Lauryn’s boho, Mary’s bluesy, and Lil’ Mo’s gangsta—but none of the ladies of hip hop soul are as brazen in the new rap M.O. as Beyoncé Knowles. The superstar fuses her naked ambition for crossover success—evidenced by the frothy pop tunes she wrote for Destiny’s Child—with the “go for yours” ethic trademarked by entrepreneurs like Russell Simmons and P. Diddy. That means that on her debut, she continues to follow a mercenary approach to music making—sample any and everything to craft a hit, cram lots of words around a funk rhythm, and get real loud when you want to convey emotion. And though her solo debut album, Dangerously in Love, tries to be all things to all people, it still has its own off-kilter charm. Only Beyoncé would have the cojones to follow one of her two duets with Jay-Z, the bouncy “That’s How You Like It,” with a Quiet Storm remake of Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack’s “Closer I Get to You,” featuring Luther Vandross.
Although Beyoncé is im-mersed in hip hop, R&B allows her to rhapsodize about romantic relationships. Dangerously in Love surges with sexy dance jams like the Eastern-influenced “Naughty Girl.” And “Crazy in Love,” the raucous lead single, flaunts her relationship with boyfriend Jay-Z over a thunderous double-time chorus that samples an old Chi-Lites tune. At times, however, Dangerously sounds desperate to reach every demographic. “Baby Boy” (featuring Sean Paul) hitches onto the overexposed Diwali riddim. The rock-influenced “Hip Hop Star” tries to be edgy but sounds listless instead. It’s the boudoir tunes that really show how far Beyoncé has come since Destiny’s Child, both vocally and personally. “Signs,” for example, is a state-of-the-art ballad with astrological references courtesy of Knowles and technological high jinks (including reversed vocals) courtesy of producer Missy Elliott. Though Dangeoursly is not an R&B centerpiece, Beyoncé's growing sills as a singer, writer and producer provide ample evidence that she's at her best when shaping her own destiny.
