HipHop.com

During the recording of Destiny's Child's third studio album Survivor (2001), the group announced that they would produce solo albums to be released. Recording sessions for the album took place from March 2002 to March 2003 at several studios, during the hiatus of her then-group Destiny's Child. As executive producer of the album, Beyoncé took a wider role in its production, co-writing a majority of the songs, choosing which ones to produce and sharing ideas on the mixing and mastering of tracks.

Although Beyoncé remained discreet about her interpretation of the songs, its underlying meanings were attributed by music writers as an allusion to her intimate relationship with then-boyfriend Jay-Z. Musically, the album's tracks are a mixture of uptempo songs and ballads, all of which are primarily R&B songs, while also incorporating elements of soul, hip hop and Arabic music. Upon release, Dangerously in Love received generally positive reviews from music critics, many of whom praised Knowles' "artistic leap". The album also received numerous accolades, earning Beyoncé five Grammy Awards at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards on February 8, 2004.