During a spot on Bill Maher's talk show, Jay-Z revealed the song was based on a true story, about real life events that occurred during a Mary J. Blige afterparty. AllMusic's Steve Birchmeier considers "I Just Wanna Love U" to be "a fun, playful song miles away from the rugged Ruff Ryder beats Swizz Beatz had been offering Jay-Z a year earlier."[1] In addition, Rob Marriott of Rolling Stone and Steve Juon of RapReviews.com describe it as a club-ready[2] track that will get "whips hopping from coast to coast.".[3] The single eventually became the first Jay-Z single to reach number one on the Hip-Hop/R&B chart. The song was voted number one by Complex for their Best Songs of the Decade list.[4] The song peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, number 3 on Billboard's Hot Rap Songs chart, and number 17 on the UK Singles Chart.
Britney Spears said she was inspired by Jay-Z and "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)" to work with the song's producers the Neptunes for her Britney album, saying "for this album I was really inspired by Jay-Z and the Neptunes, those were the two people I really listened to." Spears' single "I'm a Slave 4 U", released the following year, was produced by the Neptunes and became a defining hit in her career.
The music video on YouTube has received over 35 million views as of May 2024.[5]