"Control Myself" is a song by American rapper LL Cool J from his 12th album, Todd Smith (2006). The song was written by Jermaine Dupri, James Phillips, Ryan Toby, John Miller, Afrika Bambaataa, Arthur Baker and John Robie. The song was produced by Dupri, with co-production by LRoc, and features guest vocals from American entertainer Jennifer Lopez. "Control Myself" contains a sample of Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force's 1983 song "Looking for the Perfect Beat", while the vocals interpolate Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel's 1983 song "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" and Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force's 1982 song "Planet Rock".

Release

"Control Myself" was released as the album's lead single in February 2006 and remained on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for eleven weeks, peaking at number four. After being released as a digital download in April 2006, the song debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart and made a strong Hot 100 re-entry at number four. This broke a record previously held by Jay-Z's 1998 song "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)", which had re-entered the chart in March 1999 at number 20. The song also peaked at number two in the United Kingdom, where Smith and Lopez's previous collaboration, "All I Have", had achieved the same feat in March 2003.

Music video

The music video was directed by Hype Williams and was filmed at Sony Studios in New York City on January 2, 2006. It debuted in the U.S. on February 13, 2006 and in Europe on February 19, 2006. Like some of Williams' other videos, video footage is displayed where black bars would appear on a 4:3 TV for a widescreen production. The video peaked at number two on MTV's Total Request Live, number three on BET's 106 & Park, and number eighteen on VH1's VSpot Top 20 Countdown.

Track listings and formats

European CD single European CD maxi single US 12-inch single UK 12-inch single German 12-inch single

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

Release history