Crazy in Love

"Crazy in Love"
Song

"Crazy in Love" is an R&B song written by singer Beyoncé Knowles, producer Rich Harrison, rapper Jay-Z, and Eugene Record. Released as the first single from Beyoncé's debut album Dangerously in Love in the summer of 2003 (see 2003 in music), it reached number one in the United States and United Kingdom and the top ten on the majority of charts it entered across the world. The song contains a prominent horn sample from the Chi-Lites "Are You My Woman", and serves as the song's hook. "Crazy in Love" received a generally positive response from music critics; some referred to it as the best single release of 2003 while others criticized it and its accompanying music video for being too overtly sexual. Its success established Knowles as a leading solo performer following several years as a member of Destiny's Child.

Writing and recording

"Crazy in Love" was co-written by Beyoncé, Rich Harrison, and Jay-Z, and was co-produced by Beyoncé and Rich Harrison. The song is built around a sample of the song "Are You My Woman", originally performed by the Chi-Lites and written by Eugene Record. The single was one of the most commercially successful songs of 2003. The song's lyrics recall moments of temporary romantic insanity that have her "looking so crazy in love".

Although Beyoncé had released singles as part of Destiny's Child, and had appeared as a solo artist on special soundtrack singles and guest appearances, the first single release from the Dangerously in Love album was seen as crucial in establishing her as a substantial performer in her own right; she and her record company first considered using "Naughty Girl" as the first single. While searching for a backing track, she was introduced to producer, Harrison, who produced Mary J.Blige's "Beautiful Ones", wrote & produced Kelly Rowland's "Can't Nobody", and Amerie's debut album All I Have. Harrison played a beat for her that he had created from the song "Are You My Woman". Beyoncé had to take care of some other album related tasks, and had given Harrison only two hours to write the song. Harrison, severely hungover, was commissioned to create a melodic track for the verses and chorus he wrote. He was able to write the music for the verses and chorus in time for Beyoncé's return as she completed the song by adding the lyrics.

After the completion of "Crazy in Love", record company advisors suggested to Beyoncé that she return to "Naughty Girl" as the lead single from her forthcoming album. It was believed that "Naughty Girl" would probably be a success, and a safe choice, allowing Beyoncé to convey the sexy persona that she had established with Destiny's Child; moreover, the general style, together with a well-known hook from Donna Summer's "Love To Love You Baby", was considered to be more commercial in sound than other songs Beyoncé had recorded for the album. "Crazy in Love" was seen as more of a gamble, and both the aggressive sound and attitude were somewhat different from Beyoncé's previous work.

Beyoncé insisted on moving ahead with "Crazy in Love", however, and although confident that the song was the correct choice, she felt that it might not perform well on urban charts. In order to move beyond Top 40 Mainstream markets, she enlisted her friend, Jay-Z to record a guest rap vocal performance. Like most of Jay-Z’s guest raps, the verse was recorded from memory, and provided a contrast to Beyoncé's more elegant vocal style. Beyoncé hoped that the combination would allow her to move beyond Destiny’s Child's reputation of pop-R&B, and as the deadline for the single's release approached, she submitted the final mixed version of the song.

Critical response

"Crazy in Love" attracted a generally positive comments from reviewers. Tim Sendra of the All Music Guide praised the Australian release, and described the song as a "stunning pop masterpiece" ^[1], while Darryl Sterdan, writing for Jam! Showbiz, noted the song's "instantly addictive horn lines" ^[2]. Anthony DeCurtis for Rolling Stone also remarked upon the horn sample, and noted the contribution of Jay-Z, writing: "'Crazy in Love' ... roars out of the speakers on the strength of a propulsive horn sample and the charged presence of her pal, Jay-Z." ^[3]. Reviewing Dangerously in Love, Sam Smallman of PlayLouder wrote: "'Crazy In Love' ... kick starts the album, and it is well chosen — the track is blatantly huge, a proper club banger, and a fine showcase for Jay-Z's new, more melodic flow" ^[4]. Whudat.com commented on the song's role as a club track, and noted that it was "the '1AM' track in the clubs"; it also gave it a rating of "90/100 degrees". ^[5] The British magazine New Musical Express provided the single with the highest praise they could offer by voting it the best single release of the year, in their end of year review of 2003. ^[6]

The song also attracted some negative reviews, such as that of Marc Anthony Neil of Popmatters who called the song, "R&B on crack", and noted: "it's just some other shit and it don't let up" ^[7]. Bunny Hopkins of Bunny on a Stick criticized the song's music video, writing: "If I wanted to watch a fashion show, I'd watch my local cable channel's high school prom preview". She further criticized Beyoncé with the comment: "She’s unnecessarily trampy in this video, especially when she's spontaneously performing stripper moves on the sidewalk" ^[8]

Urban Crank Reject Single

"Crazy In Love" is one of three hit Go Go influenced records that cannot be classified as a Urban Crank record (the professional and more marketable form of Go Go influenced music, on a nationwide scale). The song cannot be classified as an Urban Crank record, because the artist (Beyonce Knowles) is not a Washington, DC Native which disqualifies the record because it violates UCM Qualification #1. See Urban Crank section “The Classification of Urban Crank”.

Chart performance

"Crazy in Love" was solicited to radio on July 8 2003 in North America. Upon release, the song became a large success and was able to reach number one on nine of the major U.S. Billboard charts; it spent several weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, the Hot 100 Airplay, the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, the Hot Dance Music/Club Play, the Top 40 Mainstream, and the Rhythmic Top 40. It also proved somewhat successful on other Billboard charts, but it only climbed to number twenty-eight on the Adult Top 40 format.

The single was a substantial hit throughout the world, and spent eight weeks at number one for the overall tracks and five weeks at number one on sales data chart on the United World Chart (UWC) by Media Traffic. Top40-charts.com records that the single spent ten weeks on the world singles chart, based on physical sales from 65 countries (excluding the downloads whereas UWC does integrate), eight weeks on the world airplay chart with the worldwide sample of 2650 commercial and public radio stations throughout the world by the radio station's Top 40 Radio Playlist Charts - both based on the company's independent research. From APC-Stats by Music & Media, it dominated the European official singles chart by holding the top position for four weeks. It also spent three weeks at number one in the United Kingdom, having her first ever number one single (and album at the same time) in the UK as a solo artist. Counting her career with former group Destiny's Child, this became her third number one single in the UK. It reached number two in Australia and Netherlands, and number three in New Zealand; the song debuted at number four in Canada before it climbed to a peak position of number two.

In 2003, Knowles also made history by being the first female artist to have a number-one single and number one-album Dangerously in Love in the US and the UK simultaneously (also to have the simultaneous effect in both countries at the same time). In the US, it has occurred when the album made a new entry to the top spot, while the single reached to the top position from number 3 in the previous week (Simultaneous effect in the US for one week). In the UK, the album was released one week earlier than the single. Like the US, it too made a new entry to number one for her album - Evanesence's single "Bring Me To Life" made the top that week. The following week, both singles and albums were number one simultaneously for three consecutive weeks. This made her the second female artist to have a simultaneous number ones for the Official UK Chart in the 21st century. The first was Kylie Minogue with the album "Fever" and single "Can't Get You Out of My Head" in 2001. The album had one more week at number one while the single dropped to number two the next week - Daniel Bedingfield's single "Never Gonna Leave Your Side" had the number one spot that week. To Simplify, Knowles obtained five consecutive weeks at number one for the album and three of those weeks at the top consecutively for the single co-inciding with the album in the UK. Earlier artists to hold this title are The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Rod Stewart and Men at Work.

The song spent twenty-eight weeks on the Hot 100, spending fifteen of those weeks in the top ten, and twenty-seven of those weeks in the top 50, as the song debuted at 52. Because the song was so popular, airplay became dominating, and eventually became "played out" like many of her songs. This caused the song to decline rather quickly after its peak. It eventually became the 4th biggest hit of the year.^[9]

Music video

The music video, which was filmed by Jake Nava, is relatively plotless. The opening scene begins with Knowles wearing a tank top, shorts, and red high-heels. She performs an elaborate solo dance on a riser. The scene shifts to a gold set detailing a mock photo shoot, before moving into a scene with dancers detailing Knowles and dancing against a wall while wearing caps and full length pants. In a controversial sequence, the video then shifts into its next scene, which shows a helpless Beyoncé struggling inside a car. She is apparently unaware that there is a trail of gasoline outside of the car, which Jay-Z ignites, causing the car to explode.

Knowles does not appear injured; next, she is dancing to Jay-Z's solo rap in an exotic silk print over a fur coat, and decides to kick a fire hydrant. She continues to dance whilst the water is flying all over the place. The video ends with Knowles and her dancers in front of a giant fan in vibrant dresses in contrast to the more neutral colors of the background.

Awards

By 2005 the digital downloads of "Crazy in Love", counting sales of the original version and the remixes of the song, known as "Krazy in Luv", had sold over 100,000 copies. As a result of this, the song was awarded the gold single certification by the RIAA for sales of at least 100,000 digital downloads. (Note: Sales of the DVD single and 12" maxi single were not counted in this tabulation). In terms of certification, the song has also been recognized in the U.K. by the Official U.K. Charts Company (OCC) from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), and in Australia by ARIA; unlike the USA, it has been recognized for mostly shipments of the CD single earning a silver (for shipments of at least 265,000 units) and platinum ^[10] certification respectively. It was also ceritified gold in New Zealand by RIANZ after spending sixteen weeks in the official singles chart. (At least 5,000 to 6,500 units sold in NZ for shipments).

Beyoncé was nominated for three Grammy Awards for "Crazy in Love" at the 2004 ceremony, in the categories of Record of the Year, Best R&B Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, winning the last two. The award for "Record of the Year" was won by Coldplay's "Clocks". A remix of "Crazy in Love" known as "Krazy in Luv" (Maurice's Soul Nu mix) won the award Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for the remixer, Maurice Joshua). It was also recognized at the ASCAP awards by the label companies receiving the Publisher of the Year from EMI and Most Performed Songs award in 2004.

The music video of the song won acclaim from both American and international video awarding-committees. It was nominated for four 2003 MTV Video Music Awards in the categories of Best Female Video, Best R&B Video, Best Choreography, and Viewer's Choice. It won the awards for "Best Female Video", "Best R&B Video", and "Best Choreography", but the "Viewer's Choice" award was won by Good Charlotte for their single, "Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous". In Europe, the "Crazy in Love" video won the award for "Best Song" at the 2004 MTV Europe Music Awards. The song has also been recognized by Beyoncé's peers in the urban markets, and won the award for Best Collaboration at the BET Awards in 2004. Vibe magazine's "Vibe Awards" also recognized the song for "Coolest Collabo" in 2003.

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Crazy in Love".

European enhanced CD single "Crazy in Love" (album version featuring Jay-Z) "Summertime" (featuring P. Diddy) "Krazy in Luv" (Maurice's Nu Soul remix) "Crazy in Love" (CD-ROM music video) UK vinyl single "Crazy in Love" (album version featuring Jay-Z) "Crazy in Love" (instrumental album version) "Crazy in Love" (rockwilder remix) "Crazy in Love" (Pego's Poontin Muzik dub)

U.S. DVD single "Crazy in Love" (music video) "Behind the Scenes of 'Crazy in Love'" (video) Canadian/Australian CD single "Crazy in Love" (Album version featuring Jay-Z) "Summertime" (featuring P. Diddy) "Krazy in Luv" (Maurice's Nu Soul remix) "Krazy in Luv" (Rockwilder remix)

Charts

[11] [12] Chart (2003) [13] [14] Position U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1 (8) U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay 1 (7) U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales 11 U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales 4 U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 1 (1) U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 1 (3) U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks 1 (4) U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 1 (5) U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 1 (5) Australia Singles Chart 2 Austrian Singles Chart 6 Belgium Singles Chart 5 Brazil Singles Chart 4 Canadian Singles Chart 2 Chile Singles Chart 1 (1) Danish Singles Chart 5 French Singles Chart 21 Finnish Singles Chart 12 German Singles Chart 6 Germany Airplay Chart 8 Germany Black Singles Chart 1 (5)

Chart (2003) Position Germany Jam! FM Top (25/40) Songs 2 Greece Singles Chart 3 Irish Singles Chart 1 (4) Italian Singles Chart 5 Dutch Singles Chart 2 New Zealand Singles Chart 2 Norwegian Singles Chart 5 Portugal Singles Chart 6 Spain Singles Chart 2 Swedish Singles Chart 4 Swiss Singles Chart 3 Taiwanese Singles Chart 1 (1) Tokyo Top 100 1 (7) The Official UK Singles Chart 1 (3) Europe Official Singles Chart 1 (6) United World Tracks Chart 1 (8) World Airplay Chart 1 (8) World Physical Sales Chart 1 (10) Yahoo! LAUNCH Music Videos Top 100 12 MuchMusic's MOD Top 30 Videos 1 (2)

Chart Trajectories

U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27
Position	58	27	13	8	7	6	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	3	7	8	11	14	19	23	26	26	44	46

U.S. AOL Songs
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27
Position	93	82	76	63	59	50	43	37	28	13	16	9	6	8	5	6	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Week	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54
Position	1	2	1	2	5	3	4	6	8	9	12	15	18	23	26	28	33	37	40	47	50	58	64	76	82	90	95

U.K. Top 75 Singles
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15
Position	1	1	1	2	5	10	12	16	19	25	36	35	40	46	64

Australia Top 50 Singles
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14
Position	2	2	2	3	4	6	13	15	24	26	34	36	31	43

Notes and references

1. ^ Sendra, Tim Crazy in Love (Australia CD) Review. All Music Guide. Retrieved Oct. 28, 2005.
2. ^ Sterdan, Darryl Beyonce Album Review: DANGEROUSLY IN LOVE. Jam! Showbiz. Retrieved Oct. 28, 2005.
3. ^ DeCurtis, Anthony Dangerously in Love Review. Rolling Stone. Retrieved Oct. 28, 2005.
4. ^ Smallman, Sam Review - Dangerously in Love. PlayLouder. Retrieved Oct. 28, 2005.
5. ^ CG Dangerously in Love - Music Review. Whudat. Retrieved Oct. 28, 2005.
6. ^ Neal, Marc Anthony Dangerously in Love - PopMatters Music Review. PopMatters.com. Retrieved Oct. 28, 2005.
7. ^ Hopkins, Bunny Crazy in Love - Video Review. Bunny on a Stick.com. Retrieved Oct. 28, 2005.
8. ^ Rocklist (NME) 2003. Retrieved Oct. 28, 2005.
9. ^ ARIA 2003 Certification Singles 2003 Certification. Retrieved Oct. 30, 2005.

• Beyoncé (2003). "Crazy in Love" (DVD single) New York: Columbia Records Co.— Beyoncé explains the making of the video
• Beyoncé (2004). Live at Wembley (DVD/CD) New York: Columbia Records Co.— Beyoncé explains the risks she took by making this song her first single.
• D'Angelo, Joe Road To The Grammys: The Making of Beyonce's 'Crazy In Love'" , MTV.com Retrieved Oct. 28, 2005.— Rich Harrison talks about the creation of "Crazy in Love".
• Bronson, Fred (2003, 5th ed.). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. New York: Billboard Books. ISBN 082-307677-6— more information on the creation of "Crazy in Love"
• "40 Top 20 & Top 40 Music Charts from 25 Countries" (2005). top40charts.com. Retrieved from Full Chart History of "Crazy in Love" by Beyonce feat. Jay-Z on Oct. 28, 2005.— International chart information.
• Media Traffic - United World Chart: Singles and Album Data.

Note to Editors

Please do not delete any trajectories which invole AOL Singles. These trajectories of these specific songs are official confirmed by AOL.

External links

• Beyoncé Knowles Official Web Site