24 minutes ago, satellites.™ said:

The Rih collab wouldve been both TIMELY and PERFECT in 2011 - 2014 but Beyonce decided to go AWAY from the sound of the time and record 4.

 

4 if forgotten trash tbh, sorry, and Beyonce could've had multiple MASSIVE hits leaving IASF if she collabed with Rihanna or even a couple DJs.

 

Hard truths.

4sus is literally what allowed her to have the longevity she has rn. She'd be on Usher level if she went the Guetta route.

The Love On Top erasure

The fact that not one of you even MENTIONED the second and third singles just proves me point.

 

CIL

Baby Boy 

Naughty Girl

MMI

 

Deja Vu

Irreplaceable

 

Single Ladies

IIWAB

Halo

 

Love On Top

Run The World

 

-- notice how here, sis said forget singles altogether and went with entire albums moving forward? 

 

Self-Titled (The Album)

Lemonade (The Album)

RENASSIANCE (The Album)

 

Imagine wanting some dated oontz-oontz nonsense instead of masterpieces like this. Couldn't be me.

 

edit: nvm

Edited February 20, 20233 yr by Arrogant

We Love 4 lol, like yall are insane.

 

03 Bonnie & Clyde has more streams than everything outside of the two songs I mentioned.

 

2 minutes ago, satellites.™ said:

4 did NOTHING for Bey, Self-Titled came in and saved her.

 

 

1. "Run the World (Girls)"
   Released: April 21, 2011
2. "Best Thing I Never Had"
   Released: June 1, 2011
3. "Party"
   Released: August 30, 2011
4. "Love On Top"
   Released: September 12, 2011
5. "Countdown"
   Released: October 4, 2011
6. "I Care"
   Released: March 23, 2012
7. "End of Time"
   Released: April 23, 2012

What does this prove?  Bey wouldn’t be the Beyoncé we know today without 4, it really built up her reputation that she’s not just some pop girl that she was serious about making good timeless music. The critical darling and GOAT we know today switched paths to making something like self titled, another album that bucked trends, with 4. And then on top of that as we speak more people listen to love on top on Apple Music and Spotify than the biggest song on self titled, drunk in love. It did more for her in the long run than in the moment and that’s something she knew when she was making that album. It’s truly classic, even if I like self titled more

9 minutes ago, swissman said:

Hm. Well she certainly could have had massive hits doing this in that era, like how On the Floor was a huge success by neatly following the pop trends of the time, but I do think it would have changed the course of her career. I think 4 underperforming was perhaps the most important turning point since going solo, as it was the first time in her entire career that an era wasn't a major success in some degree, and this imo shifted how she saw herself in the industry and the aims that her music could/should have.

 

That being said, I don't agree that 4 is "forgotten trash" but looking back it certainly is some of her least consequential work from a music standpoint. It's Beyoncé showing off what she can do rather than making a bold artistic statement, the likes of which we'd see with BEYONCÉ and would culminate in the start-to-finish-aural-and-visual masterpiece Lemonade.

 

She's really hit the sweet spot between classic and contemporary, artful and commercial and I would not choose to have 2011-2014 hits at the expense of her becoming a fully formed artist in her own right.

 

What? Her bucking the trends with 4 is the very definition of a bold artistic statement

6 minutes ago, satellites.™ said:

The fact that not one of you even MENTIONED the second and third singles just proves me point.

 

CIL

Baby Boy 

Naughty Girl

MMI

 

Deja Vu

Irreplaceable

 

Single Ladies

IIWAB

Halo

 

Love On Top

Run The World

 

-- notice how here, sis said forget singles altogether and went with entire albums moving forward? 

 

Self-Titled (The Album)

Lemonade (The Album)

RENASSIANCE (The Album)

 

Without 4 she wouldn’t have switched to just doing the whole album sistren. It built a lot of respect for her too for choosing to focus on real music 

12 minutes ago, Virgos Groove said:

4sus is literally what allowed her to have the longevity she has rn. She'd be on Usher level if she went the Guetta route.

Now I wouldn't say this either. Beyonce could arguably be even bigger if it wasn't for "4", I think there's no denying that 4 was the album that soiled her single reputation. Whatever direction she went in the end would have been Beyonce, and she could of definitely pulled off solid EDM album. TBH I think that was part of her intentions in originally working with Diplo and RTW is lowkey her spin on the dance trend of that time.

But If there was no 4, there may not have a been a Self Titled. So every step she's taken so far has been necessary to build the artists we love today.

Edited February 20, 20233 yr by Otter

isn't "4" like the 2nd most streamed album from 2011 and doesn't RTW have more streams than some #1 songs of that year??

 

you can't determine the longevity & impact of a song by looking at chart peaks of their time. there's so many classic songs that didn't even go Top 40.

The random 4 slander.

 

Love on Top and maybe Countdown are more classic than anything on Lemonade.

4 was so excellent 

 

 

Doing music like this got her a lot of respect that people don’t give pop girls! she really said REAL MUSIC ONLY and gave Stevie wonder and Chaka khan while everybody was doing low budget edm that sounded terrible after 5 years. I feel like she really switched to focusing on her artistry instead of chasing success because if you keep chasing success it’ll run faster from you  4 won in the end like it’s bigger than most of the albums that outdid it at release with huge mega smash singles 

Why does Group C seem so quiet?

4 minutes ago, Starshine said:

The random 4 slander.

 

Love on Top and maybe Countdown are more classic than anything on Lemonade.

I asked my little sister if she likes Beyoncé and she mentioned irreplaceable single ladies drunk in love and COUNTDOWN. That album is so timeless and classic like 

1 minute ago, Armani? said:

Why does Group C seem so quiet?

Group C was always gonna be the one with the least demand. Kinda interesting they chose to release those last.

21 minutes ago, satellites.™ said:

The fact that not one of you even MENTIONED the second and third singles just proves me point.

 

CIL

Baby Boy 

Naughty Girl

MMI

 

Deja Vu

Irreplaceable

 

Single Ladies

IIWAB

Halo

 

Love On Top

Run The World

 

-- notice how here, sis said forget singles altogether and went with entire albums moving forward? 

 

Self-Titled (The Album)

Lemonade (The Album)

RENASSIANCE (The Album)

 

ALSO 

 

Drunk in Love

Flawless

 

Formation

Sorry

 

Break My Soul

Cuff It

 

all albums have songs that are more popular than the parent album lol. Yes she made the album drop itself major with self titled but everybody doesn’t know every song on her albums unless theyre fans/Stans, be serious

Run the World - #29 but 4x platinum

Worst Shart I Ever Recorded - #16 but 3x platinum

Party - #50 but still platinum

Love on Top - #20 but 4x platinum

Countdown - #71 but 2x platinum

End of Time - #113 but still platinum

 

and this is with her being undercertified like, bffr 

Just now, bijonse said:

I asked my little sister if she likes Beyoncé and she mentioned irreplaceable single ladies drunk in love and COUNTDOWN. That album is so timeless and classic like 

4 is also the most "Beyoncé" Bey has ever been in terms of sound and maybe performing. Idk how to explain it, like it's classic Bey in her rawest form? Everything after has been an experimentation and an evolution. 

 

It's also her vocal peak, gave us Glastonbury. 

Party is actually very close to 2X Platinum eligible

The first time I’ve ever seen someone call that album trash 

Like we can debate about her first three albums all day but from 4 on…..stop it 

17 minutes ago, Otter said:

Now I wouldn't say this either. Beyonce could arguably be even bigger if it wasn't for "4", I think there's no denying that 4 was the album that soiled her single reputation. Whatever direction she went in the end would have been Beyonce, and she could of definitely pulled off solid EDM album. TBH I think that was part of her intentions in originally working with Diplo and RTW is lowkey her spin on the dance trend of that time.

But If there was no 4, there may not have a been a Self Titled. So every step she's taken so far has been necessary to build the artists we love today.

I do agree with this.

 

This was the time though when she started on the whole "album train" remember, we got the infamous.

 

Also, 4 is the only post IASF album not to get AOTY nom right?

 

4's a cute girl. It's overrated by the Hive and underrated by the GP. For me it's like Ray Of Light. I like most of the songs individually but not all together in one run. It doesn't strike me as her first "artistic" record, either. It always seemed kind of unfocused and scattered, it has too many beysic and schmaltzy moments. 1+1, BTINH, and I Was Here are all quite terrible, RTW is very on-trend (a banger that felt like a #1 tho!), and LOT is very much the safe "insurance" song. End Of Time and DFY are futureyonce.

25 minutes ago, giRLbye. said:

 

What? Her bucking the trends with 4 is the very definition of a bold artistic statement

It's an artistic statement to forgo trends in favour of the kind of music you want to make, but the kind of music she made wasn't exactly progressive in the scope of her career. Aside from Run the World, which is pretty much a sonic outlier in the album, much of what we hear on it she had already proven to be adept at in other moments of her career.

 

If we look at her solo albums up to that point, each one expanded on her artistry in a different way whereas 4 gave a stunning combination of elements of all her previous work. It's not to say there is no artistry in the album, but as far as BOLD artistry, she was still very much in her lane.

4 is an amazing album, but it's not boldly artistic in the sense that aside from not conforming to radio, she wasn't stepping out of any comfort zone to make it. Now if she had released the Fela Kuti album, that imo would have been bold artistry...not only forgoing trends but playing around with her sound/her art in way she had not done.

 

 

Edited February 20, 20233 yr by swissman

4 minutes ago, cloudbusting said:

Run the World - #29 but 4x platinum

Worst Shart I Ever Recorded - #16 but 3x platinum

Party - #50 but still platinum

Love on Top - #20 but 4x platinum

Countdown - #71 but 2x platinum

End of Time - #113 but still platinum

 

and this is with her being undercertified like, bffr 

^exactly

 

which goes back to my previous point below

 

19 minutes ago, giRLbye. said:

 

you can't determine the longevity & impact of a song by looking at chart peaks of their time. there's so many classic songs that didn't even go Top 40.