20 Years of ‘Dangerously in Love’
Today in 2003, Beyoncé released her solo debut album, Dangerously in Love.
Named after a track that originally appeared on Destiny Child’s third album, Survivor, it was easy to assume that the project was going to be a continuation of what she had done with the group — after all, she was its frontwoman and said track is actually included on the album as a “Part 2” that is basically the same song. However, with Dangerously in Love, Beyoncé the solo artist showed us that she was different — different from Beyoncé the Child of Destiny, and different from anything we had seen, past or present.
From the moment the “Crazy in Love” video dropped, popular music was never the same. Yes, the song is strong on its own and Beyoncé is a god-level vocalist, but like Michael Jackson, she brought her music to life in a special way with her visuals. Yes, this fact feels a little contradictory at a time where she has starved us of visuals for an album released almost a year ago, but stick with me.
From its iconic opening walk to the “uh-oh” dance, the “Crazy in Love” video established Bey as a solo star and made us all pay attention. In the months following its release, she would give a number of mind-blowing live performances of the song that really drove the point home: This is not your regular superstar. For the most part, we’ve had to choose between big vocalists like Whitney and Mariah, and dancers like Janet. With Beyoncé, we had someone who could not only sing with the best of them but dance her ass off as well — and oftentimes, do both at the same time.
Between the videos and live performances, Beyoncé gave us magic, but make no mistake, Dangerously in Love was a masterpiece in and of itself. Her pipes were never in question, but with ballads like “Speechless” and her cover of “The Closer I Get to You” (with Luther Vandross), she reinforces her status as a supreme vocalist. And on mid-tempos like “Signs” (featuring Missy Elliott), “Yes” and “Me, Myself and I” (the album’s third single), she not only wows us vocally but exudes a level of maturity we had never seen from her.
While Beyoncé is good at every tempo, one could argue that she shines brightest on the up-tempos. Contrary to what a casual fan might think, there are actually only three on Dangerously in Love: “Crazy in Love” (featuring then-boyfriend and future husband, Jay-Z), “Baby Boy” (featuring Sean Paul) and the Donna-Summer-inspired “Naughty Girl.” The album is opened with them, and wisely, they were three of the album’s four singles.
“Crazy in Love” spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was followed by “Baby Boy,” which spent nine. “Me, Myself and I” and “Naughty Girl,” the album’s third and fourth singles, respectively, both peaked in the top five of the chart.
Fun fact: “Crazy in Love” is the only single from the album that wasn’t co-written and co-produced by Scott Storch.
Dangerously in Love would go on to sell over 11 million copies and win just about every award there was, including four MTV Video Music Awards (across two years) and five Grammy Awards, the latter of which put Beyoncé in a three-way tie with Lauryn Hill and Alicia Keys for most wins by a female artist in a single night. She would eventually break that record in 2010, when she won six for I Am… Sasha Fierce. Today, she stands alone as the most decorated artist in Grammy history, with 32 career wins for her work as a solo artist and as a member of Destiny’s Child and The Carters.
Twenty years later (and while she is in the midst of a record-breaking world tour), Dangerously in Love is a reminder of where it all started for the living legend that is Beyoncé. Its impact is still felt today, and even as she continues to give us new classics, it remains the ultimate benchmark for female contemporary R&B artists in the 21st century.
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