"Hey Lover" is the Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 winning first single released from LL Cool J

LL Cool J

James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...

's sixth album, Mr. Smith

Mr. Smith (album)

-Track Notes:* No Airplay - edited on both the Edited and Explicit Versions of the Album, However the Explicit only backmasks on the song, the Edited version even edits the intro....

, featuring Boyz II Men

Boyz II Men

Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...

. It was released on October 31, 1995 for Def Jam Recordings

Def Jam Recordings

Def Jam Recordings is an American record label, focused primarily on hip hop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as a part of The Island Def Jam Motown Music Group...

 and was produced by The Trackmasters and LL Cool J. Hey Lover would prove to be the most successful single from the album, making it to #3 on both the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

 charts, as well as #17 on the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

. The song sampled Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

's "The Lady in My Life" from the Thriller

Thriller (album)

Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall...

 album, thus Rod Temperton

Rod Temperton

Rodney Lynn "Rod" Temperton is an English songwriter, record producer and musician most famous for writing a number of songs performed by Michael Jackson, including the title track of Jackson's Thriller, the biggest-selling album of all time.-Biography:As Temperton remembers music was in his bones...

, the writer of that song, was given credit as a writer of this song. On the B-side was the I Shot Ya remix.

At the Grammy Awards of 1997

Grammy Awards of 1997

The 39th Grammy Awards were held on February 26, 1997. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.- Award winners :*Record of the Year**Babyface & Eric Clapton for "Change the World"*Album of the Year...

, the song won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance

Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance

The Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance was awarded from 1991 to 2011, alongside the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Previously a single award was presented for Best Rap Performance....

, becoming his second Grammy in that category after 1992's Mama Said Knock You Out

Mama Said Knock You Out (song)

"Mama Said Knock You Out" is a hit single by LL Cool J from his album of the same name. The song famously begins with the line "Don't call it a comeback/I've been here for years." Before "Mama Said Knock You Out" was released, many people felt that LL Cool J's career was waning; his grandmother,...

.

A-Side

1. "Hey Lover" (Radio Edit)- 4:03 (Featuring Boyz II Men
   Boyz II Men
   Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...
   
   )
2. "Hey Lover" (instrumental)- 4:03

B-side

1. "I Shot Ya" (Remix)- 5:06 (Featuring Prodigy
   Prodigy (rapper)
   Lance Albert Johnson Banks, better known as Prodigy, is an American rapper and one half of the hip-hop and rap duo Mobb Deep....
   
   , Keith Murray
   Keith Murray (rapper)
   Keith Murray is an American rapper and a member of the rap trio Def Squad, which includes fellow rappers Redman and Erick Sermon.-Music career:...
   
   , Fat Joe
   Fat Joe
   Joseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper, CEO of Terror Squad Entertainment, and member of musical groups D.I.T.C. and Terror Squad....
   
   , Foxy Brown)
2. "Hey Lover" (LP Version)- 4:46

Peak positions

Chart (1995)	Peak position
Billboard Hot 100	3
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	3
Billboard Hot Rap Singles	1
Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	3
Billboard Rhythmic Top 40	2

Year-End charts

End of year chart (1996)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	20