It's Not Right but It's Okay

"It's Not Right but It's Okay"
Single by Whitney Houston
from the album My Love Is Your Love
A-side"Heartbreak Hotel"
B-side"Get It Back"
ReleasedFebruary 15, 1999 (1999-02-15)
StudioCrossway (Mendham, New Jersey)[1]
Genre
Length
  • 4:52 (album version)
  • 4:22 (radio and video version)
LabelArista
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Darkchild
Whitney Houston singles chronology
"Heartbreak Hotel"
(1998) 		"It's Not Right but It's Okay"
(1999) 		"My Love Is Your Love"
(1999)
Music video
"It's Not Right but It's Okay" on YouTube

"It's Not Right but It's Okay" is a song recorded by American singer Whitney Houston for her fourth studio album, My Love Is Your Love. It was written by LaShawn Daniels, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Fred Jerkins III, Isaac Phillips, Toni Estes and produced by Darkchild. The song was released as the third single from the album on February 15, 1999, by Arista Records. "It's Not Right but It's Okay" examines a woman confronting her lover about his infidelity.

Houston won the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for this song. In 2003, Q Magazine ranked "It's Not Right but It's Okay" at number 638 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".[2] In 2019, Billboard listed it as one of the Greatest Songs of 1999.[3] In 2022, the Thunderpuss club mix was listed in the list of the 200 greatest dance songs of all time on Rolling Stone.[4] In 2025, Billboard listed the song in its 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time list as well as its 100 Best LGBTQ Anthems of All Time list.[5][6] That same year, remixer and deejay Felix Jaehn put out a new official remix of the song to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original song's release.[7][8] The single reached number one in Spain and the top five in Canada, Iceland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The single helped cement Houston’s status as a pop culture icon.

Release

The original Rodney Jerkins production was released, but mainstream radio airplay and sales were given for the Thunderpuss Remix. The remixed version was released on Houston's 2000 Whitney: The Greatest Hits collection, and the original album version appears on 2007's The Ultimate Collection.

The Johnny Vicious remixes were included on the domestic CD maxi-single of "Heartbreak Hotel" as well as the on the import single and are currently available as iTunes downloads. The KCC remix was included on the US version of the "My Love Is Your Love" maxi-single and is also available as an iTunes download. Rodney Jerkins' remixes are the closest to the album version; Club 69 (Peter Rauhofer) also remixed the track for play in the UK. In the US, when it was released as a stand-alone single, the versions that appear are the Rodney Jerkins, Thunderpuss, and Club 69 remixes. There is also a ballad version, entitled "Smooth Mix".

Composition

"It's Not Right but It's Okay" is a R&B and neo soul song.[9] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, it is written in the key of C minor with a tempo of 130 beats per minute. Houston's vocals span from G3 to A♭5 in the song.[10]

Critical reception

Bill Lamb from About.com noted that the song is a "hard-hitting anthem for women on the way out of relationships that sounds great on the radio and on the dance floor."[11] J.D. Considine from The Baltimore Sun wrote, "So when we hear her telling her abusive, less-than-faithful lover off in 'It's Not Right But It's Okay', we're not to imagine the lyrics have anything to do with the rumored infidelity of her real-life husband, Bobby Brown."[12] Billboard magazine highlighted the song on Houston's album.[13] Birmingham Evening Mail commented, "Houston, we have a problem. We loved your leather-limbed performance on the Brits of Rodney Jenkins' standout track from your new album 'My Love Is Your Love' and we know you should be cutting contemporary R&B - we just reckon you deserve better songs. Still, as a chart cert this'll do nicely, it's not great but it's okay."[14] Matt Stopera and Brian Galindo from BuzzFeed noted on the Thunderpuss Remix, that "aside from being a essential gay dance floor classic, this track proves how a good remix can elevate a song from good to ICONIC."[15] Daily Record stated, "Soul diva Whitney sounds streetwise with her biggest single since I Will Always Love You."[16]

Chart performance and sales

It became the album's third single, peaking at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on July 3, 1999 and staying on the charts for 20 weeks and spent five weeks inside the top ten.[17]

The single also peaked at number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart where it stayed for three weeks becoming her longest-running number one hit on the chart and later shared with "I Learned From the Best".

The song peaked at number 7 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart and became her longest charting single on that chart for 30 weeks, later shared with 2009's "Million Dollar Bill".

It was later certified platinum by the RIAA. The song reached No. 3 in Canada, Iceland and the United Kingdom — in March 1999, where it stayed in the chart for 15 weeks, becoming a hugely popular radio hit in the country, and later went 2x platinum. In Spain, it peaked at No. 1. A hit all over Europe, it reached No. 9 on the Eurochart Hot 100.

Music video

The music video was directed by Kevin Bray and became iconic for Houston showcasing an edgier look than in previous music videos, wearing a strapless leather gown styled by fashion designer Gianfranco Ferré, a sleek bob, a single fingerless glove, choker necklace and dark makeup. Houston is shown in the beginning sitting down around a glass dining table addressing her cheating lover directly behind a black background that sparks up. Houston is then joined by several women singing the chorus. Houston's backing dancers are also shown in various shots dresses in army outfits. Much like many of the videos from the singles off the My Love Is Your Love album, the video instantly earned heavy rotation on MTV and BET and was played constantly on MTV's countdown channel, Total Request Live. Later, the remix version of the video aired on the same channel while the original was played on BET.

It was later dramatized in the TV series, Glee, in its Houston tribute episode, "Dance with Somebody", with actor Darren Criss' character Blaine Anderson confronting Chris Colfer's character Kurt Hummel due to rumors that Kurt cheated on him, as well as in the Houston biopic, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022) by actress Naomi Ackie, who played Houston in the film.

On Houston's official YouTube channel, the official music video has been viewed 130 million times on the channel.

Live performances

Houston gave live performances of the song on several television shows in both Europe and the United States. In Europe, Houston performed the song on the Netherlands TV show The Surprise Show, the Italian TV show C'era Un Ragazzo, the Spanish TV show Sorpresa Sorpresa, the German TV show Wetten, dass... and the 1999 Brit Awards and Top of the Pops in the UK while in the United States, she performed the show live at the 13th Annual Soul Train Music Awards, VH1's Divas Live '99 and The Oprah Winfrey Show. Houston also performed the song, along with the just-released single, "I Learned From the Best", at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000. It would be her eighth and final Grammy performance. With this achievement, Houston tied with Aretha Franklin for the second most Grammy performances ever, with only Bonnie Raitt performing more with nine.

Cover versions and samples

The song was covered by Darren Criss on the hit Fox TV show Glee. Criss' character, Blaine, was confronting his own 'cheating' lover in the Whitney Houston tribute special, "Dance with Somebody". It was also covered on the "Lies" single and The Mother We Share EP by Chvrches as well as British soul singer Craig David. The song was heavily sampled in Mak & Pasteman's "It Ain't Right" and Shane Codd's "Rather Be Alone". According to the sample database site, WhoSampled, the song was covered 28 times and sampled 54 times.[18]

Legacy and accolades

Since its release, the song has made several best-of lists in various magazines and media outlets.

In 2003, Q Magazine ranked the song at number 638 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".[19] In 2019, Billboard listed it as one of the Greatest Songs of 1999.[20] In 2022, the Thunderpuss club mix of the song was listed in the list of the 200 greatest dance songs of all time on Rolling Stone.[4] Three years later, in 2025, Billboard listed the song in its 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time list at number 72.[5] That same year, the song was ranked number 45 of the Greatest LGBTQ Anthems of All Time.[6]

Phillip Henry of Billboard wrote in 2018 how the song was the "gay national anthem".[21] Owen Myers of The Fader called it Houston's "most iconic gay anthem".[22] In its 2025 write-up on the song, Billboard stated, "With a message of empowerment and perseverance, Whitney Houston continues the legacy of Gloria Gaynor" with the song, comparing it to Gaynor's similar anthem, "I Will Survive" (1978), and while giving credit to the original Jerkins version for "redefining R&B", stated that the Thunderpuss remix "reintroduc[ed] America's greatest singer as a club queen."[5]

At the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000, Houston won her sixth and final competitive Grammy for the song, her first in the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance category, making her the first winner of the award in the new millennium. Houston had been nominated six times for the award in the past. In winning the Grammy, she joined cousin Dionne Warwick and Toni Braxton as the third female artist to win in the pop and R&B categories, having won three of her Grammys in the former category.

Track listings

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[69] Gold 15,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[70] 2× Platinum 1,200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[71] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Version Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref(s).
Sweden "It's Not Right but It's Okay" February 15, 1999 CD
[72]
United Kingdom February 22, 1999
  • CD
  • cassette
 [73]
Japan "Heartbreak Hotel" / "It's Not Right but It's Okay" February 24, 1999 CD Arista [74]
United States "It's Not Right but It's Okay" April 19, 1999
[75][76]
May 25, 1999
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 [71]

See also

References

  1. ^ My Love Is Your Love album booklet
  2. ^ "Q - 1001 best songs ever (2003)".
  3. ^ "The 99 Greatest Songs of 1999". Billboard. April 8, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. July 21, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "The 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time". Billboard. March 28, 2025. Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  6. ^ a b "100 Best LGBTQ Anthems of All Time: Queer Pride Songs". Billboard. June 4, 2025. Retrieved June 5, 2025.
  7. ^ "It's Not Right But It's Okay by DJ Felix Jaehn and Whitney Houston". Spotify. Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  8. ^ "FELIX JAEHN ENLISTS WHITNEY HOUSTON ON THEIR VERSION OF "IT'S NOT RIGHT BUT IT'S OKAY" OUT NOW – Sony Music Canada". www.sonymusic.ca. Retrieved March 21, 2025.
  9. ^ Out. Here Publishing. May 2000. p. 57. ISSN 1062-7928.
  10. ^ Fred, Jerkins III (February 20, 2012). "Whitney Houston "It's Not Right But It's Okay" Sheet Music – Download & Print". www.musicnotes.com. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
  11. ^ Lamb, Bill (August 7, 2019). "The Best 100 Songs From the 1990s". About.com. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  12. ^ "Talent is true, if lyrics are not Review: Whitney Houston finds a gritty, funky balance on 'My Love.' But don't put any words in her mouth. – Baltimore Sun". Articles.baltimoresun.com. November 18, 1998. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  13. ^ Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. November 28, 1998. p. 19. ISSN 0006-2510.
  14. ^ "Singles Pick of the Week". Birmingham Evening Mail. February 23, 1999. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
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