“Hold Yuh” is Jamaican Patois for “hold you.” The song is listed as both “Hold You” and “Hold Yuh” and appears on Gyptian’s album Hold You.
On the surface, the meaning of “Hold Yuh” is simple: the singer wants to wrap his arms around a woman. But a 2010 NPR review argued there is a second layer.
It pointed out that “hold” sounds a lot like “hole,” which is the point, and said the song belongs to a Caribbean tradition, running from calypso to reggae, of using double meaning to suggest slackness while keeping a sweet tone.
The Lyrics Explained
The chorus is the singer telling a woman he wants to hold her and squeeze her. Writing in 2010, Broward Palm Beach New Times admitted that the lyrics can be a bit hard to follow (e.g. “Gyal, mi wann fi hold yuh”) if you don’t speak Patois. That line just means “Girl, I want to hold you.”
NPR’s review, published May 10, 2010, noted that Gyptian chats, dancehall-style, about a woman’s pum pum on his bike, and there’s talk of moans and tight grips.
The motorbike image is in the verses, where Gyptian compares himself to a fast bike on the road and makes a “vroom vroom” sound. That mix of tender love song and suggestive wordplay is the reason the track works on two levels.
Not everyone in Jamaica took it lightly. The Jamaica Observer reported in January 2011 that Hold You was the most complained about song for 2010 according to data from the Broadcast Commission of Jamaica (BCJ).
The Story Behind the Song
The song was made in Brooklyn with producer Ricky Blaze. The songwriters are credited as Windel B. Edwards (Gyptian) and Ricardo Johnson (Ricky Blaze), and Ricky Blaze is credited as producer.
Sources don’t agree on when it was recorded. A 2010 Miami New Times piece, drawing on Village Voice reporting, said Blaze recorded Gyptian over the beat in what was then regarded as a throwaway session, all the way back in the summer of 2008.
Songfacts also gives 2008. NPR’s 2010 review, on the other hand, says Gyptian voiced a love song for New York-based producer Ricky Blaze in 2009 and then moved straight on to the next rhythm.
In the Village Voice’s July 2010 feature, Blaze described how he finished the track: “I chopped up little melodies and harmonies he did to complete the song, and sent it to Johnny Wonder, who does the blasts to all the dancehall DJs worldwide.”
In a 2010 review, NPR described the beat as a six-chord piano loop accented by a bass line that drops in and out and said it sounded unfinished.
The song grew slowly, and it started in the United States. According to the Village Voice in July 2010, it had been running strong on urban radio since February, when it jumped from mix shows to regular rotation on Hot 97.
Songfacts notes that it became the Jamaican’s first Hot 100 hit despite local island radio stations not supporting the tune.
Gyptian said this wasn’t unusual for him: “My song dem always a tek off outside of Jamaica before getting any attention in Jamaica. So its not a surprise to me really.”
Release dates vary depending on the format. The single came out in the United States on 24 July 2010 and in the United Kingdom on 7 November 2010, but the song was already on the charts before its official US single date.
The Nicki Minaj Remix
The best-known remix features rapper Nicki Minaj. It spent 29 weeks on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and 15 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.
In an interview reported by the Jamaica Observer in September 2025, Gyptian said that while Minaj’s verse brought the song to a wider audience, the track was already a mainstream hit, and that the song made the rapper bigger, not the other way around. Other versions include a Latin remix with Don Omar and Natti Natasha, released on 10 December 2010.
Chart Performance and Awards
The song peaked at number 77 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 16 on the UK Singles Chart and number 69 on the Canadian Hot 100.
Gyptian won the MOBO Award for Best Reggae Act in Britain in October 2010, and in November he won the Soul Train Music Award for Best Reggae Act. After the MOBO win he said, “It’s an overwhelming feeling winning my first international award.”
Certifications and Legacy
The date of the US Gold certification is reported differently. A 2025 Jamaica Observer article says it was certified gold in the US in March 2013 for sales of over 500,000 copies, while Wikipedia gives June 2013, citing a June 2013 Observer report.
In the UK, the Observer reported in April 2024 that the song earned double platinum from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) after reaching sales and streaming equal to 1.2 million units.
In 2017, Billboard placed the song at number six on its list of the 12 Best Dancehall & Reggaeton Choruses of the 21st Century.
As of September 2025, the official music video had more than 181 million views on YouTube, and the song had more than 280 million plays on Spotify.
