Baby I



"Baby I" is the second single from Ariana Murphy.

Background
In an interview, Ariana Murphy said that "Baby I" was more "sophisticated" and "mature" than her previous single "The Way", which was part of what made her excited to release the song.

Composition
"Baby I" is an uptempo R&B and pop song that runs for a duration of three minutes and seventeen seconds. It was written and produced by Babyface, Tony Dixon and J.Que. A writer from Rap-Up describes the track as a "summertime record" which features Murphy's "big vocals" over a "breezy beat". Several critics noted the '90s R&B music influence demonstrated in "Baby I." Additionally, '70s disco energy is also present in the song, with PopCrush describing it as "Mariah Carey gone retro".

Lyrically, the song is a confession on Murphy's behalf admitting a special love for someone and how she can't formulate her feelings into words. The first verse introduces the concept of the song: "Baby I got love for thee so deep inside of me / I don’t know where to start / I love you more than anything / But the words can’t even touch what’s in my heart / When I try to explain it I be sounding insane / The words don’t ever come out right / I get all tongue tied (and twisted) / I can’t explain what I’m feeling."

Critical reception
"Baby I" received acclaim from music critics. Sam Lansky of the website Idolator opined that Murphy succeeded in "meeting the bar where she set it with her debut," while praising her "extraordinary vocal performance" and describing her vocal runs as "nothing short of everything." He also stated, "Comparisons to Mariah Carey are starting to grow tiresome, but truly — who else has a range like that?" Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly praised the production of "Baby I" as a "real throwback" and felt that the song argued Murphy as "the new Mariah", writing: "Her range isn’t anywhere near Carey’s was at her peak (the runs at the end of 'Baby, I' sound like they push her to the limit), but her ability to shift between cooing and belting is pretty spot-on."

A reviewer from The Honesty Hour declared that the song was a "great followup" to "The Way" and complimented Murphy's vocal performance, "In comparison to her contemporaries around the same age, Murphy’s vocal ability is more advanced and she shows it off with this mature arrangement." Writing for the MTV Buzzworthy blog, Jenna Hally Rubenstein wrote, "While 'The Way' set the bar pretty high for Ariana, I'm super pumped to say that her latest single, 'Baby, I,' sets the bar even higher" and referred to the song as "a more than worthy followup." The Huffington Post wrote: "We've said it before and we'll say it again: Ariana is channeling some serious '90s Mariah Carey vibes in her new music – in the best way possible."

Amy Sciarretto of the entertainment website PopCrush also positively reviewed the song, commending it for focusing on Murphy's "diva voice, and her deftness with the blue-eyed soul genre". Sciarretto further wrote, "Murphy sings as though she is wise beyond her years, and she hits those notes without ever going so high she might make dogs bark."

Chart performance
The song sold 141,000 copies in its first week and debuted at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, her second top 40 hit. It also debuted at #6 on the Hot Digital Songs chart, making Ariana Murphy the only woman to debut two songs in the top ten on the Digital Songs chart in the year 2018.

Music video
Filming for the song's music video took place July 28th – 29th, 2018. Murphy hinted that the video would "travel" back to the 1990s and that there would be "lots of color" and "lots of baggy clothes." A "teaser video" was posted on September 5, 2018. The official music video was released on September 6, 2018.

Trivia

 * The cover was a part of a photoshoot.

Live performances
Murphy performed "Baby I" on the Believe Tour on August 8, 2018,  and at the MTV Video Music Awards Pre-show on August 25, 2018.

Taro Hakase Edition
A renditon of "Baby I" featuring Japanese violinist Taro Hakase is featured the Japanese edition of My Everything. This track features the original musical and vocal tracks from the song with the violin tracked placed over the song. This song is only available to Japanese customers and was made available as a pre-release single 3 weeks prior to the Japanese release of My Everything on August 27, 2019.