Beyonce's 2003 Solo Debut: A Turning Point in Music History - Essay Sample

Introduction

In 2003, Beyoncé made a move that would eventually assist her become one of the most successful and accomplished music artists across the globe. Beyoncé, while the Destiny's Child R&B group was on a break, ventured out to become a solo music artist following her launching of her first solo studio debut album. Hutten previously contented that with the ‘Dangerously in Love’ album, Beyoncé exerted a substantially more creative influence during the 2000s period than she could as a Destiny’s Child group member (2). In particular, Beyoncé’s debut spawned several classic hits, including “Me, Myself and I” “Naughty Girl” “Baby Boy,” along with “crazy love” as highlighted in a previous billboard report (Ramirez 1). The goal of this report includes offering a comprehensive review of the ‘Dangerously in Love Album’ with the objective of acknowledging the domain, into which the album was produced, its commercial response, the artistic discography adopted by the artist, along with the production, instrumentation genre, as well as the form of music associated with the album’s tracks.

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Commercial Response and Description of Beyoncé’s Dangerously in Love Album

Hutten noted that the producers (Columbia) of Beyoncé’s debut album were initially hesitant concerning the release of the album, and even the artist herself indicated that he had only five hits (Willman). Nonetheless, the commercial response was substantially great, particularly for Beyoncé following the release of the album. In particular, Stitt noted that Beyoncé’s career took off quickly with a positive international commercial response which involved worldwide concert tours, along with other opportunities that emerged including being an actress, as well as several appearances on classy commercials in addition to the her appearances on the Oprah Winfrey show (120). The Album is grounded on both the pop as well as the hip hop genres with the RNB/Swing musical style. The RNB/Swing style was mainly an older database entry, which merged New Jack Swing and Contemporary R&B styles during the era in which the Dangerously in Love album became produced. According to the Discogs website, the RnB/Swing music releases began during the 1970s with approximately 582 releases defined by Hannya. During the 2000s decade, when the dangerously in love album was released, a substantial quantity of albums based on the RnB/Swing style were released amounting to nearly 35,000 copies (Discogs). This statistics implies that Beyoncé’s first album was released within a rather competitive music environment, but emerged as the most competitive music album at the time.

Review of Selected Tracks

Crazy in Love

This song was featured on Beyoncé’s initial solo debut album, and is primarily a classic love track of a girl who is in love with a boy. Most fundamentally, the song is weighed down with nifty lines coupled with poetic imagery. In support of this contention, Stitt suggested that the track is “obviously written to a mortal but it could also be a prayer to Deity” (120). As such, the lyrics illustrate at some point that the artist has definitive confidence in overcoming darkness while her companion is right besides her. Additionally, the artist refers to the sun as the primary causative influence of her association with her companion. This allusion has been considered by scholars to imply an art of more than poetry. For instance, Stitt noted that the reference of the sun in the lyrics is closely associated with the relationship between God and human beings through Jesus (121). The song features Beyoncé’s current spouse Jay-Z, along with a widely addictive hook that samples instrumentation from ‘Are You My Woman’ of the Chi-Lite (). The commercial response of the song enabled it to maintain a first position for 56 days and fixed pattern of success.

Naughty Girl

This sing is mainly a disco-flavored that was influenced by the Middle Eastern Arabian music. Similar to crazy in love, the song is a solo hit inn which Beyoncé hypnotizes on the co-produced song referred to as Scott Storch, with her sly moans concealed as lustful, as well as lustful lyrics of a single uninhibited night.

Baby Boy Featuring Sean Paul

According to the review published by the billboard article published in 2013, (Ramirez)

Baby Bony was the longest lasting song on the Hot 100 list for duration of nine weeks. Considering the music form, the song incorporates a mid-tempo cut in which Beyoncé constantly strides in a self-assurance mood. Additionally, the mid-tempo bridged the gap that existed between reggae, dancehall, and R&B by featuring the rapper Sean Paul. The music was also influenced by Arabian type of music.

Hip-Hop Star

The song featured Sleepy Brown, as well as Big Boi in which Beyoncé is seen being unabashed of becoming an hip-hop star based on its lyrics particularly the line “I sit and wait for nobody,” and “I think you like it baby.” Additionally, the lyrics of Hip-hop star depict an aspect of feminism particularly the line, “I dare you to undress me,” which indicates the artist’s goal of maintain her sexual confidence. According to the research led by Weidhase, Beyoncé’s engagement with the theme of feminism or rather matters allied to feminism is primarily associated with her performances along with the lyrics composed for most of her initial songs (128). As such, the lyrics illustrated above indicate a girl inspired by feminism.

Be With You

This was the fifth song released by Beyoncé based on the dangerously in love album. The song is slowed down by the artist for the boudoir ballad. The beginning of the song incorporates lyrics that specify the immediate needs of Beyoncé, particularly the lines “I love the way you make me feel,” and “Come in my bedroom and turn off the lights.” The artist put an extra effort in flexing her vocal range, especially towards the song’s finish, emphasizing the desire illustrated from the beginning. It is also crucial to mention that one of the crucial musical aspects of the song is that it incorporates an interpolation of the song ‘I'd rather be with you’ by Bootsy Rubber Band along with some segments of ‘Strawberry Letter 23’ by The Brothers Johnson (Ramirez).

The Closer I Get To You

This song was released as the eleventh song and featured the late Luther Vandross with an inspiration of the remake of the classical music of 1978. Whereas Beyoncé hag o to the classic legend, Ramirez argued that the quiet storm duet appears to be in disarray bearing in mind the electrifying sensation exhibited by most of the tracks associated with the dangerously in love album.

Daddy

This song finalizes the album with a special dedication to her father Matthew Knowles, who inspired perseverance in her works of art. However, it is crucial to note that the song was not initially planned to be incorporated as the final track in Beyoncé’s list. Instead, she exploited delays associated with the album’s release to produce the ode. According to Ramirez, Beyoncé was reported telling the MTV News that she embraced her father’s strength, as well as his loyalty ad that she wished the people surrounding her to have them too.

Conclusion

In summary, the review above indicates that the dangerously in love album featured Beyoncé as an artist who was deeply associated with love, and most importantly an individual who embraced her womanhood, along with being confident of her vocal prowess.

Works Cited

Discogs. "RnB/Swing Music." Discogs - Music Database and Marketplace, Discogs, 2020, www.discogs.com/style/rnb%2Fswing. Accessed 10 June 2020.

Hutten, R. (2018). " You Spun Gold Out of This Hard Life": Feminist Worldmaking Practices in the Transmedia Storyworld of Beyoncé's Lemonade (Doctoral dissertation, Université d'Ottawa/University of Ottawa).

Ramirez, E. "Beyonce, 'Dangerously In Love': Classic Track-By-Track Review." Billboard, Billboard, 22 June 2013, www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/1568019/beyonce-dangerously-in-love-classic-track-by-track-review. Accessed 8 June 2020.

Stitt, Jerry. Benny to Beyonce. Xulon P, 2012.

Weidhase, Nathalie. "‘Beyoncé feminism’and the contestation of the black feminist body." Celebrity studies 6.1 (2015): 128-131.

Willman, C. "Beyonce's "Live at Roseland" Almost Worth the Self-worship." U.S. Reuters, Reuters, 29 Nov. 2011, www.reuters.com/article/us-beyonceliveatroseland/beyonces-live-at-roseland-almost-worth-the-self-worship-idUSTRE7AS2HJ20111129. Accessed 8 June 2020.