In addition to the controversy over similarities between "Halo" and Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone," Simon Cowell claimed that the song was initially offered to Leona Lewis to record as a single. Beyonce performed "Halo" live in tribute to the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. An accompanying music video was directed by Philip Andelman and features actor Michael Ealy as Beyonce's love interest. "Halo" also topped the dance chart and broke into the adult contemporary top 30. Songwriter Evan Bogart has said the song was influenced by Ray LaMontagne's "Shelter." "Halo" peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received a Grammy Award nomination for record of the year while winning best female pop vocal performance. "Halo" gained a certain amount of notoriety for the controversy surrounding its similarity to Kelly Clarkson's hit "Already Gone." However, it is a very strong romantic song all on its own. Under the title "Beautiful Nightmare" as a work in progress, the song was leaked eight months before the release of the album and even made a brief appearance on the dance chart and radio airplay chart. Despite not planning to do any recording at the time, when Beyonce heard producer Rico Love's demo of the song, she decided to record it immediately. Initially titled "Beautiful Nightmare," "Sweet Dreams" was one of the first songs recorded for the album I Am.Sasha Fierce. In the accompanying music video directed by Adria Petty, Beyonce wears a gold robot suit designed by Thierry Mugler. "Sweet Dreams" topped the dance chart and broke into the top 30 at both adult pop and adult contemporary radio. There is an underlying engaging creepiness in her description of a lover who could be, "a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare." When it peaked at #10 on the pop chart, "Sweet Dreams" became the fourth top 10 pop hit from the album I Am.Sasha Fierce. "Sweet Dreams" took Beyonce in a new electro-pop fueled direction. It was released in May 2003, and it topped the R&B and dance charts in addition to its pop success. However, the album was delayed to leave room for the success of fellow Destiny Child member Kelly Rowland's duet with Nelly "Dilemma." During the delay period, Beyonce went back to the studio to record more songs. Much of Beyonce's debut album Dangerously In Love was complete for a planned release in October 2002. The French horn hook in "Crazy In Love" samples the 1970 song "Are You Woman (Tell Me So)" by the Chi-Lites. "Crazy In Love" was the winner of two Grammy awards, including Best R&B Song, and let everyone know Beyonce was serious about moving beyond her work with Destiny's Child. Basking in critical acclaim, "Crazy In Love" went to the top of the pop singles chart for eight weeks. Kicked off with a blasting horn figure, rapping by Jay-Z and sung "uh oh uh oh," this song was a triumphant opening salvo for Beyonce as a solo artist. However, producer Swizz Beatz convinced her to include it in a more R&B-oriented style. Although she liked the song from the beginning, Beyonce didn't think "Irreplaceable" fit the gritty, club-oriented sound of her album B'Day. When Stargate initially worked with Ne-Yo on "Irreplaceable," it was sung by a male vocalist, but everyone agreed that a female vocalist would be more suitable. A Spanish language version of "Irreplaceable" broke into the top 10 on the Latin songs chart. It was nominated for video of the year at the MTV Video Music Awards. The Anthony Mandler-directed music video features Beyonce's all-female band Suga Mama. It received a Grammy Award nomination for record of the year while making the line "to the left, to the left" stick in everyone's mind.
"Irreplaceable" met with strong critical acclaim and headed straight to #1 on the pop singles chart and stayed for ten weeks.
The Norwegian duo Stargate contributed to the songwriting and production. However, when the song was turned over to Beyonce to perform, it became an R&B-laced female empowerment anthem. Ne-Yo began writing "Irreplaceable" thinking of it as a country song.