Beyoncé (album)

2013 studio album by Beyoncé

Beyoncé is an eponymous fifth studio album by American singer Beyoncé, released on iTunes on December 13, 2013.[1] The release of the album made the iTunes website stop working. This happened because there were so many people on the website at once for the album. Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, and Pharrell Williams are producers of songs on the album. The album got good reviews. "XO" was released as the first single from the album. On December 21, 2013 the album will be released on CD and DVD in the United States. Billboard chose the album as the best of 2013.[2]

Beyoncé
Studio album by
ReleasedDecember 13, 2013 (2013-12-13)
Recorded2012–2013
Studio
Various
Genre
Length66:35
Label
Producer
Beyoncé chronology
4: The Remix
(2012)
Beyoncé Beyoncé: Platinum Edition
(2014)
Singles from Beyoncé
  1. "XO"
    Released: December 16, 2013
  2. "Drunk in Love"
    Released: December 17, 2013
  3. "Partition"
    Released: February 25, 2014
  4. "Pretty Hurts"
    Released: June 10, 2014
  5. "Flawless"
    Released: August 12, 2014

Beyoncé starts with "Pretty Hurts". The third track "Drunk in Love" was released as one of the album's two lead singles. Jay-Z, Knowles' husband, raps in it. The song is about how much Knowles likes having sex with Jay-Z.  "Partition" is about having sex in a limousine. In "Mine", Drake raps. The song "Superpower" has Frank Ocean singing in it. "XO" was released as a lead single to the album.

Feminism

change

The album has a feminist theme. "Flawless", the eleventh song on the album, samples "Why We Should All Be Feminists", a TED talk by the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. In New Statesman Laurie Penny described "Blow" as being about how Knowles likes being given cunnilingus. She compared it to Prince.[3] In the song "Drunk in Love" Jay-Z raps about domestic violence. The lyric was criticized for making violence against women seem like a good thing.

The album sold 80,000 copies in the first three hours after it was released.[4] In slightly under a day it sold 430,000 copies.[5] In its first three days the album sold 828,773 copies.[6] It sold over a million copies in less than a week. The album sold more quickly than any other album on iTunes ever.[7] It went straight to number one in the Billboard 200. This made it her fifth number one album.[8] It also entered the Canadian Albums Chart at number one.[9] and the UK Albums Chart at number five[10]

Track listing

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Beyoncé – Disc 1 (Audio)
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Pretty Hurts"  
4:17
2. "Haunted"  
6:09
3. "Drunk in Love" (featuring Jay Z)
5:23
4. "Blow"  
  • Williams
  • Knowles
  • Timbaland[a]
  • Harmon[a]
5:09
5. "No Angel"  
  • Polachek
  • Knowles
  • Boots[b]
3:48
6. "Partition"  
  • Timbaland
  • Harmon
  • Timberlake
  • Knowles
  • Key Wane
  • Mike Dean[b]
  • Boots[b]
5:19
7. "Jealous"  
  • Fisher
  • Knowles
  • Proctor
  • Diaz
  • Soko
  • Asher
3:04
8. "Rocket"  
  • Timbaland
  • Knowles
  • Harmon[a]
6:31
9. "Mine" (featuring Drake) 6:18
10. "XO"  
  • Tedder
  • Nash
  • Knowles
  • Hit-Boy[b]
  • HazeBanga Music[b]
3:35
11. "Flawless" (featuring Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
  • Hit-Boy
  • Knowles
  • Rey Reel Music[a]
  • Boots[b]
4:10
12. "Superpower" (featuring Frank Ocean)
  • Williams
  • Frank Ocean
  • Asher
  • Knowles
  • Williams
  • Boots[b]
  • Knowles[c]
4:36
13. "Heaven"  
  • Asher
  • Knowles
  • Boots
  • Knowles
3:50
14. "Blue" (featuring Blue Ivy)
  • Asher
  • Knowles
  • Boots
  • Knowles
4:26
Total length:
66:35

References

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  1. "Beyonce guerrilla releases entire new album worldwide on iTunes". The Independent. 13 December 2013.
  2. http://www.billboard.com/articles/list/5840321/15-best-albums-of-2013-critics-picks?
  3. "Laurie Penny on Beyoncé: Five reasons Beyoncé's new album is a multi-faceted thing of awe and wonder". www.newstatesman.com. 10 June 2021.
  4. "Beyonce's Surprise Album Trending Towards No. 1 on Billboard 200". Billboard.
  5. Subramanian, Courtney (15 December 2013). "Beyoncé's Surprise Album Sells More Than 430,000 in Just Over a Day". Time – via entertainment.time.com.
  6. Dredge, Stuart (16 December 2013). "Beyoncé's surprise iTunes album sells 829k copies in first three days". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  7. Greenburg, Zack O'Malley. "Breaking Down Beyonce's Record-Breaking Album Launch". Forbes.
  8. "It's Official: Beyonce Makes History With Fifth No. 1 Album". Billboard.
  9. "Weekly Music Sales Report: 18 December 2013". 18 December 2013.
  10. "Official Singles Chart Top 100 - Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com.