Recording
Before Knowles began recording for Dangerously in Love, she selected the producers with whom she would collaborate. For two days, she held meetings with prospective producers from the West Coast across the East Coast, and had interviews with them. Knowles went to Miami, Florida to begin sessions with Canadian record producer Scott Storch, her first collaborator, and lived in a Miami hotel in the following months. As she wanted to concentrate on the album, Knowles took her time to avoid pressure build-up, significantly different from the hasty productions of Destiny's Child.
As she did on Survivor, Knowles took a wider role in the production of Dangerously in Love, co-writing a majority of the songs, choosing which ones to produce and sharing ideas on the mixing and mastering of tracks. Although Knowles did not create beats, she came up with melodies and ideas she shared with the producers. With 43 songs completed — 15 of which made it to the album— Knowles is credited as co-writer and co-producer, as well as the album's executive producer alongside Matthew Knowles.
Knowles felt that recording an album without her group mates was "liberating and therapeutic", coming into the studio and freely expressing her ideas with her collaborators. The dependency she developed with Destiny's Child, however, meant it was harder "to be on own creatively". As she wanted to grow as an artist Knowles contacted other artists with a view to forming a collaborative partnership. When the collective finished writing several songs, she printed copies of each and sent them to prospective guest artists. She talked to them by phone for possible collaboration, eventually gaining their approval. Besides Jay-Z, Knowles was able to work with Jamaican artist Sean Paul, American rapper Missy Elliott, among others. In contrast, some artists sent copies of songs to Knowles, which were eventually produced. Additionally, Knowles also worked with Timbaland and Missy Elliott on a track titled "Wrapped Around Me" for the album. Eventually, however, for reasons unknown, the song failed to appear on the album.
Dangerously in Love was originally a song of the same title which Knowles had written for Survivor. The song was deemed too sophisticated compared to other songs on Survivor, and the group decided not to release it as a single off the album. After recording several tracks for Dangerously in Love, Knowles decided to add "Dangerously in Love", after realizing that it fit the overriding theme of the album. Since the album's release date was postponed to capitalize on the success of "Dilemma", Knowles had been offered the chance to further enhance the album. Although she was disappointed with the move, Knowles realized that "everything happens for a reason", agreeing to return to the recording studio to work with other songwriters. This allowed her to record more songs, including the album's lead single, "Crazy in Love". In late 2002, Knowles paused working on Dangerously in Love for a holiday tour with Destiny's Child. With a few weeks left for recording in March 2003, Knowles was still collaborating with other guests on the album, including Sean Paul and P. Diddy.
Read more about this topic: Dangerously In Love
Famous quotes containing the word recording:
“I didn’t have to think up so much as a comma or a semicolon; it was all given, straight from the celestial recording room. Weary, I would beg for a break, an intermission, time enough, let’s say, to go to the toilet or take a breath of fresh air on the balcony. Nothing doing!”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)
“Write while the heat is in you.... The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Self-expression is not enough; experiment is not enough; the recording of special moments or cases is not enough. All of the arts have broken faith or lost connection with their origin and function. They have ceased to be concerned with the legitimate and permanent material of art.”
—Jane Heap (c. 1880–1964)