Dilemma

Producer Ryan Bowser built an instrumental that interpolated elements from Patti LaBelle's 1983 song "Love, Need and Want You", written by Kenneth Gamble and Bunny Sigler. When St. Louis producer Antoine "Bam" Macon passed the beat to Nelly, the rapper began writing lyrics for the track. "Dilemma" came together as a last-minute addition to his second studio album, Nellyville, which had already been completed before Macon handed over the beat. Once Nelly returned to the studio to record it, he changed his vision to include a female vocalist and instantly thought of Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland, whom he had met during the Total Request Live tour in 2001. Encouraged by his sister to include her, he called Rowland, who agreed. She re-recorded her part many times over a few days of sessions to get it "just right", and the duet was finished.

Released on June 25, 2002, as Nellyville's second single, the R&B ballad also appeared on Rowland's debut solo album, Simply Deep. Radio disc jockeys in the United States began playing it soon after the album came out, prompting Nelly to release it as a single though that was not the original plan. That decision reshuffled Destiny's Child solo schedules, delaying Beyoncé's Dangerously in Love to June 2003.

The song spent 10 non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, where it replaced Nelly's own "Hot in Herre". It also topped charts in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and Germany.