Beyonce shifts gears with new single, solo album debut

By Steve Jones
USA Today

Beyonce Knowles was a little nervous that fans would find her new single, "Crazy in Love," so different they might not get it.

The Destiny's Child star shouldn't have worried. The high-energy, horn-driven, Jay-Z-laced tune is the hottest on radio. In less than a month it has become the ninth-most-heard song in the United States, setting the stage for her solo album debut, "Dangerously in Love," due out June 24.

The song, about how love makes people do things they normally wouldn't, has a beat "so hard it makes your heart hurt. I guess people were actually happy to hear something different."

Her solo album features several ballads and has a different vibe from Destiny. Aside from ballads, songs include "Hip-Hop Star," a rock-rap collaboration with Outkast's Big Boi and Sleepy Brown; "Baby Boy," an "Arabian/reggae" song with Sean Paul; "Signs," an astrological romp with Missy Elliott; and "A Gift From Virgo" (Knowles is one), sung over a jazzy Shuggie Otis instrumental track.

Knowles is the last Destiny's Child member to release a solo album. Michelle Williams put out her gospel album, "Heart to Yours," in April 2001; Kelly Rowland's "Simply Deep" came out in October. Meanwhile, Knowles' duet with Jay-Z on " '03 Bonnie & Clyde" and her female-perspective remix of 50 Cent's "In da Club" kept her on the radio.

She used the extra time to stretch creatively. She co-wrote and co-produced everything on the album and picked the 14 tracks from about 45 she recorded.

"With Destiny's Child, we never got a fair chance in the studio," Knowles says. "Everything has been in a rush. It's like we recorded 12 songs, and 12 songs were on our album. We did "Survivor" in 14 days. It was crazy. Here I got to experiment and really grow."

She also won't be rushing to put things together when she goes on tour this summer. She auditioned more than 1,000 dancers in May and is starting rehearsals. In the next month or so, she'll be popping up on morning and late-night TV, awards shows and a pay-per-view special June 14. She's in close contact with Williams and Rowland; they plan to release a new Destiny's Child album next summer.

Knowles also will be back on the big screen this summer — she was Foxxy Cleopatra in last year's "Austin Powers in Goldmember" — opposite Cuba Gooding Jr. in "The Fighting Temptations." She plays a single mom who sings in a nightclub and joins a gospel choir.