Dilemma (song)
"Dilemma" is a song by American rapper Nelly, featuring American singer Kelly Rowland. It was released on July 30, 2002 as the third single from Nelly's second studio album Nellyville, and the lead single from Rowland's debut solo studio album Simply Deep after radio stations started playing the song during the release of Nellyville. It is an R&B ballad which samples Patti LaBelle's 1983 song "Love, Need and Want You". The lyrics describe the dilemma of two partners wanting to start a new relationship with each other despite both being in an existing relationship.
The song received generally positive reviews from music critics, praising the ballad as one of the standout tracks from Nelly's album. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, replacing his previous single "Hot in Herre". It peaked at number one on the chart for four weeks, while it also reached number one in the UK, Australia, and several other European countries. It sold 7.6 million copies worldwide as of February 2015, becoming one of the best selling singles of all time. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Performance at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards on February 23, 2003.
The Benny Boom-directed music video was released in September 2002, where it was filmed on Colonial Street with appearances by former Golden State Warriors guard Larry Hughes and Patti LaBelle. A scene from the video gained notoriety when Rowland texted Nelly on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet using her Nokia 9210 Communicator. A sequel for the song was eventually released on January 4, 2011 titled "Gone", while other versions of the song were released by Dominican merengue rapper and singer Papi Sánchez, and by British drum and bass producers Sigma.
Background and release
In 2002, producer Ryan Bowser created an instrumental which sampled and contained elements from Patti LaBelle's 1983 song "Love, Need and Want You". Upon hearing the beat given to him by St. Louis producer Antoine "Bam" Macon, Nelly began writing lyrics and then wrote a song out from it. He then decided to make the song a last-minute addition to his second studio album Nellyville, which had already been completed prior to Bam giving him the track. Once Nelly returned to the studio to record "Dilemma", his vision changed, as he wanted to include a female vocalist. He instantly thought of Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland, whom he had met during the TRL tour in 2001, and was encouraged by his sister to include on the song. Nelly called Rowland on the phone, who agreed to record the track. After a few days of recording, during which she re-recorded her part many times to achieve it "just right", "Dilemma" was completed.Once Nellyville was released in the United States on June 25, 2002, radio programmers started playing "Dilemma". By July 2002, the track had reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 based on airplay alone. This prompted Nelly to release it as the album's second single on July 30, 2002, although it was not the original plan. The decision affected the early plans for each Destiny's Child member as they were on hiatus to release a solo album. As part of their strategy, each of their albums were to be staggered, with member Beyoncé Knowles releasing in October 2002 and Rowland's album expected in early 2003. Their management rescheduled the dates: Rowland eventually released her debut solo album Simply Deep on October 28, 2002, ahead of Knowles, which caused her to move and push back her album release to June 2003.
Composition
"Dilemma" is an R&B ballad. The high-pitched intonation used in the song was thought to be created on the Roland M-DC1 in 1995 as "Aaaah! ", which was used in over 135 songs. Bowser denied using the sample, insisting that he created the sound while experimenting with different vocal techniques. During the song's progression, the sound mellows as the production was fleshed-out. Nelly raps during each verse while Rowland performs a "twinkling nursery-rhyme chorus". The song is based on common time, the tempo is 168 BPM and is played in the key of D minor.Critical reception
"Dilemma" received generally positive reviews from music critics. AllMusic reviewer Jason Birchmeier noted it as one of "three well-calculated, standout" tracks in the album, while Blender described the song as a "capable ballad". In her review for Simply Deep, Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian wrote that it "practically peeled off its clothes on the spot". James Hannaham of The Village Voice described the song as "an infidelity ballad" which combines mack daddy content with American television program TRL. In a mixed review, Spin staff called "Dilemma" a "puppy-love duet".On the 55th anniversary issue of Billboard, the song was ranked at number 75 on the list of greatest songs to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, while it was also ranked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Decade list spanning from 2000 to 2009. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Performance at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards on February 23, 2003.
Commercial performance
"Dilemma" debuted on several Billboard charts on the week of July 6, 2002 appearing at numbers 66 and 63 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay charts respectively. The next week, it debuted at number 51 on the Radio Songs chart as well as at number 53 on the Hot 100 during the same week. After four weeks, on the issue dated August 17, 2002, it reached number one on the Hot 100, where it stayed there for 10 weeks and remained on the chart for 29 weeks. With this song Nelly replaced himself from the top of the chart as his previous single "Hot In Herre" dropped to number two while "Dilemma" ascended from number two to number one. It also surprised Nelly's record label, as they did not expect the song to instantly become popular and did not film a music video during its release. The song also topped the Mainstream Top 40 chart on the week of September 21, 2002.On the UK Singles Chart, the single debuted at number one on October 26, 2002 for two weeks before remaining on the chart for 24 weeks. It sold 208,000 copies in the first week and 129,000 copies the following week, keeping Justin Timberlake's 2002 debut solo single "Like I Love You" from the number one position. It was the fourth-best selling single in the UK in 2002, and was the 23rd biggest single from 2000–2009. The release of "Dilemma" allowed Nelly to receive his first number-one single in several countries such as Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. The song is also Rowland's most successful solo single in the United States and the United Kingdom, selling 800,000 copies in the latter as of November 2011.
It sold 7.6 million copies as of July 2011, becoming one of the best selling singles of all time.
Music video
Background
The music video for "Dilemma" was directed by Benny Boom and was filmed from August 19–21, 2002 on Colonial Street, one of the backlot street sets at Universal Studios Hollywood in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County, California. Former Golden State Warriors guard and St. Louis native Larry Hughes appeared in the video as Rowland's boyfriend, while Patti LaBelle was cast as her mother. The video premiered at the end of MTV's Making the Video episode in September 2002.Describing on the plot, Rowland stated that "He wants to talk to me but I can't do it. It puts us in a dilemma, which is the name of the song. And the video tells the story perfectly." At one point in the video, Rowland can be seen attempting to text Nelly on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet using her Nokia 9210 Communicator. Nelly defended the use of the application in an interview with Australian talk show The Project in November 2016, explaining that it was used during the time despite being outdated. While being interviewed several times, Rowland admitted to not knowing what Excel was, which elicited a response from the Twitter account of Microsoft Excel.
Synopsis
Named after its parent album, the music video is set in the fictional middle class African-American neighborhood Nellyville. It begins with several shots of the neighborhood as the same-titled song "Nellyville" is briefly heard along with the accompanying text displaying 'Welcome to Nellyville U.S.A'. Quick jump cuts of the street are displayed, showing the residents interacting with each other. The song begins as both Nelly and Kelly Rowland sit on the front porch of their respective houses. Rowland and LaBelle portray a mother-daughter pair who have just moved in the house opposite the street from Nelly. They both greet each other as the moving van drives into Rowland's house. However, Rowland's boyfriend arrives and confronts Nelly before driving out of the suburb with her.The next scene shows Nelly and Rowland encountering each other in a phonograph record store as she quickly exits upon noticing him. Later that same night, she messages Nelly on her phone from inside her bedroom, as scenes of the two flirting with each other in front of Rowland's car are intercut throughout the remainder of the music video. In another scene, Rowland and her boyfriend queue inside a movie theater when Nelly walks opposite them while holding his girlfriend. The two exchange glances at each other as they continue walking past, with her boyfriend suspicious of Nelly. In the closing moments of the video, LaBelle opens the door of her house and yells at Rowland to return inside as the two continue dancing outside from the recurring flirtation scene. The text 'The End' appears on screen as the video fades to black.
Reception
In a retrospective review, Ashley Perkins of Vibe mentions how the video contains "just the right amount of dramatization to allow a glimpse into how much of a dilemma Nelly and Kelly’s situationship was." She further explained that the narrative was explained "in a light other than from the perspective of the frustrated and faithful counterpart or the creeping side piece", which would later be replicated in songs such as "Situationships" by Fabolous, and "Distraction" by Kehlani.Remixes and sequel
The official remix was produced by Jermaine Dupri and features Rowland, as well as Ali of the St. Lunatics. It was included on Nelly's 2003 remix album .On December 16, 2009, Nelly recorded a new track titled "Gone" with Rowland, which he initially dubbed as "Dilemma Part 2". He eventually retracted the statement, insisting that he did not want to replicate or diminish the original song but wanted to extend on the story and rekindle the chemistry he had with Rowland. The track was produced by Jim Jonsin and written by Nelly, Jonsin, Rico Love, Earl Hood, and Eric Goody II. It was included on Nelly's 2010 album 5.0, and sent to urban contemporary radio stations as the third single on January 4, 2011.
In popular culture
On the January 14, 2016 episode of Lip Sync Battle, actress Olivia Munn performed the song while competing against Kevin Hart. She initially portrayed Nelly, wearing a hat, bandana, and band-aid before taking it off in order to portray Kelly Rowland.Track listings
US 12-inch singleUK 12-inch single
UK maxi single
Canadian CD single
Australian maxi single
European maxi single
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
| Chart | Position |
| Australia | 26 |
| Australia Urban | 13 |
| Austria | 53 |
| Belgium | 66 |
| Belgium | 56 |
| Germany | 53 |
| Netherlands | 94 |
| Netherlands | 56 |
| Romania | 50 |
| Switzerland | 71 |