2013 has been the year of Beyonce, (I will discuss that later this month)
Throughout the year of 2013 Beyonce has been a very busy woman, spending majority of her time performing on her world tour " The Mrs Carter Show World Tour". Her tour has taken her through Europe, the United States, South America, Australia, back through the United States and back to Europe in the year of 2014. Beyonce has been able to have a successful tour without officially releasing new music. She was able to provide her fans with a dosage of new music through her ad campaigns with Pepsi and H&M clothing, but she did not officially release a single that was for sale and could be purchased.
All throughout the year Beyonce's fan (the #Beyhive) have begged and pleaded for new music and yet none was never given.
The night of December 12th marked the 100th performance of the Mrs Carter Show. This show was held in Louisville, Kentucky, and I was personally convinced that something big was going to happen that night. I was mainly thinking that big thing would happen at the concert but Beyonce had bigger and better plans.
At 12:00-12:01am on friday December 13 eastern time while a great percentage of the country was asleep, Beyonce did the unthinkable and surprisingly released her 5th album which happens to be self title and a VISUAL album. The album features Blue Ivy, JayZ, Drake, Frank Ocean, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and contains 14 songs and 17 videos. YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT! BEYONCE RELEASED 17 VIDEOS all at the same time. Most artist first albums are their self titled albums but Beyonce isn't the average artist and instead chose her 5th album to be her self titled Album. This album was released on December 13 (1+3=4) so it seems like this date still can be tied back to Beyonce's favorite number 4-IV. Currently the album can only be purchased on iTunes but that will soon change on December 20 or 21st.
I found out about the release via my best friend Erica
"What are best friends for" ---->>> " To inform you when Beyonce drops a new album"
I really adore my best friend she's the greatest and loves and adores Beyonce just as much as I do. I could not believe what I saw when I opened iTunes. Beyonce was everywhere. She had caught me completely off guard and shocked the hell out of me. I was so convinced that we were not going to see the 5th album until 2014 once she released "Life is But a Dream" on November 25, 2013. I felt tricked, bamboozled, out maneuvered, and overcome with Joy. I was happy that Beyonce was able to surprise me and personally give me a Christmas gift from her to me.
So after my heart skipped a few beats upon hearing the news I was able to grab my MacBook and quickly download what I knew to be one of the greatest albums of all time. I spent the entire night on a Beyonce high and the early morning hours watching all 17 of her videos with Erica via FaceTime. We would watch a video and then proceed to discuss what we liked and disliked about the video and reflect on the greatness that we were given on Dec 13, 2013.
Beyonce's surprise ROCKED social media and had everyone buzzing about the greatness we had been hit with. Check out a few tweets that focused on the release of Beyonce 's new album
Beyonce did not promote, advertise, or drop a single. She just straight up DROPPED AN ALBUM just like that. She's so big that she doesn't need to notify anyone in advance that she has big things in the works.
The 17 videos that she released are amazing and are such story tellers. The videos were shot around the world while Beyonce was on her tour in various locations such as Miami< Los Angeles, Brazi, Coney Island, Paris and in her hometown Houston, Texas. Check out clips of the videos below and what Beyonce had to say below about why she dropped her album unexpectedly and include a video to every song.
"I feel like right now, people experience music differently. I remember watching Thriller on TV with my family, it was an event, we all sat around the TV and now looking back, I am so happy I was born around that time. I miss that immersive experience. Now, people only listen to a few seconds of a song on their IPODS, they don’t really invest in a whole album. It’s all about the single and the hype. There’s so much that gets between the music, and the artists and the fans. I felt like, I don’t want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it is ready, and from me to my fans.I told my team, ‘I want to shoot a video for every song and put them all out at the same time!’ Everyone thought I was crazy, but we’re actually doing it, it’s happening! I wanted to make this body of work, and I feel like it’s something that’s lost in pop music. I wanted people to hear things differently and have a first impression. Not just listen to a 10 second clip, but actually be able to see a whole vision of the album. It was important that we made this a movie, we made this an experience. I wanted everyone to see the whole picture, and to see how personal everything was to me. I will make my best art and just put it out. And that’s why it’s out today."
Pretty Hurts
Haunted
Drunk in Love (Featuring JAY Z)
Blow/Cherry
No Angel
Yoncé
Partition
Jealous
Rocket
Mine (Featuring Drake)
XO
Flawless (Featuring/ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
Superpower (Featuring Frank Ocean)
Heaven
Blue (Featuring Blue Ivy)
Remember To Always Be
Fierce and Fabulous
xoxo
Lela Victoria
