"I Love Your Smile" is a song by American singer Shanice, released in 1991 as the lead single from her second studio albumInner Child. The song features a saxophone solo by Branford Marsalis as well as laughter from Janet Jackson and René Elizondo Jr. near the end of the song. The track was produced by Louis Biancaniello, with vocals produced by Narada Michael Walden. The radio version of the song removes the rap bridge from the album version. To date, "I Love Your Smile" is Shanice's best known and most successful hit. It peaked at number two on the US BillboardHot 100 behind "Don't Let The Sun Go Down on Me" by George Michael and Elton John and "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred, and it topped the US BillboardHot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks for 4 weeks in December 1991 and January 1992. In Europe, "I Love Your Smile" peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart and reached the top of the Dutch Top 40 in the Netherlands. The single also peaked within the top ten on the charts in Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Australia and Austria. In 1992, it was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Shanice performed this song as the first musical guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on May 25, 1992. A music video was made for the song, featuring Shanice in a studio having several pictures taken by a photographer. Talib Kweli referenced the song in his song "Hot Thing", from his 2007 album Eardrum.
Critical reception
editor Tim Griggs picked the song as one of the "standout tracks" on the album Inner Child. Larry Flick from Billboard described it as a "slinky R&B tune". He noted that Shanice's "matured voice sounds like a cross between Chaka Khan and Janet Jackson, sprawling out comfortably over a subtle and percussive groove that is framed with warm sax lines." Ealing Leader commented that "this little bundle of dynamite shows great promise with a warm debut single." Expressen noted its "whispering happy jingle" in their review of the album. Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report wrote, "Only in her teens, Shanice Wilson is anything but a newcomer, having arrived on the scene in the late eighties and scoring instant airplay. But this should be the effort that really sparks her career." Lakeland Ledger said that on the track, her voice is "playful and spunky". People Magazine noted that "I Love Your Smile" "has risen to the top of the R&B charts on its jaunty, literally bells-and-whistles riff, its jazzy a cappella refrain and a walloping beat." In 2012, Porcys listed the song at number 46 in their ranking of "100 Singles 1990-1999", adding, "The career of the singer did not flourish somehow stunning, but this one song, this one "turutututururu" is immortal. This sweet chorus has probably one of the most naturally catchy melodies of all time."
keyboards, drum programming, programming and synthesized bass by Louis Biancaniello
drums and programming by Narada Michael Walden
saxophone solo by Branford Marsalis
background vocals by Alyssa Lala, Crystal Wilson, David A. Miguel, Jack McAdoo, David Lee, Diamond D, Eric Daniels, Jarvis La Rue Baker, Kathy Horton, Label Atkinson, Lisa Walden, Mike Mani
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Cover versions
"I Love Your Smile" was covered by Dutch R&B group duo R'n'G in 1998 for a tribute album "Hands on Motown".
Tiffany Evans covered the song in 2004 for her self-titled first EP.
Kaori Kobayashi covered the song in 2005 for her debut album Solar, Kaori's Collection.
Jakob Elvstrøm covered the song in 2009 for his album "SaxClub vol.1".
The song was sampled by Zimbabwean artist Rockford Josphat 'Roki' in his track "Zuva neZuva" which featured SK and Pauline.
Sections of the song were interpolated in Chris Brown’s 2019 single "Undecided".
