The term “game-changing” is often used hyperbolically. Yet, when it comes to Beyonce’s 2013 self-titled visual album, few terms if any better define this blockbuster project and the impact it continues to have on the industry at large.
Arriving like a thief in the night sans any warning or announcement, the LP’s unleashing served as an epic crescendo to a year that had taken The BeyHive on a roller coaster only rivaled by the present discourse around the ‘Renaissance’ visuals.
Join us after the jump where, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of ‘Beyonce,’ we reflect on the lead-up to the release of the cultural cornerstone and countdown our top 5 videos a decade on.
Prior to that fateful evening on December 13, 2013, there existed quite a conundrum about what the chart-topping diva had up her sleeve. Indeed, she kicked off the year with a seismic showing at the Super Bowl Halftime Show; one that made the masses lose their breath in awestruck amazement.
But there was no new music.
Then came the commercials for Pepsi and H&M as well as a SoundCloud clip, which all “did” tease new music. Yet, no material was formally released and in each instance, the previews amounted to just that…snippet sized previews.
Causing confusion the more was the fact that Bey was in the midst of ‘The Mrs. Carter World Tour,’ which was largely built around the material from 2011’s ‘4’ album.
She had also been snapped filming music videos across the globe while on the trek. All the while leaving the masses wondering: just what is Beyonce up to?
And then, like a sonic boom, the diva delivered everything all at once. 14 songs all with 18 dynamic videos to match.
Eschewing the usual “two-singles-then-album” release strategy that had defined the industry for decades, Queen Bey’s dynamite drop was also jaw-dropping in that it landed in the middle of the chart-tracking week, which at that time began on Tuesday in the US.
Still, the set would go on to top the Billboard 200 with 617,213 copies sold and sell over one million copies first week. Fan favorite ‘Drunk in Love’ would rocket to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
More broadly, “changed the game with that digital drop”, a lyric Queen Bey would go on sing on a future track ‘Feeling Myself,’ holds all sorts of true. Fridays would go on to become the standardized global release day for all music, while “surprise drops” were adopted by acts both known and new as a means of generating buzz in a landscape that was forever changed. Indeed, the years that followed brought with it surprise releases from the likes of Drake, Taylor Swift, and many more.
From the music to the visuals to the innovation that defined their collective launch, the ‘Beyonce’ album cemented the music royal as the most legendary disrupter of the modern music era.
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In celebration of the 10th anniversary of ‘Beyonce,’ That Grape Juice has tallied our top 5 videos from the visual album:
Haunted
Easily the visual that delivered a form exclamation mark that this was a visual shift for Queen Bey. Darker, edgier, and trippier than past efforts, this Jonas Akerlund-directed video particularly signaled a new chapter in her trajectory.
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Grown Woman
Though technically a “bonus” offering, the Jake Nava-directed video for this pulsating anthem slaps to this day. While its lyrical anchoring and choreography formations were well-treaded territory for Bey, we’ll forever appreciate the presence of something somewhat “familiar” on what was undeniably a brand evolution for one of the greatest artists of all time.
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Partition
This mini-movie befittingly mirrored the drama of its captivating lyrics. Viewers are taken on a journey that ventures from the kitchen to the backseat of the car to the Crazy Horse in Paris.
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Drunk in Love
As lovers of the grandiose visuals that the likes of Michael Jackson and Bey herself standardized, we were admittedly a little puzzled at how the most magnetic track on the album was paired with the most stripped-back video. Years on, we’ve come to appreciate the simplicity of Bey and Jay-Z swagging out on a beach.
Sometimes (just sometimes), less is more.
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Blow
Lush, colorful, and delightfully retro, the Hype Williams-directed video skilfully marries the fresh and the sensual with nostalgic and fire choreography. And that ‘Cherry’ section remains the juicest cherry on top.
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What do you think of Beyonce’s self-titled visual album a decade on? What are your favorite videos? Let us know…