We Can't Be Friends

"We Can't Be Friends"
Single by Deborah Cox and RL
from the album One Wish
ReleasedJune 21, 1999 (1999-06-21)[1]
Length4:41
LabelArista
Songwriters
ProducerShep Crawford
Deborah Cox singles chronology
"It's Over Now"
(1999)		 "We Can't Be Friends"
(1999)		 "I Never Knew"
(2000)
R.L. singles chronology
"We Can't Be Friends"
(1999)		 "The Best Man I Can Be"
(1999)

"We Can't Be Friends" is a song by Canadian singer Deborah Cox featuring American singer RL of R&B group Next. It was written by Shep Crawford and Jimmy Russell for Cox's second studio album, One Wish (1998), while production was overseen by Crawford. Selected as the album's third single, the duet was serviced to US urban radio on June 21, 1999, and became Cox's second single to top the Billboard Hot R&B Singles & Tracks chart. It also peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100.

Critical reception

Chuck Taylor from Billboard wrote that "Cox shows off the full maturity of her magnificent voice in this shimmering R&B ballad, which she shares with the equally compelling R.L. from Next. From the start, this beautifully crafted song of regret and abiding love glides along with the gentle touch of silk, raising the emotional threshold at the mid-section, where the pair’s voices rally together as if made for each other." He found that "while Cox has certainly delivered the goods on the classic 'Things Just Ain't the Same' and 'Nobody's Supposed to Be Here,' this casts her in a completely new light, which R&B and R&B adult stations will eagerly savor with all the intensity of the emotion shared here. This is indeed the goods."[2]

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for "We Can't Be Friends"
Chart (1999) Peak
position
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[3] 46
US Billboard Hot 100[4]8
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[5]1

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "We Can't Be Friends"
Chart (1999) Position
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks (Billboard)[6] 23

Certifications

Certifications for "We Can't Be Friends"
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[7] Gold 500,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "New Releases". Radio & Records. No. 1304. June 18, 1999. p. 56.
  2. ↑ Taylor, Chuck, ed. (June 26, 1999). "Reviews & Previews: Singles". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 26. p. 24. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Adult Contemporary Tracks" (PDF). RPM. November 8, 1999. p. 22. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Deborah Cox Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Deborah Cox Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  6. ↑ "1999 The Year in Music: Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 52. December 25, 1999. p. YE-57.
  7. ↑ "American single certifications – Deborah Cox – We Can't Be Friends". Recording Industry Association of America.
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