2016 saw Beyonce get all the ladies and fellows in fiery ‘Formation.’ However, a decade earlier, it was all about the Funk.
2006’s ‘Deja Vu’ is this week’s selection for From The Vault.
After eliminating the competition and doubt about her solo viability with a perfect run of singles from her first LP and announcing the end of Destiny’s Child, expectations were rather high for Ms. Knowles to deliver with her sophomore set ‘B’Day’.
With ‘Deja Vu’ she managed to swiftly come back swinging. Sonically similar to ‘Crazy In Love’ thematically and musically (with a guest feature Jay Z to boot), the cut was produced by Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins.
A Stateside hit, the track peaked #4 and was also a smash overseas, topping the UK charts and reaching Top 20 status in numerous European countries.
[Sidenote: Surely we’re not alone in longing for a Bey x Darkchild reunion?]
Just like ‘Lemonade’ 10 years later, the song’s visual was shot in New Orleans and depicted the diva in various high fashion ensembles. Directed by Sophie Muller, the editorial piece saw a boisterous Bey striking many a pose and dancing up a storm.
Prior to then, the singer – still under 25 – had only scratch the surface when it comes to her sensuality. As such, the video was deemed “controversial” due to its not-so-subtle interaction between her and then-boyfriend Jay.
It’s funny what a difference a decade can make: from premium Pop diva to music royalty, the past 10 years have seen Mrs Carter go from strength to strength and establish herself as a trailblazer, an artist cemented in Pop culture eternally.
Will the next 10 years see her join the likes of Michael, Janet, Whitney, Madonna and Prince? Untouchable figures; the rare breed whose star’s have soared past the highest skies into Pop Nirvana. We firmly believe so.
King Bey!
Here’s to another 10 years+ of greatness!
This is when Beyonce came into her own…you could TELL she was confident and fearless…after this album, EVERYONE knew she wasn’t playing…she had that picture with those alligators lol…this was pre-LEMONADE visually…years later she mixed up a POTENT pitcher of Lemonade chile lol
Amen! You’ve been taking me to church today! I consider this the era Beyonce developed her signature sound! After ‘Bday’, I knew when I saw the ‘Beyonce effect’ in other artists she’s inspired! … and yes, the picture with the alligators was everything!
LOOK AT WEMBLEY TONIGHT!!! ?????!!! BTW BEY IS THE FIRST ARTISTS TO HAVE 2 WEMBLEY SHOWS ON THE SAME TOUR!!! Slay bish!
.
https://mobile.twitter.com/JimFrayling/status/749707872083251204/photo/1
.
ALSO ROLLING STONE NAMED LEMONADE AS THE BEST ALBUM OF 2016 YAS!!!! BEY KEEPS ON SLAYING!!!
^ Slay Yonce!!!!
I’m mad Bey pays this song absolute dust #CriesInSheDoesn’tCare
this is one of the worst sings I’ve ever heard. B’DAY was also made in only 2 weeks. no wonder it was so bad. this chick is fraud. she don’t write her music. her voice is thin and her tone is sooooooo generic like any singer. i dont why people stan this trash. God help us all
LOL..WHY IS JLO OUTGROSSING MOORIAH IN VEGAS…….MOOMOO IS TIRED AND FLOPPING. THE MILK HAS DRIED UP, HENCE SHE IS USELESS AS A COW THAT CAN’T PRODUCE ANY MILK…….LMAO
Bday was made in 2 weeks and still became a classic! It sold 8 million copies worldwide. Bey reached #1 on the Hot 100 for an astonishing 10 weeks with ‘Irreplaceable’. The Beyonce Experience tour was the first tour Bey wowed us with and grossed 90 million in 2007!
Let me remind you, DeJa Vu peaked at #4 on Billboard and won a Grammy for Best R&B song! B’Day (the album) also won for best contemporary album. Aside from music, Bey also slayed us with Dreamgirls at the Box office in 2006! Stan for trash? It’s no worries, Yonce did just fine with this era and proved her worth a decade ago!
this is one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard. B’DAY was also made in only 2 weeks. no wonder it was so bad. this chick is fraud. she don’t write her music. her voice is thin and her tone is sooooooo generic like any singer. i dont why people stan this trash. God help us all
Love the song and video. She should perform it more. It’s another Beyonce classic.
We all know thatgrapejuice stans Beyonce, some would say its a Beyonce stan site but please. Dont ever ever ever ever compare this broad who steals, who has no originality, no class and no musicality to Michael, Janet, Whitney, Madonna and Prince.
They purposely left out Mariah Carey
no takes this blog serious anyway, so all this reaching isn’t taken seriously anyway.
Hated the album and song. Irreplaceable saved the Era imo.
Sound familiar…….it remind me of how RUDE BOY saved riri’s post punched album in 2009.
The first two singles were top 10s. I’m not talking chart success, the songs were just had. Even her team knew that hint the reason they dropped Ring The Alarm (another bad song.)
But ‘upgrade you’ is still my ish!
Now I did like that song. The album was rushed to the max and every song’s productions was CIL-ish.
Beyonce is just IT. I saw her last night at Wembley and just when you think she can’t top her last efforts she does. Her tour is phenomenal and its all everyone is talking about in London. She is the greatest performer of a generation that’s for sure and she’s showing no signs of stopping.
And I loved B Day. Probably her least serious, most fun party album. It serves it purpose with some great tunes, sonically has a lot of Beyonces most recognisable styles and sounds.
The stadium was packed to the brim ??????????????
I wouldn’t say that Beyonce has her own sound. Not in the way Aaliyah did, not in the way Ameriie does. I can’t characterize her style of singing in the way that I can with Brandy or jazmine Sullivan. This is where her extensive use of so many different writers and producers is evident.
Na. I don’t know if you haven’t heard enough of her music or what, but with Bey, I get a mixture of r&b, pop, and Funk. Most of Beyonce’s music sounds like it’s been composed by entire marching band. And JustSaying is right. Bday is probably the best album to go to if you wanna know Beyonce’s musical profile. I’d say it’s the most indicative of who she is as an artist. For the production: heavy bass lines, stuttering drum beats, and of course, horns. It wouldn’t be a signature Beyoncé song without blaring horns, especially trumpets. Ego, Crazy in Love, Countdown, Green light, Suga Mama, End of time, Deja Vu, Formation, All night, Schoolin Life, it goes on forever…
This video is one of the worse shot by Bey ??????
Sophie Muller and her production team did a fantastic job directing this music video. I loved how dynamic the shots were. …that’s about it.
Wait, did u just pay beyonce a compliment??? I’m confused as hell………WHAT IS GOING ON HERE….SOMEONE HELP ME.
So, I read somewhere that last night was a sold out crowd of 80,000, which is excellent. Night 2 had a FEW empty seats, but she still easily pulled in over 75,000. Great for her!
______________________________
I noticed that she went EXTRA HARD on the dancing for last night’s show, especially the dance break after “Ring the Alarm”, so I’m beyond convinced that we’ll get a concert film from this show later on.
Yeah, i think so too.
Yep, and she gave the speech about MJ being her first concert and how she always dreamed of playing in stadiums. Don’t you find it coincidental how she waited until she got to Wembley to mention stadiums? She’s def giving us this tour DVD from that show.
She did! She holds the top 2 spots for most in attendance to a female concert at Wembley Stadium July 2st 80k and July 3rd 75m Madonna had 74k back in 2008. LEGEND Yoncé slaying as usual!
It was garbage then and it’s garbage now. Tackyy
Does anyone even remember this song existed?
We are not talking about RIRI’S discography here??? WRONG POST SIS.
Rihanna’s music is more memorable than Yonce’s.
Her biggest hurdle to that type of status is her standing w middle white america. They just view her as thee great current black female performer w no classic songs.
Funny that you mention that cause they were bending over backwards trying to get in formation yesterday in that packed Stadium. As usual like any other concert, they were the majority there in attendance.
U proved my point tho! Lol
Deja Vu is still one of my favorite Beyonce songs. But this video looks very cheap. No wonder I never saw it before now.
Y’all know Kelly price wrote this song
Lmaooo this is hilarious!!
A song writer by the name of Keli Nicole Price was one of the writers of this song not the Kelly Price of 90s R&B era
That song and video wasclassic their is no one like our queen bey haters have nothing on her
I loved the “B Day” era. It was during my childhood. I’ll never forget seeing Bey live for the first time in 2007. She slayed. This is the era where I became a fan. This was the peak of her F5/F#5 belts. Her body was perfection too. Overall, just a great era. Especially, for her live showcases. Favorite songs: Deja Vu, Get Me Bodied, Upgrade You, Kitty Kat, Ring The Alarm, Irreplaceable, FlawsAndAll, Green Light, Listen, Check On It, Beautiful Lair, World Wide Woman, Resentment, Sugar Mama & Freakum Dress.
.
.
Side note: I hope Bey performs this song again live. She pays it dust. And, it’s one of her best uptempo’s.
Always loved this song and video!
Check out Pleigher
soundcloud.com/pleigher
TGJ since you regularly have post about Beyonce, could your “From the Vault” not mention her and current, relevant artists? I like it when you post about artist and the hits we have forgotten about. Whenever I see old school hits on here, I go to iTunes and purchase the song. I usually don’t buy today’s music.
I remember when BET played this every hour on the hour when it premiered.
Legend Bey has been a force since the beginning! Ten years ago Beyonce was still ruling! It’s funny, everyone than stans for artists have a cut by that person that they don’t particularly like and ‘De Ja Vu’ is one of the few songs by the King B that I don’t care for! … Trust me, it’s only a handful for me! This is the case although the video slays and Bey performed her ass off while doing the song at the BET awards! ‘Bday’ is also one of my TOP FOUR albums (following behind only ‘Lemonade’, ‘BEYONCE’ and ‘4’)/eras (following ‘I Am…Sasha Fierce ‘,’BEYONCE’ and DIL) from Bey. I like Rodney (Darkchild). He was unstoppable at one time, but he’s hit or miss now! I don’t need him doing new tracks for Bey these days. I’m surprised to say this, but I’d reunite Bey with Dream for some new uptempos written by them BOTH in collaborations! I could use some tracks similar to Single Ladies/Love On Top/Countdown/End of Time/Yonce'(all on his mouth like liquor) on the next project!
LEGEND YONCÉ SLAYED WEMBLEY FOR 2 NIGHTS IN A ROW!!! SHE IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!
.
Btw this is my JAM!!! I always get my life to her World Music Awards performance of this song and her B** performance as well!!! This Bush just slays every atom of my being!!!!
.
Ugh so tired of seeing the Slavi flood the Queens post. They need to worry about that peasant they Stan for. Poorthing is just falling apart. Flop album and flop tour. Thank God her 2 singles helped the era and her usual 9263527282627283 features to remain relevant as well! ?????
I really wished that she kelpt that pose at the end as her signature pose tho.
FEMALE ATTENDANCE IN THE NEW WEMBLEY STADIUM:
1. Beyonce July 2 2016 (80K)
2. Beyonce July 3 2016 (75k)
3. Madonna Sep 11 2008 (74k)
.
?☕?☕?☕?☕?☕
Sis, I just finished SCREAMING AND HOLLERING for my life because I got some tea to spill. I watched YouTube videos of all four of Coldplay’s Wembley dates on their tour and NOT ONE of them was sold out or even looked close to how Bey had that Stadium packed to death. So many empty seats and they’re supposed to be the biggest band in the U.K. aside from one of their biggest artists. Wow!
I can’t with “local” Yonce slaying b****** in their home turf 19 years into her career!!! She’s also the first black ARTISTS and youngest ARTISTS to sell out The New Wembley Stadium!!!
Yep. Rih still did okay with her Wembley stats (at least 60,000 was expected in attendance), burning was just thinking about how she could’ve easily sold it out during the Loud Tour and DWT. Why the hell would your team allow you to do the O2 ten DJ times when Wembley and Twickenham still existed back then? I’m just pissed, but glad Bey showed up and showed out. Can’t wait for that DVD! I hope it premieres on HBO or in movie theaters.
Yoncé slayer for the gawds!!!
.
Frih could’ve easily sold out the Wembley Stadium during her Loud and Diamonds era! Shame because at this point I don’t see her ever doing it. 2011-2013 were her peak years for touring I think. Unless she gets another Loud or GGGB era I don’t really see her tour’s selling better than Anti. That’s no shade just an honest opinion.
Yeah, I understand. But I’m sure she’ll sell it out one day. Maybe even soon, but since London buys tickets for the pop music and not necessarily R&B, she’ll need her next album to be pop and do “Loud” numbers. She’ll be fine, though. We got one black woman down for Wembley and the second one is coming soon. Lol!
The song and video, was, and still is, everything!
Amazing and the song is good
All of her albums are terrible with the exception of some good songs here and there, her best albums are 4 and Beyoncé and even those aren’t perfect, she must be the superstar with the less likeable music.
Ya’ll leave these people alone. If beyonce was the first and only concert I’ve been too in my life; I would of thought she was great too. She’s targeting for entertainment purpose only, not musically like musicians that who generally share to the core like you and I their soul. She has no other ave. to uphold but to g@ys, children and pre-t*** adults; that who is one big circle of followers. Beyonce listens to real music an get her ideas and ask real producers to make it like her own to be worship like our true Icons. She have succeeded I can say that but not the way you classically get discovered but through the media….like everyday until you are forced to like her as G0d is my witness. Enjoy!