Beyonce Dangerously In Love Live
Olowookere Devost
"Dangerously in Love 2" is a song written and produced by Beyonc and Errol McCalla, Jr. The ballad was first recorded by Destiny's Child for their third studio album Survivor (2001), under the title "Dangerously in Love". The song later became the title track to Beyonc's debut album with some minor adjustments instrumentally. "Dangerously in Love 2" is an R&B ballad, the lyrics of which detail romantic obsession.
"Dangerously in Love 2" received generally positive response from music critics, who wrote that the song effectively shows the vocal capabilities of Beyonc. It won a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards. Though not released as a single, "Dangerously in Love 2" charted at number 57 the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and at number 17 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Beyonc performed the ballad at the 46th Grammy Awards, the Verizon Ladies First Tour, the Dangerously in Love Tour, The Beyonc Experience and as the opening song of her Renaissance World Tour.
"Dangerously in Love" was written and produced by Beyonc and Errol McCalla, Jr. It was recorded for the Destiny's Child album, Survivor (2001).[1] The song was rearranged at the SugarHill Studios in Houston, Texas in 2002[2] for her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love.[3] Her version, which was titled "Dangerously in Love 2",[4] features a modified arrangement.[5] It was set as a remix track, but later became the title track to her debut studio album.[5]
Beyonc's version charted on a few Billboard component charts, despite not officially being released as a single. "Dangerously in Love" made its first chart appearance on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number 73 on July 3, 2004.[16] For the following seven weeks, the song kept on charting in the lower positions of the chart, until it was titled as the greatest gainer on the chart issue dated August 21, 2004, ascending 28 places from number 71 to number 43.[17] Its entry on the US Radio Songs chart at number 75,[18] prompted its debut on the US Billboard Hot 100 issue dated September 18, 2004 at number 76.[19] "Dangerously in Love 2" was propelled to number 60 on the Hot 100 chart the following week as it made the largest chart move on the Radio Songs chart by ascending to number 59.[20] The song peaked at number 17 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart on September 25, 2004, and at number 57 US Billboard Hot 100 on October 2, 2004.[21] On June 14, 2006, the song was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (2006) for sales of over 500,000 ringtones.[22] As at October 6, 2010, "Dangerously in Love 2" had sold around 130,000 digital downloads in the United States.[23]
Beyonc performed "Dangerously in Love" live for the first time at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York in 2001.[24] The performance was also part of the setlist for their World Tour. Beyonc also famously performed the song at the 46th Grammy Awards on February 8, 2004,[25] where it won in the category of Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.[26] Beyonc was wearing a long, glittery turquoise and silver dress. She positioned herself between the edges of a giant picture frame and sung "Dangerously in Love 2" as if she were in a living oil painting.[25] She was joined by seventeen backup singers, musicians and dancers.[25] At the end, she held out her hand and a dove landed in her outstretched palm.[25] Jon Wiederhorn of MTV News commented that the performance was "nothing short of extravagant."[25]
Beyonc also added the song to the track-listing of her first solo-tour Dangerously in Love Tour, notably at Wembley Arena in London, United Kingdom. There she performed a special rendition of the song that came in at well over 8-minutes.[27] During the Verizon Ladies First Tour which also featured Alicia Keys, Missy Elliott and Tamia, Beyonc performed "Dangerously in Love 2" in New York City in front of more than 20,000 fans.[28] Before starting her performance, she asked the audience whether they have ever fell in love. As she started to sing, more dancers joined in on smaller and circular platforms. Simultaneously, fire shot from the floor and a long, rectangular screen merged video of flames with images of the performers, seemingly setting them on fire.[28] Shaheem Reid of MTV News complimented the performance writing: "[Beyonc] had New Yorkers cheering like the Yankees had just won the World Series when she perfectly hit the high note toward the end of 'Dangerously in Love 2'."[28]
Beyonc additionally performed the song on a number of other occasions, including the song as part of her set list on The Beyonc Experience[31] in Los Angeles and I Am... World Tour during the first stops in the beginning of the tour.[32] In Los Angeles, Beyonc gave a full-length performance of the song, dressed in a long sequent number that flowed straight down to her feet. It was executed with several female and male backup dancers, and live instrumentation.[33] Jon Pareles of The New York Times praised the performance, stating: "Beyonc needs no distractions from her singing, which can be airy or brassy, tearful or vicious, rapid-fire with staccato syllables or sustained in curlicued melismas. But she was in constant motion, strutting in costumes [...]".[34] Although the song was performed on selected dates of the I Am... World Tour, it was not included on the physical release of the tour on DVD/CD.[35] The song was also performed during the I Am... Yours 2009 Las Vegas revue show, in a medley that included an acoustic version of "Sweet Dreams" and a cover of Anita Baker's song "Sweet Love".[36]
By the turn of Y2K, Destiny's Child was on top of the world. Their 2000 smash "Independent Women Part I" was the longest-running No. 1 of their career, and their 2001 LP, Survivor, was yet another worldwide success for the group. But by 2003, all eyes were on Beyonc.
Released on June 24, 2003, Beyonc's Dangerously In Love laid the groundwork for the GRAMMY-winning icon she is today. Throughout its 15 tracks, Beyonc displayed a newfound confidence and a hunger for creativity. She experimented with sounds that steered away from the Pop&B girl power anthems of yore, whether it was on the futuristic "Hip Hop Star" with Big Boi and Sleepy Brown or the use of Arabic strings in "Naughty Girl."
Bey's solo debut also outlined the fundamentals that would eventually become the foundation of her superstar status. There's her unshakeable chemistry with Jay-Z (who features on lead single "Crazy in Love" and "That's How You Like It"), her knack for unexpected samples and interpolations (like the play on Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby" in "Naughty Girl") and intricately layered harmonies ("Yes"), her sensual expression ("Gift From Virgo") and her hit-making power ("Baby Boy").
If that wasn't enough to cement her icon status, her commercial and critical accolades speak for themselves. With 32 GRAMMYs and 88 nominations under her belt, she is the most decorated artist in GRAMMY history. What's more, all seven of her albums went No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and she has eight No. 1 hits and has sold over 200 million records worldwide. And on top of that, she's continuing to grow a business empire that includes her athleisure line Ivy Park and management/production company Parkwood Entertainment.
Two years later, "I Ain't Worried" is one of 16 tracks on Artificial Paradise, which arrived July 12. It's a seamless blend of songs that will resonate with longtime and newer fans alike. From the layered production of "Hurt," to the feel-good vibes of "Serotonin," to the evocative lyrics of "Last Holiday," Artificial Paradise shows that OneRepublic's sound is as dialed-in as it is ever-evolving.
The album also marks the end of an era for OneRepublic, as it's the last in their contract with Interscope Records. But for the group's singer, Ryan Tedder, that means the future is even more exciting than it's been in their entire 15-year career.
"I've never been more motivated to write the best material of my life than this very moment," he asserts. "I'm taking it as a challenge. We've had a lot of fun, and a lot of uplifting records for the last seven or eight years, but I also want to tap back into some deeper material with the band."
As he's been prepping Artificial Paradise with his OneRepublic cohorts, Tedder has also been as busy as he's ever been working with other artists. His career as a songwriter/producer took off almost simultaneously with OneRepublic's 2007 breakthrough, "Apologize" (his first major behind-the-board hit was Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love"); to this day he's one of the go-to guys for pop's biggest names, from BLACKPINK to Tate McRae.
And that is true. It was, like, 20 [grand], then 50, then 100. And I was salivating. I was, like, I need this money so bad. And I give so many songs to other people, but with that song, I drew a line in the sand and said, "No one will sing this song but me. I will die with this song."
We do it every night. I'll never not do it. I've never gotten sick of it once. Every night that we do it, whether I'm in Houston or Hong Kong, I look out at the crowd and look at the band, and I'm like, Wow. This is the song that got us here.
We were halfway through promoting Dreaming Out Loud, our first album. I played basketball every day on tour, and I snapped my Achilles. The tour got canceled. The doctor told me not to even write. And I had this one sliver of an afternoon where my wife had to run an errand. And because I'm sadistic and crazy, I texted [songwriter] Evan Bogart, "I got a three-hour window, race over here. Beyonc called me and asked me to write her a song. I want to do it with you." He had just come off his huge Rihanna No. 1, and we had an Ashley Tisdale single together.
When you write enough songs, not every day do the clouds part and God looks down on you and goes, "Here." But that's what happened on that day. I turn on the keyboard, the first sound that I play is the opening sound of the song. Sounds like angels singing. And we wrote the song pretty quick, as I recall.
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