By: Amanda Anderson-Niles
So much for Beyonce dropping a new album next year. Around midnight, Beyonce pulled a boss move and released her fifth studio on iTunes. So how did she alert the BeyHive about the new release? The singer posted about the new album to her Facebook fan page and cleverly made it so they would get a notification as soon as they logged back onto the social networking site.
And Solange wasted no time and tweeted about how proud she was of her big sis:
So my sister is a f*cking G. Beyoncé , the visual album out now.
The album, which she appropriately titled “Beyonce” is what Bey is calling a “visual album,” and the 14 track album has an accompanying music video for every track. And that clip of “Grown Woman,” made it in full to the album too as a bonus. In total, she included 17 music videos.
Here’s the track list:
1. “Pretty Hurts”
2. “Haunted”
3. “Drunk in Love” (Featuring JAY Z)
4. “Blow/Cherry”
5. “No Angel”
6. “Yoncé/Partition”
7. “Jealous”
8. “Rocket”
9. “Mine” (Featuring Drake)
10. “XO”
11. “***Flawless” (Featuring Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
12. “Superpower” (Featuring Frank Ocean)
13. “Heaven”
14. “Blue” (Featuring Blue Ivy)
And here’s the music video list:
1. “Pretty Hurts” – Directed by Melina Matsoukas
2. “Ghost” – Directed by Pierre Debusschere
3. “Haunted” – Directed by Jonas Akerlund
4. “Drunk in Love” – Directed by Hype Williams
5. “Blow” – Directed by Hype Williams
6. “No Angel” – Directed by @lilinternet
7. “Yoncé” – Directed by Ricky Saiz
8. “Partition” – Directed by Jake Nava
9. “Jealous” – Directed by Beyoncé, Francesco Carrozzini & Todd Tourso
10. “Rocket” – Directed by Beyoncé, Ed Burke & Bill Kirstein
11. “Mine” – Directed by Pierre Debusschere
12. “XO” – Directed by Terry Richardson
13. “***Flawless” – Directed by Jake Nava
14. “Superpower” – Directed by Jonas Akerlund
15. “Heaven” – Directed by Beyoncé & Todd Tourso
16. “Blue” – Directed by Beyoncé, Ed Burke & Bill Kirstein
**BONUS VIDEO – “Grown Woman” – Directed by Jake Nava
As Beyonce mentioned in the Facebook video released, this album was inspired by Michael Jackson’s classic album “Thriller.” In a statement, Bey explains that she wanted to release her video this way because she was sick of gimmicks:
“I see music. It’s more than just what I hear. When I’m connected to something, I immediately see a visual or a series of images that are tied to a feeling or an emotion, a memory from my childhood, thoughts about life, my dreams or my fantasies. And they’re all connected to the music.
“I didn’t want to release my music the way I’ve done it,” explained Bey. “I am bored with that. I feel like I am able to speak directly to my fans. There’s so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fans. I felt like I didn’t want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it’s ready and from me to my fans.”
The album features Jay Z, Frank Ocean and Drake. And we’re thinking all three tracks could possibly be radio singles. Really, they are all that good.
And for her fans, she made sure to feature her daughter Blue Ivy in “Blue.”
Beyonce’s camp says the singer recorded this album in a year and a half.
Another interesting tidbit about all of this is that Beyonce and her hubby Jay Z just managed to do something that Kanye is trying to do in fashion by inking their own publishing deals earlier this year, meaning she and her hubby now have complete creative control over their albums. From how they are marketed (remember that iconic deal with Samsung Jay just pulled off), to not being marketed at all…it’s all what they want to do from here on out. So this explains why Columbia Records could only sit and be patient as Beyonce pushed for releasing this album with absolutely no promotion. And it doesn’t hurt that she also stands to make more off album sales now too.
So will this work? Can Beyonce go platinum and have monster first week sales with an album she took no real time to promote in a traditional sense? Only time will tell, but from what we’ve seen on social media, many have already rushed to iTunes to purchase the new album. And apparently all it took was Beyonce’s reputation as one of the top entertainers in the world to convince them that $15.99 is well worth it to spend.
Personally, I have to say I love this album. I didn’t love the last one, but this one is so pleasing to my ears and real to me that I have been playing it in my house all morning. I am pleasantly surprised by how much I connect to this album and I will say it’s her most mature album to date. But what say you?
YESSS!!!! She told y’all to keep calm Ha! Once again Bey revolutionizes the music game again. Once again she proves to be an innovator. I am so happy I was up last night and witnessed this because the internet went nuts. Yes I purchased the album already. Payday & Beyonce drops a new visual album. Like Cube said today was a good day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#NEWRULES
I love the album! It really is her most mature one so far! And the fact that she did it and promoted it none whatsoever is why I love her so much. Kudos to Bey!
I have not been to sleep yet because of Beyoncé. It’s giving me life though!
I’m NAVY all day but I have to give props when due. This album is straight fire and I’m surprised at Bey. I didn’t think she would do something like this and my little freaky azz loves it. No hate here. She did her thing and my favorite songs so far are Drunk in Love, Blow, Mine and Partition. She did the damn thing man.
Thank you for not being a hater Rihanna fan! This is why I love the UB Navy. Y’all can keep it real and I appreciate that!
LOL. I love my UB fam. All love boo.
Love you sis.
WELL WORTH EVERY PENNY. That is all!
Y’all this album has been giving me life since 1:30 am!!!!!!! And that song with Drake is my favorite! Yess Bey!
The fact that she did this and promoted not a damn thing and then found time to tour and make videos for very song tho….this is why this bish is my fave! I love it!
Slayed. She just made my damn year. I can’t stop listening to it!
Can’t front. I like this album better than the last one. It’s just as good as B Day. Well done Bey.
Beyonce killed the internet. LOL! I haven’t heard the whole thing yet, but I give her props on how she did this.
Ha!
On. Point.
She has a lot of baby making songs on here and I love it. She came hard this time and I’m happy.
Beyonce did this on her own terms and I am so proud! It’s one of her best albums yet and she didn’t have to promote a thing! This is why she is the greatest entertainer of our generation! And the music videos for every song was purely for the BeyHive. We love you Bey!
The way you guys promoted this secret album is the reason why I brought it. I’m listening to it right now at work.
GO Beehives..
Thanks to Beyonce, my girl woke me up at 2am because she didn’t know how to download the album to iTunes on her iPad. I’m at work tired as hell. But I heard a lot of the album and I’m surprised at how dope it is. Bey did her thing.
I give credit where it’s due! Great job Bey! And that’s real!
🙂
Sis!
I freaking love it! I’m happy she dropped it today because I can listen to it all weekend!
Amanda/UB thank you for pointing out that publishing deal part. This is why I am so impressed by Bey and Jay. They don’t talk like Kanye, they just quietly make boss moves and they will create wealth and make sure Blue is taken care of. Kanye could learn from them. Much respect.
Cosign!
I created another iTunes account and bought the album twice! Yep! Love it! 🙂
LOL! Oh wow I didn’t even think to do that. I might have to try it. I’m so proud of her that I wouldn’t mind buying it twice.
My scalp is bleeding,damn! She came,she saw,and she snatched!!!! They said she was scared to drop new music,yet,she took the biggest risk of her career,and crashed the internet with it!!!! A queen is never late-everyone else was simply early
Y’all I’m so proud of Beyonce. She has really grown as an artist, and what she just did took a lot of courage. I love her. I can’t wait to watch all the videos when I get off from work.
LOL I thought she was scared to drop an album tho? LMBO! Haters never win.
Y’all I’m so late! I haven’t been on the Internet since last night! Ugh! Let me go download it now! Happy Friday everyone!
After Dangerously in Love, this is her best album to date. Easily. I love it. I haven’t been able to stop listening to it since 12:30am. It’s playing at work right now too. It’s definitely an album for all the grown women. So proud of Bey.
*hops on soapbox*
This is such a proud moment for black women! We have two black women slaying in music right now. And the fact that we can all come here now and give both props and no more stan wars? Y’all we have come a long way UB fam! I love you guys!
Back on topic, I am loving the album! Mine is def my favorite!
I agree Veronica. We have come a long way. And you’re so right, we should all be proud that both Beyonce AND Rihanna have managed to be so successful at the same time. That’s rare for black women and we have to all be supportive of that. Happy Friday. 🙂
I rarely get a chance to read and comment because of this stupid work schedule, but I had to stop by and give props to Bey. This is an awesome album, I love the videos and how creative she is. Worth every penny 🙂
This part of the article was probably the most important to me:
“Beyonce’s camp says the singer recorded this album in a year and a half.”
This is what is supposed to happen in the creation of art. You simply cannot put the proper amount of time and thought into an album if you make it in a month. It doesn’t work. You have to listen to the songs over and over… get tired of them and then live them again. Know them inside and out. Tweak them. Tease them… cajole them. Make them the best that they can be and THAT TAKES TIME. I’ve listened to the album maybe 7 times completely. There WILL be Grammy Awards coming from this album. This is music. This is art. This is what it’s all about.
LONG REIGN BEYONCE!