44. Beyoncé – Work It Out

Before Crazy In Love, before Jay-Z, and before becoming the best-selling female singer of this decade, Work It Out was Beyoncé’s debut solo single. Sure, she was still the leader of Destiny’s Child when she released this, but her elevation to earth-shaggingly huge, airbrushed untouchable lay before her. And you can tell, too: for all the Aretha-isms and the swaggering funk on Work It Out, it’s a modest performance, fun, sexy and with not a hint of diva. Sounding relaxed and effortless, Beyoncé basks in the song’s loose beats and squawking sax. The Neptunes, too, aren’t trying too hard (if they ever did) – another deceptively simple production hugs Beyoncé’s vocal line, and the cumulative effect is of a few talented mates messing around in a posh studio. Light years from the uncomfortable, affected bombast of her later singles, devoid of the airs, graces and alter-egos that would follow, Work It Out is a slip of a song, and delicious for it.

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