If someone would’ve told me that she was gonna get a #1 solo hit and a solo top #10 hit from her 7th album I probably wouldn’t have believed them  The fact that she did without doing ****. What a legend. 

1 hour ago, Mitsouko said:

The way she said **** the past (the Beyoncé you know and love is no more!), **** the present (no era, no visuals, no performances!), and **** the future too (no tour dates!)!

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

“I wanna go missiiinng”

 

Honey Dijon has been playing this HEATED remix in her recent live sets.

 

 

not Blue Ivy almost a teenager...  

6 hours ago, ariesgroove said:

started lurking on atrl around 2021  always knew about the website bc of twitter but happy just actually have an account now cause it took forever to get one 

Welcome!!

5 hours ago, Shelter said:

If this era is anything to go by, she is done after act 3 

I’ve been saying this 

14 minutes ago, kimberly said:

not Blue Ivy almost a teenager...  

We’re probably closer to her solo debut than we are to these damn visuals. 

I’m glad cuff it is a certified hit. The first time I heard it I knew it deserved to be one

1 minute ago, yonsé said:

I’m glad cuff it is a certified hit. The first time I heard it I knew it deserved to be one

!!

 

On first listen I was hoping it be a long term hit. 
 

Spoiler

And dethrone Halo a bit lmao.

 

Multiple solo top 10s from the same album.  The last time she had multiple top 10s on the same album (in the US) was IASF.

52 minutes ago, yonsé said:

I’m glad cuff it is a certified hit. The first time I heard it I knew it deserved to be one

Should've been the lead single tbh. Renaissance really is her magnum opus 

@king_queen

 

Nah.

 

BMS was exactly the OMG, "I'm back", "different for Beyonce" slap us across the face she needed to signal her return and snatch back the GP. Lyrically and musically it set the right tone for the rest of what was to come. 

 

That said, I do think this has been her best 1-2 punch of singles since her debut (CIL and BB). 

 

Cuff It is unquestionably the most hit-worthy track on the album, but having to battle for that status (which is kinda irritating) saw it develop legs, an omnipresence with the GP, and grew it into an authentic career smash that she'll be performing forever. Not even being revisionist (because we all know the mess that has been the last six months), but its trajectory is such a win. Dare I say a bigger win than if it opened big and then dropped like a rock. 

Edited January 8, 20233 yr by Cbreezy

19 minutes ago, Cbreezy said:

@king_queen

 

Nah.

 

BMS was exactly the OMG, "I'm back", "different for Beyonce" slap us across the face she needed to signal her return and snatch back the GP. Lyrically and musically it set the right tone for the rest of what was to come. 

 

That said, I do think this has been her best 1-2 punch of singles since her debut (CIL and BB). 

 

Cuff It is unquestionably the most hit-worthy track on the album, but having to battle for that status (which is kinda irritating) saw it develop legs, an omnipresence with the GP, and grew it into an authentic career smash that she'll be performing forever. Not even being revisionist (because we all know the mess that has been the last six months), but its trajectory is such a win. Dare I say a bigger win than if it opened big and then dropped like a rock. 

I would’ve rather been introduced to Break My Soul as I heard it when I first heard Renaissance. That first listen is the reason Break My Soul is still even on my phone.

 

Now the BASS LINE on Cuff It would’ve slapped people clear across the face if she just released it first. I think Cuff It would’ve been her longest top ten since Halo had it been the lead. The climax alone is just 

But for what it’s worth, our fave gave us a lead single with minimal sabotagery and the best album of her career!!! I can’t complain.

I don't think there's an obvious lead single for Rennaissance.

Break My Soul feels obvious once it clicks, but unless you're out promoting it like it's 2011, that "click" may not happen for a lot of listeners. I think people forgot how divisive it was on first listen, even a lot of stans were umm-ing and iff-ing when it was first released. Sounding very 90s house  without much added much to the formula. The production layers are very subtle and becomes better in time, but it was definitely a grower for most. Even then that sound has shown to be niche globally.

In hindsight probably Alien Superstar would have been the right lead, bold, innovative and popular amongst Gen-Z.

Cuff It is extremely radio ready and infectious but it's safe and that safe route can easily backfire for older acts who listeners have started to move away from. It may also fail to inspire excitement for the album if it feels like something the artist could of release before.

Cozy to me was sonically the most appealing lead, it has house sound that I think could have a lot of global appeal. It's slick and current, has an amazing middle verse and is kind of effortless in that it doesn't try to be this massive pop song. My only reservation on is that the spoken interludes referring to blackness may be a bit jarring for some listeners

Edited January 8, 20233 yr by Otter

3 minutes ago, Otter said:

In hindsight probably Alien Superstar would have been the right lead, bold, innovative and popular amongst Gen-Z.

I can actually get with this and had never really clocked it until just now!  AS really is the only other logical lead beyond BMS. (Though BMS' universal, anthem-like lyrics tip the tide in its favor).

 

Still, an AS lead is all the things you mentioned and is "different" enough from "usual Beyonce" to give it the type of edge needed to introduce the album's sound, theme, and concept. Much like BMS (and probably even more) it has the "whoa, is this actually Beyonce?" effect that is also great for word-of-mouth promo.

 

Cuff It, despite being the obvious smasha it is, very comfortably sits in Bey's already-established "feel-good + nostalgic" basket of bops alongside Love on Top, Party, Before I Let Go,  Schoolin Life etc. 

 

With a push, those kinda songs are easy-ish wins for her and are an easy lane to play in at this stage of her career if she doesn't want to "look" like she's trying to keep up. 

 

So, IMO, it's much more exciting her going with something edgy/risky to lead and securing the slay with something more familiar as a follow-up. It's a pretty cool metaphor for her always upping the ante while never losing sight of her core base. 

1 minute ago, Cbreezy said:

 

 

Cuff It, despite being the obvious smasha it is, very comfortably sits in Bey's already-established "feel-good + nostalgic" basket of bops alongside Love on Top, Party, Before I Let Go,  Schoolin Life etc. 

 

 

I can't believe this never got the single treatment 

BMS was the perfect lead single. It was very relevant to what people were experiencing at the time. 
 

is Cuff It a better song? Yes. 
i still think BMS was the perfect lead. 
 

in addition to that Cuff It would’ve falsely given the impression that Rennée was just another R&B album. 

42 minutes ago, Otter said:

I can't believe this never got the single treatment 

THIS!

 

4 ties Ren as my favorite album from Bey, but boy oh boy did it have some weird tracklisting and single choices. 

 

The fact Schoolin Life and Dance For You started out as **bonus tracks** before the tracklist overhaul years later will forever perplex me. 

 

Schoolin Life would have seen such an easy win for her as a single. Urban enough for her core, Pop enough for mainstream, and lyrically universal enough for everyone. On top of that, it predates the Bruno Mars boom with the nostalgic sound, so in its own way would have been quite fresh for the time. I'd have with that or End of Time as lead. 

 

She generally gets a slight pass because despite 4 being the immaculate album it is, she was clearly transitioning out of her previous means of working an album (typical Pop star template) into the more renegade trajectory that would follow. So there were bound to be mistakes/mishaps/overthinking.

Edited January 8, 20233 yr by Cbreezy

We're going top ten this week, we shall celebrate that despite what the haters said, she's here to stay.

 

I'm ready for Album of The Year next month. 

11 hours ago, Devin said:

She may not retire but I suspect 5+ year hiatuses. 

I can see this too. But honestly all her albums have 2-3 years gap. It's crazy to think that every MPG are having more albums than her, and even Ariana/Gaga are almost in their 7th era; so whenever everyone brings up sales, it isn't fair to her because she had the least among them. 

 

1. DIL - B'day (3 years+)

2. Bday - SF (2 years)

3. SF-4 (2.5 years)

4. 4-ST (2.5 years)

5. ST-Lem (2.5 years)

6. Lem-REN (6 years; with 3 side projects)

 

 

If y'all think the tour is coming, doesn't that mean Act 2 and 3 is not coming any sooner? Unless she name it differently, I don't think the second and third part of the project is coming if she's touring under The RENAISSANCE World Tour. 

 

I hope I'm wrong though.

1 hour ago, Cbreezy said:

THIS!

 

4 ties Ren as my favorite album from Bey, but boy oh boy did it have some weird tracklisting and single choices. 

 

The fact Schoolin Life and Dance For You started out as **bonus tracks** before the tracklist overhaul years later will forever perplex me. 

 

Schoolin Life would have seen such an easy win for her as a single. Urban enough for her core, Pop enough for mainstream, and lyrically universal enough for everyone. On top of that, it predates the Bruno Mars boom with the nostalgic sound, so in its own way would have been quite fresh for the time. I'd have with that or End of Time as lead. 

 

She generally gets a slight pass because despite 4 being the immaculate album it is, she was clearly transitioning out of her previous means of working an album (typical Pop star template) into the more renegade trajectory that would follow. So there were bound to be mistakes/mishaps/overthinking.

She did it on purpose. 

 

She intentionally placed some of her favourite songs as bonus tracks lol. I think it was revealed during her concerts at Roseland. 

2 minutes ago, PrudenceHCharmed said:

I can see this too. But honestly all her albums have 2-3 years gap.

I've always loved that she spaced out her eras just right. Enough to succeed, tour, have the effects of both marinate, then a brief break before repeating. It really set her apart from her peers who always were jostling for attention with yearly releases that ironically didn't hit as much as Bey's (sans their singles).

BUT...between the side projects, pandemic, and changes in her personal life, I agree that we probably have to let anything we thought we knew about the 2-3 year thing go. 

 

Even this present era is so...unique. If she **really** is dropping 2-3 albums in what is essentially one album cycle, it re-writes everything we know and expect from her. 

 

On the one hand, it would be a really savvy way of adapting to the streaming era need to "feed the momentum machine" with more material at closer intervals and it'd really cement her streaming footprint for the next decade.

 

But, because she's still a qualitative artist, I can see it meaning that there'll be a bigger gap until the next totally new era. Almost a case of "lemme give you more now, to give you less later".

 

I can see her filling in the gaps with quick lil collabs, soundtrack songs, and (hopefully better marketed) side-projects. 

13 minutes ago, PrudenceHCharmed said:

If y'all think the tour is coming, doesn't that mean Act 2 and 3 is not coming any sooner? Unless she name it differently, I don't think the second and third part of the project is coming if she's touring under The RENAISSANCE World Tour. 

 

I hope I'm wrong though.

As Chart Hive, I'm hoping they have some clever way of making Renaissance the anchoring title of the three acts (so basically one big album done tastefully unlike Chris Brown's approach).

 

The combined sales would presumably be huge, it'd make the era itself even more iconic, and present SO MANY cool marketing opportunities. From collector box sets (with all the acts) to a creative way of dividing the tour legs. Like, she could theoretically tour for 2+ years at spaced out intervals and center each run around a different act. She could even mix up live formats. Stadium now, something more intimate (to support the rumored acoustic act), and even go the residency route if she feels later. 

 

Put simply, she can do what the likes of Justin Timberlake (20/20 Experience) and Chris Brown have done before her and innovate like only she can. 

48 minutes ago, PrudenceHCharmed said:

If y'all think the tour is coming, doesn't that mean Act 2 and 3 is not coming any sooner? Unless she name it differently, I don't think the second and third part of the project is coming if she's touring under The RENAISSANCE World Tour. 

 

I hope I'm wrong though.

True.

 

But I always had a feeling she was gonna combine or include the later acts. Similar to how she did TMCSWT.