Mario Mendell Winans (born August 29, 1974 in Orangeburg, SC) is an America… Read Full Bio ↴Mario Mendell Winans (born August 29, 1974 in Orangeburg, SC) is an American R&B producer, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist best known for his 2004 song "I Don't Wanna Know", which reached number 2 in the United States and number 1 in the United Kingdom. Winans also won a Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance for co-writing CeCe Winans's song "Pray".

Early career:
Mario Winans was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina but grew up in Detroit. He is a member of gospel music's most notable family, the Winans, being the son of Marvin Winans and Vickie Winans. He is also the nephew of gospel singers BeBe Winans and CeCe Winans.

Winans started out learning music in school learning piano, keyboards, and drums. His mother Vicki Winans bought him a roomful of recording equipment, and he learnt the function of every piece of equipment. He started producing gospel groups straight out of high school and soon accumulated credits for Fred Hammond, The Anointed, and the Clark Sisters as well as various Winans family member albums.

In the mid-1990's, he signed a production deal with Dallas Austin's Rowdy Records. His breakthrough came with credits on the tracks "I Can't Sleep Baby" and "You Remind Me Of Something" on R. Kelly's R. Kelly album in 1995. Work with Pebbles and 98 Degrees soon followed.

Winans released his debut album Story of my Heart on Motown in 1997. While the song "Don't Know" reached the U.S. R&B top 50, the album failed to chart.

Soon after, Winans teamed up with P. Diddy and his Bad Boy roster. His first work with Bad Boy was playing drums on "Come With Me" in 1998 by Diddy and Jimmy Page, based on the classic Led Zeppelin song "Kashmir" from their 1975 album Physical Graffiti.

Over the past few years, Winans has racked a sizeable list of production credits for Bad Boy artists including Diddy, The Notorious B.I.G., Lil' Kim, Faith Evans, Loon, Black Rob, and 112. He has also worked with notable artists outside Bad Boy including Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Tamia, and Brian McKnight.

Winans co-wrote the 2-part song "I Need a Girl" with P. Diddy and appeared on the "Pt. 2" version with Loon, Ginuwine, and Diddy, which became a hit recording in 2002. He also produced the Bad Boy remix compilation We Invented The Remix in 2002.

Solo Success:

Winans recorded his second album Hurt No More in 2001, 2002, and 2003 in between his busy schedule working with other artists. The album is based on stories of love and betrayal.

The first single "I Don't Wanna Know" was based on a sample of the Fugees' 1996 hit single "Ready Or Not", which itself was based on a slowed-down sample of the instrumental track "Boadicea" by Enya from her 1987 self-titled album. Enya and her representatives became annoyed since Winans did not seek her approval for the sample, as he was unaware that the Fugees sample he had used had itself been a sample. So, a compromise was reached to credit the single as "Mario Winans featuring P. Diddy and Enya". [1]. The song features a rap by P. Diddy and radio programmers and club DJs started playing the track when it started appearing on mixtapes. The song was released as the single in early 2004 and became a worldwide hit going to #1 in Germany and on the rhythmic top 40 radio chart in the United States; to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, on the U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop singles chart, and on the world internet download charts; and to #3 on a composite world R&B chart (based on the R&B charts in the U.S., UK, Germany, France, and Australia) and on both the Australian and Norwegian singles charts. It also reached the top ten on a composite European singles chart.

Hurt No More was released on April 20, 2004 in the U.S. and, by early June 2004, had reached #1 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, #2 on the Billboard 200, and #3 on the UK's album chart.

The album's second single, "Never Really Was", used a sample of the orchestrated beginning of Madonna's 1986 hit, "Papa Don't Preach", as its background music. However, the song failed to chart in America.

You Knew
Mario Winans Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You know
Oh baby
You know
You know the time I was lovin'
Girl out of time, girl out of time
Girl out of time, girl out of time
I was lovin' you baby

Every little thing you said
didn't come from your heart
Now I'm laying out in my bed
Wondering what we are
Cause you never meant what you said
And you throw it all on my head
You made me believe, that you wanted me
You could've told the truth instead, baby

I don't know why
Didn't realize
You took the time to pick me up
And let me down baby
Look in my eyes, you can't deny
That your the reason for the pain I feel inside

[Chorus]
When I looked into your eyes
There was nothing I can see
Now I'm lost and can't find my way
Cause love has blinded me and Now
I don't know what to do, nothing that have to prove
You played me for a fool, all the time I was lovin' you

Now the things were going
I knew I should've left back then
But my heart was steadily growing
Blaming, all the man I am
If you felt this way
You should've showed it
You shouldn't ever took so long
Made it cleared, that you don't care
Where did I go wrong, baby?

I don't know why
Didn't realize
You took the time to pick me up
And let me down baby
Look in my eyes, you can't deny
That your the reason for the pain I feel inside

[Chorus]

You said you loved me
But I'm lonely a'gain
It's gonna take time for me
Yes, you did, Yes you did
You could've told me
That you don't love me anymore
Somebody tell me why, baby

[Chorus]

Can't act like you didn't know
Didn't owe it all that time
But I can't blame you
I should've known
When I looked into your eyes
Girl, so many nights of sittin' alone
I just sit and wonder why
Baby, what you did was dead wrong
Didn't have to lie

[Chorus]

Overall Meaning

In Mario Winans's song "You Knew," he expresses the pain and confusion he feels in a relationship where his partner didn't truly love him. He describes feeling played for a fool, believing in false promises and lies. Winans reflects on how he wished his partner had been honest from the beginning, so he could have avoided the hurt he feels now. The chorus emphasizes his blindness caused by love and his struggle to move on from the relationship. Winans regrets that he didn't realize the truth sooner and wishes his partner had shown her true feelings instead of leading him on.

One interesting fact about the song is that it features rapper Lil Wayne, who contributes with his verse about being cheated on. "You Knew" was released in 2004 as a single from Winans's album Hurt No More. The song reached number 34 on the US R&B chart and number 60 on the Hot 100. Winans is known for his work as a producer and has worked with artists like P. Diddy, Jennifer Lopez, and Beyoncé. Winans is also the son of gospel artist Vickie Winans and her ex-husband, Marvin Winans of The Winans gospel group.

According to Winans, the inspiration for the song came from real-life experiences with a woman who didn't love him back. Winans saw the woman out with someone else and realized their relationship was over, leading him to write the song. The music video for "You Knew" features Winans playing a man reflecting on the end of the relationship while sitting in his empty apartment. Overall, "You Knew" is a heartfelt and relatable R&B ballad about love and heartbreak.

Chords: Bbm, Gb, Ab, Db, Ebm, Fm, B, E.

Line by Line Meaning

You know
I am aware that you have knowledge of the situation.

Oh baby
Affectionate phrase used to address a lover.

You know
I reiterate that you have knowledge of the situation.

You know the time I was lovin'
You are aware of the period when I was deeply in love with you.

Girl out of time, girl out of time
You were not emotionally present during the time I was in love with you.

Girl out of time, girl out of time
Reiteration of the fact that you were not emotionally present during the time I was in love with you.

I was lovin' you baby
I was deeply in love with you during that time.

Every little thing you said
I remember every single word you said to me during that time.

didn't come from your heart
Your words were not genuine.

Now I'm laying out in my bed
I am now alone, thinking about what happened.

Wondering what we are
I'm unsure what our relationship is now.

Cause you never meant what you said
You were not truthful in your words.

And you throw it all on my head
You put all the blame on me.

You made me believe, that you wanted me
You convinced me that you loved me and wanted to be with me.

You could've told the truth instead, baby
However, you could have just told the truth instead of leading me on.

I don't know why
I am uncertain about why things turned out this way.

Didn't realize
I was unaware of the truth about our relationship.

You took the time to pick me up
You took the time to pursue me and make me fall for you.

And let me down baby
However, you eventually let me down.

Look in my eyes, you can't deny
I can see the truth in your eyes.

That your the reason for the pain I feel inside
You are the cause of my emotional pain.

When I looked into your eyes
I remember looking into your eyes and seeing nothing.

There was nothing I can see
I realized that you never truly loved me.

Now I'm lost and can't find my way
I am now lost and unsure of what to do.

Cause love has blinded me and
My love for you blinded me and made me unable to see the truth.

Now I don't know what to do, nothing that have to prove
Now, I am lost and have nothing to prove.

You played me for a fool, all the time I was lovin' you
You manipulated me and made a fool out of me when I was deeply in love with you.

Now the things were going
Things started to change.

I knew I should've left back then
I knew I should have left the relationship earlier.

But my heart was steadily growing
However, my love for you continued to grow.

Blaming, all the man I am
I blame myself for what happened.

If you felt this way
If you were feeling this way.

You should've showed it
You should have shown me instead of leading me on.

You shouldn't ever took so long
You took too long to tell me the truth.

Made it cleared, that you don't care
You made it clear that you didn't care about me or our relationship.

Where did I go wrong, baby?
I am unsure where I went wrong or what I did to deserve this.

You said you loved me
You told me that you loved me.

But I'm lonely a'gain
However, I am now alone and brokenhearted.

It's gonna take time for me
It will take me time to get over you.

Yes, you did, Yes you did
Reiteration that you said you loved me.

You could've told me
However, you could have been honest with me.

That you don't love me anymore
You should have told me that you no longer loved me.

Somebody tell me why, baby
I am still unsure why everything happened the way it did.

Can't act like you didn't know
You can't act as if you didn't know what you were doing.

Didn't owe it all that time
You shouldn't have strung me along all that time.

But I can't blame you
However, I can't solely blame you for everything.

I should've known
I should have seen the truth.

Girl, so many nights of sittin' alone
I spent many nights alone, thinking about what happened with us.

I just sit and wonder why
I just wonder why things turned out the way they did.

Baby, what you did was dead wrong
You were completely wrong in the way you treated me.

Didn't have to lie
You didn't have to lie to me and lead me on the way you did.

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ELDRA DEBARGE, ELDRA P DE BARGE, JACK KNIGHT, MARIO WINANS, MARIO MENDELL WINANS, TAURIAN SHROPSHIRE, TAURIAN ADONIS SHROPSHIRE, TIJUAN FRAMPTON

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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rufaro stella

4y↑8

You know
Oh baby
You know
You know the time I was lovin'
Girl out of time, girl out of time
Girl out of time, girl out of time
I was lovin' you baby

Every little thing you said
didn't come from your heart
Now I'm laying out in my bed
Wondering what we are
Cause you never meant what you said
And you throw it all on my head
You made me believe, that you wanted me
You could've told the truth instead, baby

I don't know why
Didn't realize
You took the time to pick me up
And let me down baby
Look in my eyes, you can't deny
That your the reason for the pain I feel inside

When I looked into your eyes
There was nothing I can see
Now I'm lost and can't find my way
Cause love has blinded me and Now
I don't know what to do, nothing that have to prove
You played me for a fool, all the time I was lovin' you

Now the things were going
I knew I should've left back then
But my heart was steadily growing
Blaming, all the man I am
If you felt this way
You should've showed it
You shouldn't ever took so long
Made it cleared, that you don't care
Where did I go wrong, baby?

I don't know why
Didn't realize
You took the time to pick me up
And let me down baby
Look in my eyes, you can't deny
That your the reason for the pain I feel inside

When I looked into your eyes
There was nothing I can see
Now I'm lost and can't find my way
Cause love has blinded me and Now
I don't know what to do, nothing that have to prove
You played me for a fool, all the time I was lovin' you

You said you loved me
But I'm lonely a'gain
It's gonna take time for me
Yes, you did, Yes you did
You could've told me
That you don't love me anymore
Somebody tell me why, baby

When I looked into your eyes
There was nothing I can see
Now I'm lost and can't find my way
Cause love has blinded me and Now
I don't know what to do, nothing that have to prove
You played me for a fool, all the time I was lovin' you

Can't act like you didn't know
Didn't owe it all that time
But I can't blame you
I should've known
When I looked into your eyes
Girl, so many nights of sittin' alone
I just sit and wonder why
Baby, what you did was dead wrong
Didn't have to lie

When I looked into your eyes
There was nothing I can see
Now I'm lost and can't find my way
Cause love has blinded me and Now
I don't know what to do, nothing that have to prove
You played me for a fool, all the time I was lovin' you