Beyonce

Ask Beyonce what she wants people to hear when they listen to Dangerously In Love, her debut solo album, and the multi-platinum-selling pop/urban recording artist answers, "My range. I want them to hear all of the musical influences from hip-hop to rock to jazz, there's even a Shuggie Otis sample. I want them to really hearthe talent. I know that folks love me as a pop star. Now I want them to understand me as an artist."

That they will. Musically challenging and lyrically honest, "Dangerously In Love" is more than just a solo CD from a superstar. It is everything you'd expect from Beyonce and more than you could have hoped for. Another side of someone we've loved for years, "Dangerously In Love" is equally divided between seductive mid-tempos, lush ballads and fiery club bangers, providing a sharp focus on who Beyonce is right now: as a performer, as a woman, and as a creative force to be reckoned with. The vibe is more mature, more playful, more deeply passionate and sexually aggressive. "Dangerously In Love" is the sound of a grown woman clearly staking her claim in the world and, in the process, redefining expectations of who she is.

A 21-year-old Houston native, Beyonce Knowles is a founding member and chief songwriter of Destiny's Child, one of the biggest selling female acts of all time. With many of the group's hit songs co-written and co-produced by Beyonce, Destiny's Child has sold more than 33 million records worldwide. When Beyonce won the 2001 ASCAP Pop Songwriter Of The Year Award, she became the first African-American woman -- and the second woman ever -- to receive that honor.

Led by founding members Beyonce Knowles and Kelly Rowland, Destiny's Child burst on the scene in 1997 with their multi-platinum single, "No, No, No," from their self-titled album. That success was dwarfed when Destiny's Child's The Writing's On The Wall was released in 1999. The album would go on to sell more than 10 million copies worldwide, driven in part by three Top 10 hits: "Jumpin, Jumpin," "Say My Name" and "Bills, Bills, Bills," which spent 9 weeks at #1 on the Billboard RandB singles chart.