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"Crazy in Love" was the first single from Beyonce's first album Dangerously in Love The song was a 2003 US #1 single by Beyoncé and featured Jay-Z.

The Song

The single was co-written by Beyonce, Rich Harrison, and Jay-Z, and co-produced by Beyonce and Rich Harrison. The song is also 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 biggest hits of 2003 and is generally considered to be the solo signature song of Beyonce. In this harsh horn, but beat driven debut single, Beyonce recalls moments of temporary insanity that have her declaring “Got me looking so crazy in love.”

Although Beyonce had released singles as part of Destiny's Child before, and had appeared as a solo artist on special soundtrack and guest appearances, much pressure was put on her to perform for her first major solo single ever. Beyonce began shopping for beats, and had at one point considered using "Naughty Girl" for her first single. While shopping for beats, she came across Rich Harrison, a struggling producer. Rich played a beat that he created from the song, "Are You My Woman", and Beyonce became impressed with the song’s trademark, its harsh blaring horns. Harrison was soon ordered to create a melodic track for the verses and the chorus. (He was instructed to keep away from lyrics as Beyonce held a vested interest in them.) Drama soon ensued as Beyonce had only given Rich one hour to write the song, and Rich was severely drunk. Luckily, Rich was able to write the music of the verses and chorus in time for Beyonce’s return. (Beyonce wrote most of the lyrics and the bridge of the song.)

With her first new single in hand now, Beyonce seemed to be satisfied, but she became concerned when advisors had suggested that she return to "Naughty Girl" for her choices as a debut single. It was felt that "Naughty Girl" would probably not be a big hit, but was guaranteed to do moderately well. On the other hand, “Crazy In Love” was seen as a gamble: it would either flop horribly or became a big hit. Beyonce knew that the song was very different for the music industry at the time, but decided to follow her instincts and brushed off her advisors again.

Now that she had brushed off insecurities about the song, Beyonce still felt that something was missing. She felt the song could perform on Mainstream Top 40 markets, but how would the song perform for her R&B/Hip-Hop audience? Destiny’s Child was often criticized as watered down R&B, and Beyonce did not want a reputation like that following her solo debut single. Time was running out though, and Beyonce had to turn in a final mixed down versions of the song too. With very little time left and shortly before the deadline, she called in her boyfriend, Jay-Z who flew in the middle of the night to record his rapped parts. Like most of Jay-Z’s guest raps, the verse was freestyle and had not been pre meditated.

Chart Success

As mentioned above, the release of “Crazy In Love” troubled Beyonce’s advisors who felt the song would not perform well due to its unconventional sound. Their worries were dumbfounded as “Crazy In Love” became one of the biggest hits of 2003, where it topped The Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks for several weeks. The single also topped other charts like Hot 100 Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Digital Tracks, Top 40 Tracks, Top 40 Mainstream, and the Rhythmic Top 40.)

The single was such a hit that it even crossed over for a bit and hit the Adult Top 40 and peaked at #28 (a notable accomplishment considering that Adult Top 40 is usually conservative). The song also became Beyonce’s first digital hit by topping the Hot Digital Tracks chart . Unfortunately for Beyonce, digital downloads were not counted towards the Hot 100 yet. But in any case, the song didn’t seem to need the points anyway, as the song only had a 12" Maxi Single and a DVD Single released. (Those formats provide only small points and the song was supported by its airplay). Nevertheless, the song was certified as a digital gold single for sale of over 200,000 digital downloads.

Music Video

Just as Beyonce took risks on “Crazy In Love” as her first solo single, she decided to take risks on the song’s music video by getting Jake Nava, a relative rookie in the world of music video directors to direct her video. The elaborate video shows Beyonce being “Crazy In Love” as she dances wildly solo in shorts and high heels and with a dedicated legion of hip-hop dancers. Viewers are seemingly shocked as the song’s co-star, Jay-Z sets a car on fire that Beyonce was in! Luckily, Beyonce managed to escape the car in time, and she can be seen grooving next to Jay-Z as he raps. The song is often credited for jumpstarting the music video directing career of Jake Nava. Beyonce’s risk also seems to have paid off as she was awarded 3 MTV Video Awards in 2003: the Best Choreography, the Best Female Video, and the Best R&B Video. The video also went on to be named one of the top 12 videos of the year by Reel Images Magazine

Comprehensive Charts

Official Remixes/Versions List

Crazy In Love (Album Version) featuring Jay-Z
Crazy In Love (Album Version) featuring Vaness Wu
Crazy In Love (Instrumental)
Crazy In Love (Live) (Edited Performance From Live At Wembley)
Krazy In Luv (Junior's Dance Radio Mix)
Krazy In Luv (Maurice’s Nu Soul Remix)
Krazy In Luv (Adam 12 So Crazy Remix)
Krazy In Luv (Rockwilder Remix)
Krazy In Luv (Rockwilder Remix Instrumental) (From 12’ Vinyl Only)
Krazy In Luv (Lego's Poontin Muzik Dub) (From 12’ Vinyl Only)

• 2003 singles
• Number One singles