"100% Pure Love" is a 1994 song recorded by American singer and songwriter Crystal Waters from her second studio album, Storyteller (1994). It was released on April 11, 1994, as the album's lead single. The song was a hit in many countries, reaching the top 20 in Australia, Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It was certified Platinum in Australia and Gold in the US. Show Background and release[edit]The song is inspired by her relationship at the time. The singer says she chose the stylings of the song as a reaction to the popularity of gangsta rap during the mid-1990s in the United States.[2] Looking to write a positive song, she sent an early draft to her production team Basement Boys who "hated the hook" but "loved the verses." Originally the song was built on the lyrics, "the beat goes boom," before she went back to the drawing board and considered the reasons she was writing the song in the first place. "From the back to the middle and around again, I'm going to be there 'til the end, 100% pure love," emerged as the next draft and became the lyrics in the completed version of the song.[2] Crystal Waters also signed and debuted as a model with the Ford Modeling Agency in August 1994. They included her as a special guest in fashion collections in both Europe and the United States. And "100% Pure Love" was the theme of Ford’s “Supermodel of the World" contest that year.[3] Critical reception[edit]Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that "the enigmatic voice" behind the 1991 smash "Gypsy Woman" "returns with a percussive pop/dance twirler from her new 'Storyteller' opus. Though it seemed impossible to come up with a hook as catchy as 'la-da-di, la-di-da', Waters and cohorts the Basement Boys have done exactly that, and wrapped it with dramatic strings and butt shagging cowbells."[4] M.R. Martinez from Cash Box felt that Waters' "smokey vocals" worked best on uptempo material, like "100% Pure Love".[5] Anderson Jones from Entertainment Weekly stated that "the hip-swaying infectious grooves" of the track "can't be denied."[6] Bradley Stern from Idolator noted that it is "armed with a real subtle earworm of a chorus", calling it a "campy house anthem".[7] Howard Cohen from Knight-Ridder Newspapers commented, "Waters' jazz-inflected voice merges with hard-edged house instrumentation, while the song's dark and heady synthesizer intro is a hard-to-decline signal to hit the dance floor."[8] Music writer James Masterton wrote in his weekly UK chart commentary, "The lady with possibly the most unusual voice in dance music is back." He described it as "more of the same kind of left-field nonsense".[9] Andy Beevers from Music Week rated it four out of five, complimenting it as "an impressive comeback", stating that "boasting a strong garage production from The Basement Boys and a catchy vocal hook, this could cross over."[10] Tim Jeffery from the magazine's RM Dance Update noted that it "features a catchy 'Back to the middle and round again' hook that should be enough to propel it into the charts."[11] Wendi Cermak from The Network Forty said it is "100% fierce!"[12] Orla Swift from Record-Journal deemed it a "bright, dynamic number", that is "displaying a knack both for catchy melodies and innovative arrangements".[13] Eddie B. Allen Jr. from Toledo Blade described it as the "most forceful" of the dance singles on the album.[14] Chart performance[edit]The single reached number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number one on the Hot Dance Club Play chart and number 38 on the US R&B chart. It spent a total of 45 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming one of the longest charting singles in the US to date. The song won a Billboard Music Award for Top-Selling Hot Dance Music Club Play Single at the 1994 Billboard Music Awards. The song was certified Gold in the United States.[15] In Europe, it managed to climb into the Top 20 in Finland, the Netherlands, Scotland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In the latter, the single peaked at number 15 in its second week at the UK Singles Chart, on April 24,[16] but on the UK Dance Singles chart, it hit number one. Additionally, it was a Top 30 hit in Austria and Iceland, and a Top 40 hit in Belgium and Germany. On the Eurochart Hot 100, "100% Pure Love" hit number 49, but on the European Dance Radio Chart, it peaked at number-one. The song proved to be most popular in Australia. It first entered the ARIA Singles Chart at number 40 on June 26, 1994, then reached number three three weeks later. On July 31, the song reached its peak position of number two, behind Wet Wet Wet's runaway hit "Love Is All Around".[17] It dropped to number three the next week, then spent four more weeks at that position before falling to number four on September 11. Afterwards, it remained in the chart for a further seven weeks before dropping out of the top 50 on November 6. It finished 1994 as Australia's 11th best-selling single, the second best-selling number-two hit of the year behind Bon Jovi's "Always".[18] It has since received a Platinum certification from ARIA for sales exceeding 70,000 copies.[citation needed] Music video[edit]The accompanying music video, directed by Matthew Rolston and choreographed by Michael K. Williams (who later went on to star as Omar Little on The Wire), was also nominated for Best Dance Video at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards. It was later published on YouTube in October 2009. By February 2021, the video had more than 17.3 million views.[19] Impact and legacy[edit]Australian music channel Max included "100% Pure Love" in their list of "1000 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2011.[20] BuzzFeed ranked it number nine in their list of "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs of the '90s" in 2017.[21] Billboard placed it at number 500 in their ranking of "Billboard's Top Songs of the '90s" in 2019.[22] In 2021, BuzzFeed ranked it number five in their list of "The 50 Best '90s Songs of Summer", calling it "the greatest '90s dance song of the '90s dance genre".[23] Track listing[edit]
Charts and certifications[edit]In popular culture[edit]On January 22, 2021, on the drag competition RuPaul's Drag Race episode "RuPaulmark Channel", contestants Denali and Kahmora Hall performed a "lip sync for your life" battle to "100% Pure Love", with Denali Foxx winning and staying in the competition. References[edit]
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Lyrics 100 pure love crystal waters
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