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.