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Crazy in Love (song)
Encyclopedia
"Crazy in Love" is the debut single by R&B
singer-songwriter Beyoncé Knowles
, featuring rapper and now-husband Jay-Z
. Producer Rich Harrison
, Knowles and Jay-Z wrote the song for Knowles' debut solo album, Dangerously in Love
. "Crazy in Love" is an R&B love song which incorporates elements of 1970s-style funk
, soul
and dance-pop
genres. The track features a sample
from The Chi-Lites
' 1970 song "Are You My Woman (Tell Me So)", used as the song's horn hook. The lyrics reference a romantic obsession that causes the protagonist to act out of character.
Columbia Records
released "Crazy in Love" on May 20, 2003, as the album's lead single
. Critics praised the horn
sample, the guest appearance of Jay-Z, and the assertiveness with which Knowles sings the lyrics. "Crazy in Love" ranks 118th on Rolling Stone
s 2010 list of the 500 greatest songs of all time
. VH1
placed the song at number one on its 100 Greatest Songs of the 2000s list. At the 46th Grammy Awards, it won Grammys
for Best R&B Song
and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
. "Crazy in Love" was Knowles' first number one single as a solo artist in the United States, peaking on the Billboard Hot 100
chart for eight consecutive weeks. It also topped UK Singles Chart
, and reached the top ten on the singles charts in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden as well as Switzerland and achieved multi-platinum certifications in most of these countries.
The song's accompanying music video
features Knowles in various dance sequences. It won three awards at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards
, and its director, Jake Nava
, won the Music Video Production Association
award for Best R&B Video in 2004. Since 2003, "Crazy in Love" has been a staple in Knowles' live performances and concert tours. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) recognized "Crazy in Love" as one of the most performed songs of 2004 at the ASCAP Pop Music Awards. The song has been covered by David Byrne
and numerous others, and it has been used in various television shows and other media.
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In 2002, Knowles had already recorded several songs which would appear on Dangerously in Love. Columbia Records planned to release the album in October 2002; however the release was postponed several times to capitalize on the success of American rapper Nelly
's single "Dilemma
", which features Destiny's Child
singer Kelly Rowland
. These delays allowed Knowles to record more songs for the album.
Before meeting Knowles, Rich Harrison
, who wrote "Crazy in Love", had recorded a demo
of the song, which was originally titled "Crazy Right Now". Before he met Knowles, Harrison sampled
the hook
was sampled
from the 1970 song "Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So)", originally written by the Chicago
-based vocal group, The Chi-Lites
s falsetto frontman, Eugene Record
. Harrison instantaneously knew that he had something good, and that he had to wait for the right artist to record the song. He was surprised and overwhelmed when Knowles called him: "[...] I had it in the chamber, I had not really shopped it much, because sometimes you do not want to come out of the bag before it's right. People do not really get it and you will leave them with a foul taste in their mouth. So it was just something that I held on to until I got the call from B[eyoncé]."
Knowles, who knew Keri Hilson
, who had written several songs for Destiny's Child, was introduced to Harrison three months before the song was recorded. In the studio, Harrison played the demo for Knowles. After listening to the sample, Knowles had doubts as it seemed "...too retro" and according to her, "...no one used horn riffs
in the 21st century." Nevertheless, she loved the sample and she asked Harrison to write the song, giving him two hours. The theme came from Knowles speaking of being conscious of her appearance. She kept saying "I'm looking crazy right now" and Harrison sang that back to her. Harrison wrote the verses
and the hook, leaving the bridge
for Knowles. American rapper Jay-Z became involved late in the song's production. Around three in the morning, he came to the studio and recorded a rap verse
, which he thought up in about ten minutes but did not write down.
-love song
, composed in the key
of F Major
. It incorporates 1970s-style funk
music, and contains influences of soul music
as well as dance-pop
music. As commented by Robert Webb of The Independent
, the old soul influences in the song seem to have been derived from the horn hook
, which samples the 1970 song "Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So)". Having a go-go vibe, "Crazy in Love" is built on a hip hop
beat
. Knowles told The Sunday Herald
that the beat is "...so hard that it makes your heart hurt." The song's tempo
is a moderate 100 beats per minute
, in common time
. Knowles' vocal range
spans around one and a half octave
s in the song, from the low note of A}
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
singer-songwriter Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
, featuring rapper and now-husband Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
. Producer Rich Harrison
Rich Harrison
Rich Harrison is a Grammy Award-winning record producer and songwriter from Washington, D.C.. He is primarily an R&B/Hip-Hop producer...
, Knowles and Jay-Z wrote the song for Knowles' debut solo album, Dangerously in Love
Dangerously in Love
Dangerously in Love is the debut solo album of American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles, released on June 22, 2003, by Columbia Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in 2002 to 2003 at several studios, during the hiatus of her then-group Destiny's Child...
. "Crazy in Love" is an R&B love song which incorporates elements of 1970s-style funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
genres. The track features a sample
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
from The Chi-Lites
The Chi-Lites
The Chi-Lites are a Chicago-based smooth soul vocal quartet from the early 1970s, one of the few from the period not to come from Memphis or Philadelphia...
' 1970 song "Are You My Woman (Tell Me So)", used as the song's horn hook. The lyrics reference a romantic obsession that causes the protagonist to act out of character.
Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
released "Crazy in Love" on May 20, 2003, as the album's lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
. Critics praised the horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
sample, the guest appearance of Jay-Z, and the assertiveness with which Knowles sings the lyrics. "Crazy in Love" ranks 118th on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s 2010 list of the 500 greatest songs of all time
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone, issue number 963, published December 9, 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"....
. VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
placed the song at number one on its 100 Greatest Songs of the 2000s list. At the 46th Grammy Awards, it won Grammys
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best R&B Song
Grammy Award for Best R&B Song
The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song has been awarded since 1959. From 1969 to 2000 it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song, from 1962 to 1968 it was known as Best Rhythm & Blues Recording, and from 1959-1961 as Best Rhythm & Blues Performance...
and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
The Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs on which rappers and singers collaborate...
. "Crazy in Love" was Knowles' first number one single as a solo artist in the United States, peaking on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart for eight consecutive weeks. It also topped UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, and reached the top ten on the singles charts in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden as well as Switzerland and achieved multi-platinum certifications in most of these countries.
The song's accompanying music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
features Knowles in various dance sequences. It won three awards at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards
2003 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2003 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 28, 2003, honoring the best music videos from June 1, 2002, to June 9, 2003. The show was hosted by Chris Rock at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City...
, and its director, Jake Nava
Jake Nava
Jake Nava was born on 17 August and grew up in northern London. He currently lives in eastern London.He graduated from the University of WestministerJake Nava is an English-born music video and film director.-Filmography:MUSIC VIDEOS...
, won the Music Video Production Association
Music Video Production Association
The Music Video Production Association is a music industry trade organization, based in Los Angeles, that is made up of producers, directors, and other professionals involved in the creation of music videos....
award for Best R&B Video in 2004. Since 2003, "Crazy in Love" has been a staple in Knowles' live performances and concert tours. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) recognized "Crazy in Love" as one of the most performed songs of 2004 at the ASCAP Pop Music Awards. The song has been covered by David Byrne
David Byrne
David Byrne may refer to:*David Byrne , musician and former Talking Heads frontman**David Byrne , his eponymous album*David Byrne , Irish footballer*David Byrne , English footballer...
and numerous others, and it has been used in various television shows and other media.
Development and production
Nelly
Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr. , better known by his stage name Nelly, is an Grammy Award winning American rapper and actor. He has performed with the rap group St. Lunatics since 1993 and signed to Universal Records in 1999. Under Universal, Nelly began his solo career in 2000 with his debut album...
's single "Dilemma
Dilemma (song)
"Dilemma" is a song by the American rapper Nelly, featuring R&B singer Kelly Rowland. The single was released in 2002 from the Nelly's album Nellyville, and Rowland's album Simply Deep...
", which features Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child was an American R&B girl group whose final line-up comprised lead singer Beyoncé Knowles alongside Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. Formed in 1997 in Houston, Texas, Destiny's Child members began their musical endeavors in their pre-teens under the name Girl's Tyme...
singer Kelly Rowland
Kelly Rowland
Kelendria Trene "Kelly" Rowland is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer, and television personality. She rose to fame as one of the founding members of the American girl group Destiny's Child...
. These delays allowed Knowles to record more songs for the album.
Before meeting Knowles, Rich Harrison
Rich Harrison
Rich Harrison is a Grammy Award-winning record producer and songwriter from Washington, D.C.. He is primarily an R&B/Hip-Hop producer...
, who wrote "Crazy in Love", had recorded a demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
of the song, which was originally titled "Crazy Right Now". Before he met Knowles, Harrison sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
the hook
Hook (music)
A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...
was sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
from the 1970 song "Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So)", originally written by the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
-based vocal group, The Chi-Lites
The Chi-Lites
The Chi-Lites are a Chicago-based smooth soul vocal quartet from the early 1970s, one of the few from the period not to come from Memphis or Philadelphia...
s falsetto frontman, Eugene Record
Eugene Record
Eugene Record was the American lead vocalist of the Chicago, Illinois based band, The Chi-Lites, during the 1960s and 1970s.He was born Eugene Booker Record in Chicago...
. Harrison instantaneously knew that he had something good, and that he had to wait for the right artist to record the song. He was surprised and overwhelmed when Knowles called him: "[...] I had it in the chamber, I had not really shopped it much, because sometimes you do not want to come out of the bag before it's right. People do not really get it and you will leave them with a foul taste in their mouth. So it was just something that I held on to until I got the call from B[eyoncé]."
Knowles, who knew Keri Hilson
Keri Hilson
Keri Lynn Hilson is an American R&B singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Decatur, Georgia, Hilson began her music career as a songwriter, penning tracks for several artists in the mid-2000s as part of the five-person production and songwriting team, The Clutch...
, who had written several songs for Destiny's Child, was introduced to Harrison three months before the song was recorded. In the studio, Harrison played the demo for Knowles. After listening to the sample, Knowles had doubts as it seemed "...too retro" and according to her, "...no one used horn riffs
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
in the 21st century." Nevertheless, she loved the sample and she asked Harrison to write the song, giving him two hours. The theme came from Knowles speaking of being conscious of her appearance. She kept saying "I'm looking crazy right now" and Harrison sang that back to her. Harrison wrote the verses
Song structure (popular music)
The structures or musical forms of songs in popular music are typically sectional, repeating forms, such as strophic form. Other common forms include thirty-two-bar form, verse-chorus form, and the twelve bar blues...
and the hook, leaving the bridge
Bridge (music)
In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
for Knowles. American rapper Jay-Z became involved late in the song's production. Around three in the morning, he came to the studio and recorded a rap verse
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
, which he thought up in about ten minutes but did not write down.
Music structure and lyrics
According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alfred Music Publishing, "Crazy in Love" is a R&BContemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
-love song
Love song
A love song is about falling in love and the feelings it brings. Anthologies of love songs often contain a mixture of both of these types of song. A bawdy song is both humorous and saucy, emphasizing the physical pleasure of love rather than the emotional joy...
, composed in the key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
of F Major
F major
F major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat . It is by far the oldest key signature with an accidental, predating the others by hundreds of years...
. It incorporates 1970s-style funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
music, and contains influences of soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
as well as dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
music. As commented by Robert Webb of The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, the old soul influences in the song seem to have been derived from the horn hook
Hook (music)
A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...
, which samples the 1970 song "Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So)". Having a go-go vibe, "Crazy in Love" is built on a hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
beat
Beat (music)
The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
. Knowles told The Sunday Herald
Sunday Herald
The Sunday Herald is a Scottish Sunday newspaper launched on 7 February 1999. The ABC audited circulation in April 2011 showed sales of 31,123.From the start it has combined a centre-left stance with support for Scottish devolution...
that the beat is "...so hard that it makes your heart hurt." The song's tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
is a moderate 100 beats per minute
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
, in common time
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
. Knowles' vocal range
Vocal range
Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...
spans around one and a half octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
s in the song, from the low note of A}