The Making of Beyoncé's 'Single Ladies'

The Lyrics
"Single Ladies," conceptualized by singer-songwriter The-Dream, was recorded after Beyoncé secretly married Jay-Z.

"It was the only public statement that they ever made about marriage," says the song's producer Christopher "Tricky" Stewart. "When we went into the studio she didn't have a ring on or anything, because at that point they were still really hiding it. That's where Dream got that concept from."

"I thought it was a subject that most women wanted to talk about because most of us men are scared as s--- to be bound to a commitment," adds The-Dream (real name: Terius Youngdell Nash).

The Sound
Ever notice that "Single Ladies" sounds a lot like another Beyoncé dance hit, "Get Me Bodied?"

"I always believe that every artist has a groove to them," says Tricky, who crafted the song's shuffle beat. "That rhythm is what she responds to," he adds. And once she had the rhythm locked in, she delivered the now-classic lines, "on point right away," says vocal producer Kuk Harrell. "She knows what she's going for."

The Video
Spawning a massive dance craze and hundreds of YouTube tributes, the moves in the music video for "Single Ladies" were choreographed by Frank Gatson Jr. and JaQuel Knight.

"She wanted it to feel good and powerful and she wanted something that everyone would do," says Knight. Beyoncé's main inspiration was the Bob Fosse-choreographed performance of "Mexican Breakfast" on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1969 and, says Gatson, "Shirley MacLaine in Sweet Charity ... That is why Beyoncé ran up the wall [in the video]."

Pair those moves and killer costumes, "reminiscent of the high-cut leotards seen in both A Chorus Line and All That Jazz, but modern," according to designer Tina Knowles, and add a flash of that $5-million Lorraine Schwartz wedding ring, and it's easy to see why "Single Ladies" became an instant classic.

"I think the visual is what really pulled the record together as a whole," says Tricky. "The reach was just unparalleled."

Source

I always said "Single Ladies" had a "B'Day" feel to it.

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