"When I See U" is a Grammy-nominated R&B

Contemporary R&B

Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...

 song recorded by Fantasia

Fantasia Barrino

Fantasia Monique Barrino commonly known as Fantasia, is an American R&B singer, Broadway and television actress who rose to fame as the winner of the third season of the reality television series American Idol in 2004. Following her victory, she released her debut single, "I Believe", which...

, written by Sam Watters

Sam Watters

Sam Watters is a Grammy nominated American songwriter, record producer, singer, and record executive. Watters was a member of the multi-platinum selling 1990’s R&B group Color Me Badd and co-authored many of their hits including “I Wanna Sex You Up”, “I Adore Mi Amor”, and “All 4 Love”...

, Louis Biancaniello

Louis Biancaniello

Louis John Biancaniello is a songwriter, record producer, and musician.-Background:Louis' skills were developed while working alongside producer Narada Michael Walden with whom he produced hits for Shanice "I Love Your Smile", Whitney Houston "I'm Every Woman" from the Grammy winning album The...

, Kevin Risto, Waynne Nugent, Janet Sewell and Erika Nuri, and produced by Midi Mafia

Midi Mafia

Midi Mafia is a hip hop/R&B production duo consisting of American Bruce Waynne from Brooklyn, New York and Canadian Dirty Swift from Ottawa, Ontario...

 and Mzmeriq. It is the second single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 from Fantasia's second album, Fantasia (2006). The song reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

 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,...

, and spent a year on the chart, one of only fourteen songs in history to achieve that feat. It was ranked #8 on the chart's decade-end chart.

Chart performance

The single debuted at number ninety-nine on 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...

 in April 2007 (see 2007 in music

2007 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2007.-January:*January 1 - George Shearing is knighted for services to music in the Queen's New Year Honours List. Evelyn Glennie becomes a Dame...

), becoming Fantasia's first charting single since "Free Yourself

Free Yourself (song)

"Free Yourself" was the fourth single and is the title track of Fantasia's debut album Free Yourself. The song peaked at #41 on The Billboard Hot 100 and like "Truth Is" was a major success on the R&B charts. The single reached number three on the US R&B/Hip Hop chart, and peaked at number one on...

" in 2005. "When I See U" peaked at number thirty-two on the Hot 100, becoming more successful than the first single from Fantasia, "Hood Boy

Hood Boy

"Hood Boy" is the first single from Fantasia Barrino's second album, Fantasia . Produced by Tone Mason, it features a guest appearance from Big Boi from OutKast and has peaked at #21 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart at #3 .The song was written by R&B singer...

", which failed to chart, and becoming her third top forty Hot 100 hit. The song reached number one for eight weeks on Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

s 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,...

 chart, becoming her first single to reach the top ten on the chart since "Free Yourself" in 2005, and her first single to top the chart. The song is one of only 14 songs to ever spend over a year on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart, and is currently tied as the eighth longest running song in the chart's history, in its 57th week. It is also credited with re-energizing sales of Fantasia, causing the album to re-enter the top 100 of the Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 chart.

In September 2007, "When I See U" hit #1 on The Billboard Hot 100 Recurrent Airplay chart, making it Fantasia’s 5th chart topping recurrent hit on the Hot 100 section (single and airplay).

It was announced in December 2009 by Billboard Magazine that "When I See U" was the 8th biggest hit of the decade on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Music video and remixes

The video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 was shot by director Lenny Bass on March 26. It premiered on BET

Bet

Bet or BET may refer to:* A wager in gambling* Basic Economics Test * Bet , the second letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Syriac* Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherm. See BET_theory...

's Access Granted

Access Granted

Access Granted is an American television series that features an in depth look at the planning and production of R&B and hip hop music videos. Each week, a different artist and their new music video are featured, with the video premiering at the end of the episode. The series began airing in 2001...

 April 25, 2007 and on Yahoo! Music

Yahoo! Music

Yahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...

 on April 26. The music video debuted on BET's top ten video countdown show 106 & Park

106 & Park

106 & Park is a Top Ten Hip-Hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that airs weekdays at 6:00 PM on BET . Since its inception, it was the network's #1 rated show...

 on May 9 at number nine; it has peaked at number one, and is her first music video to do so.

The video begins with Fantasia singing on a rooftop, with scenes of her taking a bath in a tub interceding. After that, she walks to meet her love interest (NFL running back

Running back

A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

, Larry Johnson, who at the time played for the Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...

). At the end of the music video, she finally meets him and they embrace and, eventually, kiss. The video fades out on a shot of the stars and moon. Throughout the video, people in love are shown, ranging from children in their "puppy love

Puppy love

Puppy love is an informal term for feelings of love or infatuation felt by young people during childhood and adolescence, so-called for its resemblance to the adoring, worshipful affection that may be felt by a puppy. 'Simple infatuation is often called a "crush" or "puppy love"...

" stages to elderly couples who have been married a long time.

There are several remixes of "When I See U", three of which feature rappers Remy Ma

Remy Ma

Reminisce Smith , better known by her stage name Remy Ma, formerly known as Remy Martin, is a Grammy nominated American rapper and former member of Fat Joe's rap crew, Terror Squad...

, Young Jeezy

Young Jeezy

Jay Wayne Jenkins , better known by his stage name Young Jeezy, is an American rapper. He is the member of the hip hop group United Streets Dopeboyz of America and a former member of BMF...

, Lumidee

Lumidee

Lumidee Cedeño is an American singer-songwriter and rapper. Cedeño was born in Spanish Harlem where she was raised by her grandparents...

, B.G.

B.G. (rapper)

Christopher Dorsey , better known by his stage name B.G. , is an American rapper and actor, from New Orleans, Louisiana. He began his music career signed to Cash Money Records in 1993 with Lil Wayne as half of the duo The B.G.'z...

 and Polow da Don

Polow Da Don

Polow-Freache Jamal Fincher Jones , better known by known by professional name Polow da Don or Awesome Jones, is an American record producer, songwriter, rapper, and singer. His cousin is Atlanta singer Monica. He has produced for a variety of artists including Usher, Nelly, Christina Aguilera, T.I...

. An official remix that features Polow da Don & Young Jeezy

Young Jeezy

Jay Wayne Jenkins , better known by his stage name Young Jeezy, is an American rapper. He is the member of the hip hop group United Streets Dopeboyz of America and a former member of BMF...

, and is produced by Polow da Don, has become very popular in urban markets.

Reception

On December 6, 2007, "When I See U" earned two 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...

 nominations, one for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance by Fantasia and the other Best R&B Song. It lost in both categories to Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys

Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...

' No One

No One (Alicia Keys song)

"No One" is a song by American recording artist Alicia Keys from her third studio album, As I Am. Written and produced by Keys, Kerry Brothers, Jr., and George M. Harry, and released as the album's lead single in September 2007...

 at the 50th Grammy Awards

50th Grammy Awards

The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, on February 10, 2008. Kanye West received the most nominations, with eight. Amy Winehouse was the big winner, winning a total of five awards. Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters won Album of the Year,...

 ceremony.

Charts

Chart	Peak position
U.S. 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...	32
U.S. Billboard 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,...	1