You Gotta Be

"You Gotta Be"
Original CD single cover
Single by Des'ree
from the album I Ain't Movin'
B-side
  • "Sun of 79"
  • "Warm Hands, Cold Heart"
Released28 March 1994 (1994-03-28)
Genre
Length4:04
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Des'ree
  • Ashley Ingram
Producer(s)Ashley Ingram
Des'ree singles chronology
"Delicate"
(1993)
"You Gotta Be"
(1994)
"I Ain't Movin'"
(1994)

"Little Child"
(1994)

"You Gotta Be"
(1995)

"Kissing You"
(1998)

"God Only Knows"
(1998)

"You Gotta Be"
(1999)

"Ain't No Sunshine"
(1999)
Music video
"You Gotta Be" on YouTube

"You Gotta Be" is an R&B/soul song by British singer and songwriter Des'ree, written by her with Ashley Ingram, who produced the song. It is the third track on the singer's second album, I Ain't Movin' (1994), and the opening track on the US release of that album. The song was released as a single in March 1994 by Sony Soho Square, 550 and Epic, becoming a top-40 hit in several countries, and a top-10 hit in the United States and Australia. Its music video was directed by Paul Boyd. By 13 June 1998, the single had sold 358,000 copies in United States, and it has received sales certifications in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

The song was used in several television advertisements over the following years, and a 1999 remix used in a Ford Focus advert became a top-10 hit in Des'ree's native UK and a number-one hit in Spain. Q Magazine included "You Gotta Be" on their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever" in 2003.[1]

  1. ^ "Rocklist.net... Q - 1001 Best Ever Songs..." Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2023.