Although she remained discreet about her interpretation of the album's songs, their underlying meanings were attributed by media outlets as an allusion to her intimate relationship with rapper, Jay-Z.

Upon its release, Dangerously in Love received generally positive reviews from music critics, many of whom praised Beyoncé's "artistic leap".

[l] Dangerously in Love has been certified 7× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and, as of 2011, has sold over 11 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century.

"Crazy in Love" spent eight consecutive weeks atop the US Billboard Hot 100, reaching the top ten almost everywhere it charted and winning two Grammy Awards.

[8] Kelly Rowland collaborated with American rapper Nelly on the song "Dilemma" (2002) as a featured artist; it became a US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, leading the label to advance the release date of her debut solo album Simply Deep to October.

Peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, the song earned Beyoncé credibility as a solo artist and paved the way for the release of Dangerously in Love.

[11] As she did on Survivor, Beyoncé 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.

[8][19][m] With 43 songs completed,[12] Beyoncé is credited as a co-writer and a co-producer,[15] as well as the album's executive producer alongside her father and then-manager Mathew Knowles.

[5] The album's hidden track "Daddy" is a tribute to Mathew Knowles, being an account of Beyoncé wanting her future husband and son to possess qualities similar to her father's.

The song itself is lyrically about being romantically obsessed,[27] as indicated in the chorus: "I am in love with you / You set me free / I can't do this thing called life without you here with me".

Beyoncé asked for a diamond-themed portrait, inspired by Klinko's 2000 campaign for Diamond.com showing Laetitia Casta lying on diamond-studded spider web.

The substantial airplay and later retail sales of "Crazy in Love" facilitated it to dominate the chart,[45] subsequently spending eight straight weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100,[46] making it Beyoncé's first number-one single in her solo career.

[47] However, the song failed to replicate its predecessors' international commercial success, reaching the top 20 in Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

[69] Despite "Me, Myself and I" and "Naughty Girl" not peaking atop the Billboard Hot 100, they still achieved high commercial success and helped Dangerously in Love reach a multi-platinum status.

[74] Despite never being released as a single, "Dangerously in Love 2" won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards,[50][51] and peaked at number 57 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

[78] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani wrote that "[Beyoncé] is allowed more room to experiment vocally as a solo artist, exploring softer registers and lathering on the coquettish persona that was only hinted at on Destiny's Child tracks like 'Bootylicious.'".

[86] Steve Jones of USA Today stated, "Beyoncé succeeds by showing greater depth as a songwriter and broader range as a singer".

[83] Blender's Ben Ratliff complimented Beyoncé's performance and stated, "She's playing the cool-hunter but covering the bases with seraphic arrangements of multiple voices.

[77] Mark Anthony Neal of PopMatters called it an "artistic leap" and wrote that it "finds Ms. B in the midst of a fully flowering womanhood and doing the best singing of her career".

[80] Los Angeles Times writer Natalie Nichols expressed that it "demonstrates vocal finesse [...] But, especially on the ballads, [Beyoncé] often drags things out with diva acrobatics".

[84] Kelefa Sanneh, writing for The New York Times, felt that the album missed the harmonies of Destiny's Child records and that Beyoncé was more effective "when she's got a posse behind her".

[79] The Guardian's Adam Sweeting wrote that "the desperate urge to cover every musical base from dancefloor to soul-ballad means that there is barely a track here with any distinctive identity or even a tune".

[55] In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau cited "Yes" and "Baby Boy" as the album's highlights and quipped that the artist was "Dangerously in Love ... with her daddy, the bonus cut reveals—as if we didn't know.

"[88] He gave the album a one-star honorable mention,[89] indicating "a worthy effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well like.

[94] With that feat, she tied with Alicia Keys, Norah Jones, and Lauryn Hill for most Grammy Awards won by a female artist in one night.

[96] In the United States, Dangerously in Love debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart dated July 12, 2003, with first-week sales of 317,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan.

[115] Across Europe, Dangerously in Love reached the summit in Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland and Norway, also peaking atop the European Top 100 Albums.

Rebecca Louie of the New York Daily News wrote that the success of Dangerously in Love brought Beyoncé into a "sultry solo star" who "blossomed from a girly group", referring to Destiny's Child.

[16] As time did not permit, Beyoncé's solo aspirations–which included a follow-up album to Dangerously in Love composed of its unreleased tracks–were put on hiatus for her to concentrate on her Super Bowl XXXVIII performance.

[131] Its "handsome debut" was noted by Keith Caulfield of Billboard as having been generated "by goodwill earned from the performance of [Beyoncé's] smash first album Dangerously in Love.