"Hate It or Love It" is a song by American rapper the Game featuring fellow American rapper 50 Cent. It was released as the third single from the former's debut studio album The Documentary (2005). The song was produced by Cool & Dre with additional production from Dr. Dre. The song features a music sample of "Rubber Band" by the Trammps from their album The Legendary Zing Album (1975).

"Hate It or Love It" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks, becoming the Game's second top ten song on the chart as a lead artist and 50 Cent's eighth. It is the Game's highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100 to date. The song was kept from the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 by another 50 Cent single, "Candy Shop". "Hate It or Love It" reached the number one spot on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, making it yet again another top ten hit on the chart alongside "How We Do" which also featured 50 Cent. Outside of the United States, "Hate It or Love It" peaked within the top ten of the charts in multiple countries, including the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

At the 2006 48th Annual Grammy Awards, the song was nominated for two Grammy Awards, including Grammy Award for Best Rap Song and Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group but lost in both categories to Kanye West's "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" and the Black Eyed Peas' "Don't Phunk with My Heart", respectively.

Background and conception

The song first began to be conceived during the middle period of the recording process for The Documentary in early 2004. The Game was staying in New York while frequently being driven to 50 Cent's mansion in Connecticut, listening and writing to beats along the way. When the Game first heard the beat for "Hate It or Love It", he was looking for a harder-hitting track but the second time he was inspired to write his verse.

The chorus is rapped and written by 50 Cent, who helped with the rest of the writing process and recording for the song along with the Game. IGN described the song as "a smoothed out R&B funk vibe underneath the tales of the hood." Pitchfork listed the song as the 93rd best song of the 2000s.

The song has earned the Game award nominations. In 2006 "Hate It or Love It" was nominated at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards for both Grammy Award for Best Rap Song and Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, but lost in both categories to Kanye West's "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" and the Black Eyed Peas' "Don't Phunk with My Heart", respectively. "Hate It or Love It" was named number one on About.com's Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2005 and was ranked at number 43 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop".

Music video

The setting of the music video alternates between Compton, California and Jamaica, Queens, New York City. The video recalls the rough childhoods of 50 Cent and the Game, showing where they come from, what it was like living in their neighborhoods, and the struggles they overcame as kids to become rappers. Tequan Richmond portrays the Game and Zachary Williams plays 50 Cent in their youth. In one scene, the two are caught spraypainting "N.W.A" on a wall, resulting in their arrest by two policemen. Big Fase 100, members of Black Wall Street, Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks make cameo appearances.

This video was nominated at the MTV Video Music Awards of 2005 for Best Rap Video, but lost to the video for Ludacris' song "Number One Spot".

The music video was directed by the Saline Project and has received over 355 million views on YouTube as of June 2024.

Remixes

There have been several remixes of the track:

  • The official remix appears as track 22 on 50 Cent's album The Massacre as "Hate It or Love It (G-Unit Remix)" as a bonus track. It features the rest of the G-Unit members: Lloyd Banks, Young Buck and Tony Yayo. The first time the chorus is performed in this version, it is identical to the original, but the consecutive choruses have 50 Cent's line followed by another member of G-Unit rapping the Game's original line. While 50 Cent's opening verse and bridge are included in this version (though the bridge is altered), the Game's second verse is omitted and replaced with new lyrics. It is the only song recorded with all five members of G-Unit. This version has been certified Platinum by the RIAA.
  • Mary J. Blige covers the song on the single "MJB Da MVP" from her multi-platinum album The Breakthrough, with 50 Cent rapping his chorus line and Blige continuing with an altered version of the Game's original line. The Game is featured on the remix of the song. This is the second official remix.
  • The Game's mixtape, You Know What It Is, Vol. 3, remastered into a diss towards G-Unit called "Hate It or Love It (G-Unot Remix)". On this, the lyrics are insulting all the members of G-Unit.
  • Cuban Link remixed the song and titled it "Swimmin' With Sharks" which features vocals from Rell and is included on Cuban's mixtape Man On Fire.
  • The Re-Up Gang featured a remix of the track on their mixtape, We Got It 4 Cheap: Vol. 2. The song features the four members of the group rapping about their troubles in the past.

Awards

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Year

! Ceremony

! Award

! Result

|-

|rowspan="2"|2005

| BET Awards

| Best Collaboration

|

|-

| MTV Video Music Awards

| Best Rap Video

|

|-

|rowspan="2"|2006

|rowspan="2"|Grammy Awards

| Best Rap Song

|

|-

| Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group

| 9

|-

! scope="row"| Czech Republic (IFPI)

|12

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)

| 12

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Greece (IFPI)

| 14

|-

! scope="row"| Hungary (Editors' Choice Top 40)

| 34

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+2022–2023 weekly chart performance for "Hate It or Love It"

!scope="col"| Chart (2022–2023)

!scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

! scope="row"| Latvia (LAIPA)

| 7

|-

! scope="row"| Lithuania (AGATA)

| 19

|-

! scope="row"| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)

| 73

|}

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+2025 weekly chart performance for "Hate It or Love It"

!scope="col"| Chart (2025)

!scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

! scope="row"| Greece International (IFPI)

| 40

|}

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+2005 year-end chart performance for "Hate It or Love It"

!scope="col"| Chart (2005)

!scope="col"| Position

|-

!scope="row"|Australia (ARIA)

| 95

|-

!scope="row"|Germany (Media Control GfK)

| 80

|-

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)

| 78

|-

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100)

| 73

|-

!scope="row"|New Zealand (RIANZ)

| 21

|-

!scope="row"|Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)

| 97

|-

!scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC)

| 49

|-

!scope="row"|UK Urban (Music Week)

|20

|-

!scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100

| 24

|-

!scope="row"|US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)

| 28

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+2022 year-end chart performance for "Hate It or Love It"

!scope="col"| Chart (2022)

!scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| Lithuania (AGATA)

| 72

|}

Certifications

Release history

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col"| Region

! scope="col"| Date

! scope="col"| Format(s)

! scope="col"| Label

! scope="col"|

|-

! scope="row" rowspan="2"| United States

| March 14, 2005

| Urban contemporary radio

| rowspan="4"| G-Unit, Aftermath, Interscope

| align="center"|

|-

| March 21, 2005

| Contemporary hit radio

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row" rowspan="2"| Germany

| May 9, 2005

| Maxi CD

| align="center" rowspan="2"|