From The Vault: Beyonce – ‘Irreplaceable’

Published: Sunday 4th Dec 2016 by Joe

From The Vault venture back ten years to a time when a premium Pop star was on the cusp of releasing her biggest single to date.

This week’s pick is Beyonce’s humungous hit ’Irreplaceable.’

Written by Ne-Yo and Mrs Carter, the track was produced by Norwegian maestros Stargate and was issued as the third single from the artist’s sophomore solo album ‘B’Day.’ 

With its now inked-in-pop-culture catchphrase “to the left, to the left,” the song stands as one of the sassiest breakup offerings of all time. Its Folk-meets-Pop production also helped popularize acoustic guitar-led songs among mainstream acts. Indeed, many a subsequent smash rested its back on the sound of the omnipresent hit.

Commercial, ‘Irreplaceable’ remains Beyonce’s biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100, spending a glorious 10 weeks at the top; it was also a chart topper on the Hot Hip-Hop/R&B and managed to take over the world scoring Top 10 placements in Australia, the UK, France, Canada and Italy.

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Anthony Mandler directed the visual which depicted Bey taking a literal approach to the song’s lyrics. She’s seen throwing her ex-bae out of her house and recollecting everything she got for him when they were together. Prior to meeting her upgrade, she’s shown serving up her trademark fierceness throughout – proving she can channel Sasha on a mid-tempo too. The vid also serves as the debut of Bey’s all female band The Mamas’s.

The clip was included in her first video anthology for the ‘B’Day’ LP and was nominated for Video Of The Year at the 2007 MTV VMA’s.

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As much as we love post-2013 Beyonce and her “unconventional” ways, we do miss the artist that was ready to perform at the opening of a door and that released songs which still had even a tiny flair of “made for radio” to them.

Whatever the case, it’s been fascinating experiencing the star’s growth over the last decade: a transformation from singer of Pop tunes to a mogul in full charge of her career.

Salute, to an artist who – even ten years later – remains irreplaceable.

Your thoughts?

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  1. S****** Blonde December 4, 2016

    Its Folk-meets-Pop production also helped popularize acoustic guitar-led songs among mainstream acts.
    ?

    • PeaceMaker December 4, 2016

      Right! The ridiculous lies they tell just to boost their fave. Smh!

    • Sebastian December 4, 2016

      Cringe.. Did she write this herse.. nvm.

    • Mark111 December 4, 2016

      It really did to mainstream pop music. Or the very less reintroduced it back.

    • S****** Blonde December 6, 2016

      Is anyone doing anything fun for the holiday’s? I dont like to talk about it, but I am disabled because of my weight, so I spend the holidays solo with just my mom at our house. We are going to watch some Christmas movies and then glaze a few hams.

  2. BEYSTAN_ SINCE 1997 December 4, 2016

    B-day will forever be my favorite Beyonce album. It was just a fun album that in my opinion showcased Beyonce at her best vocally, sonically, and performance wise.

    • Meme December 4, 2016

      It’s by far her worst body of work…that entire era was a mess. Irreplaceable was its saving grace.

      • SoFresh December 4, 2016

        Me as a bey Stan would actually have to agree there. Irreplaceable was the saver. She tried to rush that album because LeToya had a #1 at time and that pushed Kelly album back to the next year cuz LeToya at that time was gonna overshadow Kelly so instead they tried to push Bey back out.

  3. King December 4, 2016

    I agree I always say I hope bey gives us another bday album.
    I need some up tempo music.
    This album did it for me.

  4. Gabe December 4, 2016

    SHE OLD

    • BEYSTAN_ SINCE 1997 December 4, 2016

      So is you momma ?

    • therealist December 4, 2016

      I’m trying to figure out where she is old at. she just turn 35 and if she is not old enough to be your mom then how is she old? You’re probably older than 35 or someone where near it. smh. 35 is far from old. have a seat!!!

  5. HailLegendBeysus December 4, 2016

    Legend! Grammy noms is in 2Days! Can’t wait for the Meltdowns on here and Twitter! ????

    • BEYSTAN_ SINCE 1997 December 4, 2016

      Let the BASELESS claims start flying!

      1. She bought her Grammys (yet in 20yrs they can’t provide me with no money trail or receipts).

      2. She used her performance/attendance to gaurentee an award.

      All the hate yet SHE HAS NEVER WON nine the major awards since “a Record Of The Year) since Single ladies ????

      • RoyalKev December 4, 2016

        Exactly! I don’t know how Bey supposedly started buying Grammys since the beginning of her solo career! She had to prove herself back then (in 2003) before being able to have the clout to threaten to not make appearances at these award shows! Still, I don’t get how that guarantees anything! Can’t Adele do the same? Taylor? Gaga? Rihanna? Justin Bieber? If Bey supposedly cheated so much to earn these trophies, how did she win 5 Grammys in 2004 (during one of her make or break eras)! We all know that the worthiness of the IASF era is indisputable, when she won 6! That’s just silly to even debate! People really need to stop grasping at straws when it comes to Bey and just factor in what makes sense!

  6. Heyyyyy Yaaaaa December 4, 2016

    Nice era. Then came the Sasha fierce thing then it went totally left with 4 lol

  7. fatusankoh December 4, 2016

    One of her best their isno one like our Bey you haters have nothing on her

  8. Mad-on-her December 4, 2016

    Written by Neyo and Mrs Carter? ? Populised acoustic sound? ?This has really become a great comedy blog.

    • S****** Blonde December 6, 2016

      You should be nicer for the holidays. You can come to my house and glaze a ham. I may even let you take the ham home,but no promises right now.

      • Mad-on-her December 6, 2016

        Glaze a ham? wtf? I always knew you were a weirdo, now its been proven. Kick rocks.

      • S****** Blonde December 6, 2016

        Everyone loves ham, especially around Christmas. I was just trying to be nice and spread some cheer. Im mad as heck now and you will get yours. (shakes fists).

  9. Molly #Stargirl December 4, 2016

    Didn’t she lie about writing this song? Hmmmm

    • JC December 4, 2016

      She wrote the background harmonies on Irreplaceable which is why she was credited as being a songwriter on it and rightfully so. What Beyonce did is no different from what a plethora of artists have been doing for decades. If you have substantially contributed to the arrangement, composition, and production of a song the you should be credited for it, simply put.

      • JC December 4, 2016

        Correction: then you should be credited for it, simply put.

      • Mark111 /.\ December 4, 2016

        Arrangement, composition, and production is not WRITING. Neyo said she didn’t write ANY of the words, but added the melody. I can rearrange the national anthem to the point that it’s unrecognizable, doesn’t mean that I wrote it.

    • JC December 4, 2016

      A songwriter is an individual who writes the lyrics, melodies and chord progressions for songs. A songwriter can also be called a composer. Songwriting is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed between a number of people. For example, a songwriter who excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter with a gift for creating original melodies.

      Cited source: Wikipedia

  10. RoyalKev December 4, 2016

    I love, love, love the Bday album! It will always be in my top 4 form Bey (along with the last 3 released)! I love when Bey goes hard on Uptempos! I hope the joint album is full of them! Her and Jay need to give me 11 tracks (mainly uptempos, with a mid-tempo here and there) and just one ridiculous ballad! I’ll be so content!

  11. King B December 4, 2016

    This song was huge! I remember everyone was like “to the left, to the left”. And B day was her best selling solo album in Japan, nearly 400k sold. And she was so beautiful in the video. In fact, the entire B day era, she was sooooo beautiful.

  12. mr.m December 4, 2016

    That song saved BDay from being ashort forgettable era
    deja vu wasn’t huge, and ring the alarm flopped.
    well …. thanks neyo, i guess

  13. We Nowqd Redv dimnobut it ash trjoan ivy blobukz Need UK timely Ukuno eremxil December 6, 2016

    Heard that the song was for another artist before beyonce it was written by ne-yo

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