of the song is a "straightforward bachata song while the remix with R.K.M & Ken-Y, known then as Rakim & Ken-Y provides "urban street cred".[9] The remix also features a verse by R.K.M where he raps to a rhythm of bachata infused with reggaetón, or bachaton.[10]

Release and chart performance edit

"Tengo Un Amor" was released digitally on November 6, 2006 by Sony BMG Norte.[11] After reaching number three on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100, the song debuted and peaked at number 100 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of November 18, 2006.[12][13] On the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart, the song debuted for the issue week of August 5, 2006 and peaked at number two for the week of November 11, 2006.[14][15] For two weeks, David Bisbal's "¿Quién Me Iba a Decir?" withheld the song from the top of the chart.[16] In its third week at the number two spot, Alejandro Sanz' "A la Primera Persona" was occupying the number one spot.[17] This gave R.K.M & Ken-Y their third top 10 single following "Down" and "Me Matas".[18] On the Billboard Latin Tropical Airplay chart, the song debuted for the week of August 19, 2006 and peaked at number three for the week of November 11, 2006.[19][20] On the Billboard Latin Pop Airplay chart, the song debuted for the week of October 7, 2006 and peaked at number 25 for the week of October 28, 2006.[21][22] In Los Angeles, the song became one of the top five most requested tracks on the Rhythmic Top 40 KXOL (96.3), the Senior Vice President of which called the song a "smash" while citing its success as an acceptance of Hispanic audiences and urban tastes.[23]

Accolades edit

"Tengo Un Amor" received three nominations at the 2007 Latin Billboard Music Awards for Best Vocal Duet or Collaboration and Tropical Airplay Song of the Year, Duo or Group for the remix version while winning the award for Tropical Airplay Song of the Year, New Artist category.[18] He was also awarded Best Rap/Hip-Hop Album for Toby Love.[18][24] The song was award an ASCAP award for Urban Song of the Year from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.[25] According to Jon Caramanica of New York Times, "Tengo Un Amor" is Love's "biggest hit".[26]

Charts edit

Certifications edit

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[38] 2× Platinum (Latin) 120,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d "Toby Love becomes the voice of the youth". Latin Rapper. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  2. ^ a b c Otero, Navani (2006-10-03). "nocheLatina - Q&A Sessions: Toby Love". nocheLatina. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
  3. ^ "Ex integrante de Aventura, Toby Love, presenta credenciales en el Centro de Arte & Comunicación Celinés Toribio". El Nuevo Diario (in Spanish). El Nuevo Diario, Inc. 2006-12-15. Archived from the original on 2015-04-12. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
  4. ^ "Toby Love: "La bachata está pegada y seguirá creciendo"". Hoy Digital (in Spanish). Periódico Hoy. 2009-07-21. Archived from the original on 2015-09-28. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  5. ^ "Salute To The Grunge Kings". St. Petersburg Times. Times Publishing Company. 2009-11-17. Retrieved 2013-02-28.(subscription required)
  6. ^ "Toby Love : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : Allmusic". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  7. ^ "Toby Love: "Soy un romántico enamorado"". Ocio Latino (in Spanish). Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  8. ^ "Toby Love lleva la bachata de la calle al mundo". Terra Networks (in Spanish). Telefónica. 2006-08-15. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
  9. ^ "Move over Lil Jon, there's a new king in town -- Toby Love, the king of crunkchata". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
  10. ^ "Las cuarentonas también se movieron al ritmo del reggaetón". El Telégrafo (in Spanish). El Telégrafo, Decano de la Prensa Nacional. 2011-10-02. Archived from the original on 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2013-04-12.
  11. ^ "iTunes - Music - Tengo Un Amor - Single by Toby Love". iTunes. Apple Inc. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  12. ^ "Bubbling Under Hot 100 2006-10-28". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  13. ^ "The Billboard Hot 100 2006-11-18". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-01-17.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ "Hot Latin Tracks 2006-08-05". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-01-17.[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ "Hot Latin Tracks 2006-11-11". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-01-17.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ "Latin Airplay: November 18, 2006 - Billboard Chart Archive". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 18 November 2006. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  17. ^ "Latin Airplay: November 25, 2006 - Billboard Chart Archive". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 25 November 2006. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  18. ^ a b c Ben-Yehuda, Ayala (2007-04-28). "And The Finalist Are..." Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
  19. ^ "Latin Tropical Airplay 2006-08-19". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-01-17.[permanent dead link]
  20. ^ "Latin Tropical Airplay 2006-11-11". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-01-17.[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ "Latin Pop Airplay 2006-10-07". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-01-17.[permanent dead link]
  22. ^ "Latin Pop Airplay 2006-10-28". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-01-17.[permanent dead link]
  23. ^ Cobo, Leila (2006-09-30). "Love At First Sight: A New Artist's Mix of R&B and Bachata Scores With The Reggaetón Crowd". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  24. ^ "2007 Billboard Latin Music Awards Winners". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
  25. ^ "15th Annual Latin Music Awards - Urban". ASCAP Awards. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Archived from the original on 2015-06-27. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
  26. ^ Caramanica, Jon (2008-08-28). "Music Review: Toby Love Performs At Highbridge Park, A Large-Size Show in the Most Local of Places". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  27. ^ "Toby Love - Chart History: Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  28. ^ "Toby Love - Chart History: Bubbling Under Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  29. ^ "Toby Love - Chart History: Radio Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  30. ^ "Toby Love - Chart History: Latin Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  31. ^ "Toby Love - Chart History: Tropical Airplay". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  32. ^ "Toby Love - Chart History: Latin Rhythm Airplay". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  33. ^ "Toby Love - Chart History: Latin Pop Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  34. ^ "Year-End Charts: Hot Latin Songs 2006 (11-20)". Billboard. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  35. ^ "Latin Rhythm Songs: December 31, 2006 - Billboard Chart Archive". Billboard. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  36. ^ "Year-End Charts: Tropical Songs 2006 (11-20)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  37. ^ "Latin Rhythm Songs: December 31, 2007 - Billboard Chart Archive". Billboard. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  38. ^ "American single certifications – Tengo Un Amor". Recording Industry Association of America.