As fans of The Carters (Beyonce & Jay Z) jointly and individually continue to go apesh*t over the duo’s newly released joint effort, ‘Everything is Love’ (June 16) more and more details around the creation of the secret project are being unveiled.
The latest peek into the album’s baking process comes courtesy of veteran producers Cool & Dre, who are credited on three of the project’s nine tracks. Taking to ‘Rolling Stone’ to dish on how Jay and Bey were secretly recording their first duet album while simultaneously preparing for their ‘On the Run II’ world tour, look inside to see the hitmakers detail the creation of some of set’s fan favorites:
RS: How did you get involved in the album?
Dre: …probably eight, nine weeks ago, Cool and I started sending [Jay Z] ideas. He emailed right back after he heard it, “This shit’s crazy. Keep feeding me.” After a couple records, we gave him one song that he loved so much he was like, “You in L.A.? Come over.”He invites us over, and in a 10 or 11 hour span, we cut around five or six records. Towards the end, he started playing me records that him and Beyoncé cut. There was one record that Cool kept saying, “Yo, Dre, don’t leave there without playing him ‘Salud!'” So after he played a couple Beyoncé duet records, I was like, “Yo, can I play you one more?” It was just the beat, but he was like, “What the fuck? You wait until the end of the night to play this shit? You crazy?”
As I was laying [the hook], Beyoncé walks into the studio. When it was done, she played it three or four times, and she’s like, I love this, this is great. He’s like, “Yo, we’re going to Paris, if you guys want to come out, you should come out.” We stayed there with B and Jay for two and a half or three weeks in Paris.
RS: What was the atmosphere like in Paris?
Dre: They were rehearsing for the tour at this stadium, and they bought out the owner’s suites upstairs and set up studios upstairs. While we were working out, we would look out the window and watch Jay and B prepare for the tour, rehearsing, all the lights. Once he let us know his focus, we started working on that too. “Salud!,” the bonus cut, was the first record Beyoncé cut. She cut that before we went to Paris. That’s when we knew we were in the right place. To have a relationship with Hov don’t mean shit with Beyoncé.Cool: We were in a special zone. When you look to the side and you see the stage and you see magic being put together, it was straight inspiration. That’s when “713” and “Summer” were birthed. We were getting out as much creative heat as we can.
RS: You made “Summer” from a Leon Michels sample?
Dre: He had that one section that spoke to us immediately. Big up Leon. He’s an unbelievable musician. Me and Cool are sample guys. That’s what we do. It’s so great now in 2018 to work with guys who can create original music and we can sample them.
And this whole album was made after that session in Paris?
Dre: People were still recording parts an hour and a half before the last show in London, three hours before the album was released. They were still putting last second touches on. The album got turned in three hours before it got let go.The last couple days was no sleep, in the studio non-stop. The record gets sent off to mastering, then they hear, and want to change this, this, and this. You master the record, they ask for changes. Everything was crunch time. They’re doing this as they rehearse for this humongous tour. This shit is not a game. They don’t have rules. The album got turned in three hours before it got let go.
Dre: We were in Paris for a couple weeks. Jay told us to stay close; we’re gonna stay close. Beyoncé’s team were like, “things are going good, we’d like for you guys to continue working. Can you come out to Cardiff?” I gotta salute my brother Cool, in this game you gotta make sacrifices. Cool missed his daughter’s graduation from eighth grade. That’s my goddaughter, too.
Cool: We did Cardiff for a week. That was a crucial week, when the album was really fine-tuned and finished.
*****
Click here to read the interview in full.
I mean it’s a decent album, don’t get me wrong. But it’s also nothing remotely groundbreaking or jaw dropping about it. The visuals to “Apesh*t” were amazing and clearly the best part of the project. But truthfully, you could’ve give the same material to any random R&B chick and it wouldn’t sounded exactly the same. I just wish someone in Beyonces camp would tell the girl to please start SINGING again. This whole spoken-rap ish she’s been on does nothing for her actual talent…..you didn’t become a star on the strength of you being a rapper sis! You have an amazing voice, use it!
I’m glad I’m not the only one. Okay first let me say that SOME of these songs are GOOOOOOOD! But a whole album of this rap-singing is just a BIG NO-NO. I think she got lost some years ago and just threw in the creative towel. The singing one too. She’s such a big artist now that people can put together a whole era for her now and she doesn’t have to write a single thing. I think she missed the memo that nobody was really 100% here for this egotistical braggy rapstress wanna-be thing. It didn’t work for flawless, or the remix, feeling myself, top off, shining, hold up to name a few. Like these were all forgettable, didn’t do too well in the long run, how did she miss the memo? It really just goes to show how not-creative, uninspired, unoriginal she could be. Every song was almost like every feature she’s been on in the last few years. I hope she has some big singing songs to quench the thirst of some of her r&b/DIL fans that are still alive because this really was just ten steps back.
Yeah I love Beyoncé but I can say the last few albums have been so boring and forgettable cause she ain’t sangin like she should. Wasting her voice tbh
Beyoncé is doing what she has always done and that’s ride the wave of what’s cool. Not to be confused with ‘trendy’.., which is why she never jumped on the EDM bandwagon, because while that sold it was never cool. The problem is Beyonce doesn’t invent cool, she co-opts it. As soon as someone else shifts the conversation away from trap then Beyoncé will follow suit. Only she will have the resources and fan base to do deconstruct it with big budget visuals, tours and promo.
I’ve had 3 days to listen and my verdict is: not good. Her music, in last 5 years has turned into a big therapy session for her marriage. Why 9 tracks only? It looks to me like a TIDAL-promo LP and NOT an album.
I want Beyonce by herself. I don’t want Jay-Z. I am not a Beyonce fan because of Jay-Z. I love Beyonce dipping a bit into hip/hop but hip/hop is not why I love Beyonce.
This LP is lackluster, it feels rushed (and this article proves it), and TOO MUCH. Oh my god the amount of autotune is distracting. Beyonce can sing, why so much autotune why? Why? Why? Why?
I’m convinced that they didn’t have new music and they saw the complaints (particularly from the American Hive) about wanting new music and they paid a few writers to quickly cook this mess up.
Also, am I the only one who cringes everytime Beyonce does the trap-style phrasing? Beyonce needs to stay away from that trap rubbish. Ew.
I love ONE song, “Heard about us” is brilliant; the beat, the BASS GUITAR her VOCAL runs at the end of the song are AMAZING “if you don’t know now you ni**a” but once again even this song is destroyed by Jay’s annoying adlibs and unnecessary verse. This song is soooooooooo good.
I want “Dangerously in love” Bey, I want BDay Bey, I want VOCAL Bey, I want acoustic Bey, I want live instrumental Bey, I want RNB Bey, I want mid-tempo Bey but most of all I WANT SOLO BEY!
I downloaded “summertime” and “heard about us” ILLIGALLY because of this stupid TIDAL-exclusive BS. I’m afraid my Beyonce collection will be missing 1 “album”/LP cause I’m not buying this with my money.
All in all the LONG wait for B8 now begins. F*** this life.
Wack album
No real music
And beyonces rappin?
So funny… lol smh
Pretty obvious this album was thrown together at the last minute and I’m glad this interview confirms it. Most of the songs sound like Beyonce ft. Jay-Z versus a full collaboration. Ironically, these producers did Summer and I’m wondering WHY THE HELL NOBODY TOLD JAY-Z HIS FLOW WAS NO RIDING THAT BEAT. He sounds horrible on it! As others have mentioned Beyonce can actually sing so why she got all this auto-tune? Why is she talking in tune on most of these songs? I’m also over celebs bragging about how rich they are….like we KNOW yall are rich as f***, we get it. Give us some depth!
Yall just a bunch of queens who can’t handle trap music. Go twirl to Sasha Fierce somewhere else. This s*** knocks!
Everyone whose mad will come here to say , how the album wasn’t good and why are they making music as a couple of married entertainers?!! I say it’s a nice album and it works for me!!