“Love Me Not” was almost a throwaway track that Anderson .Paak never planned to release, until a producer asked if Ravyn Lenae could have it.
Telling the story Tuesday on Keke Palmer’s podcast, “Baby, This is Keke Palmer,” .Paak, whose name is Brandon Paak Anderson, recalled how he had written the song a decade ago, but neglectedit. Luckily, DJ Dahi, who wrote “Love Me Not” with .Paak, had a vision.
“[The song] sat for years,” .Paak said. “And, God bless Dahi, he said ‘Dude, this song is just sitting here, I think it’s a hit. I’d give it to my artist I’m working with, Ravyn Lenae.'”
He continued, “I done forgot about the song. Ravyn got a hold of that song, she added a bridge to it. Next thing you know, I’m in Zara somewhere trying to get some pants for my son, and the song is playing. Then I go to the food court, then we go to sushi, and the song’s playing again. I’m like ‘Hold up, this my song ain’t it?'”
Love Me Not debuted at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked in the top ten at number five. It is a breakout hit for Lenae, 26, who has been releasing music since 2015. The song went viral on TikTok and currently has 2.1 million posts using it.
“I don’t be knowing, I just try to go in there and write and make the best song, but sometimes, somebody can take it and make it a hit,” .Paak said. “I love to see it, her doing her thing and then performing it all over the place. And now it’s going up on the charts.”
Palmer posted the anecdote from her episode on Instagram, where Lenae commented, “@anderson._paak the genius u are!!! 🫂♥️”
