In this midst of everything, this is what's makes THE MOST sense. . .

 

53 minutes ago, TizTiz said:

In this midst of everything, this is what's makes THE MOST sense. . .

Cowboy Carter

Currently listening to "6 Inch”- I know how we all feel like "LEMONADE" has come and gone a bit, due to it's personal baggage- but THE F#CKING HIT THIS SONG IS❗️

 

What ever the live occasion, this album (and, unfortunately, "B'Day”) serves a great purpose on the setlist. I am tired of "FREEDOM" & "FORMATION" but-

 

"DON'T HURST YOURSELF"

 

"PRAY YOU CATCH ME" (with the deep cuts)

"ALL NIGHT" (right after/before "AMEN”)

 

"DADDY LESSONS" (of course, we can't leave off why we're even here!; I feel like she'd pair it with TXH)

 

"SANDCASTLES" (I know ppl don't like this song, but it's one of my favs and there hasn't been a set list where it would fit)

 

I have to come up with my own dream set list❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️I remember being right on the money with some of RWT set list! 

I have to wonder, assuming Beyoncé is releasing visuals when the ACTs are done. Will it be worth it?  Sacrificing the joy that comes with the visual representation of music has been tough. Will it have been justified? 
 

We've debated about whether it will be a video per song, or a collage of moments equaling a couple hours. 
 

Maybe it will be somewhat like black is king after the gift, coming in 2026, but with some songs omitted or abbreviated to fit in a 2 hour music visual movie (this will surely piss folks off and no one will be pleased if their favorite songs are cut or shortened).  

 

Regardless, will that have real lasting impact, compared to giving life to the music at it's cultural height?

 

 

Edited April 11, 20242 yr by Space&Time

5 hours ago, swissman said:

I do believe half the people complaining about the missing tracks are just complaining to complain

 you work for Parkwood cuz ain't no way

23 minutes ago, Space&Time said:

I have to wonder, assuming Beyoncé is releasing visuals when the ACTs are done. Will it be worth it?  Sacrificing the joy that comes with the visual representation of music has been tough. Will it have been justified? 
 

We've debated about whether it will be a video per song, or a collage of moments equaling a couple hours. 
 

Maybe it will be somewhat like black is king after the gift, coming in 2026, but with some songs omitted or abbreviated to fit in a 2 hour music visual movie (this will surely piss folks off and no one will be pleased if their favorite songs are cut or shortened).  

 

Regardless, will that have real lasting impact, compared to giving life to the music at it's cultural height?

 

 

I have my moments where I wonder why any would invest their own money in such a tedious, especially an artistic that choose song with visuals involved for each song, but I think it'll be worth it. Looking at the quality of "BEYONCÉ”-“LEMONADE”-“BLACK IS KING" in the span of 7 years❗️

 

Back when the official trailer for ITG was released, one of the fan pages posted leak production info that producer for Marvel Studios was involved, but take that with a grain of salt. Of course, some posted in here about series of films from the pandemic. 
 

I'll just say, if she went as for to create 2 or 3 albums around 'Echoville' with themes being about westerns, cowboy aliens, alien domination, mind control through news and newspapers, musical hypnosis ballroom contest, the Betty black tour and these things are centered around her playing multiple characters- I think this will be her biggest project, let alone visuals project, yet. Seems like there's so much relying on the visuals, which is why "RENAISSANCE" as an era was all over the place without the connection. 
 

I believe they'll definitely be worth and with the second installment released first and stretching that for nearly 2 years, there has to be something bigger than what she's already done. It'll probably have the same effect that BIK had, where the visuals become bigger than the music. 

40 minutes ago, Space&Time said:

I have to wonder, assuming Beyoncé is releasing visuals when the ACTs are done. Will it be worth it?  Sacrificing the joy that comes with the visual representation of music has been tough. Will it have been justified? 
 

We've debated about whether it will be a video per song, or a collage of moments equaling a couple hours. 
 

Maybe it will be somewhat like black is king after the gift, coming in 2026, but with some songs omitted or abbreviated to fit in a 2 hour music visual movie (this will surely piss folks off and no one will be pleased if their favorite songs are cut or shortened).  

 

Regardless, will that have real lasting impact, compared to giving life to the music at it's cultural height?

 

 

This is a great question ! I thought about it and I think just like you phrased it that it is sacrificing the joy that comes with the visuals but it is also a missing opportunity in term of cultural impact.

 

At the end of the day, we are human beings with senses that are enhancing our experience on earth. This is why when MJ created forward-thinking visuals it changed the game and had a massive impact on generations.

 

When B released the visuals for The Gift we were all happy the weeks following the release, but then moved on because the tracks weren't new, plus the exclusivity with Disney + made it impossible for the world to experience them properly. Finally, it didn't have a big impact on The Gift sales…

 

Can you imagine a Dangerously in Love era without at least a visual for Crazy in Love? 100% sure the impact would've no been the same.

 

English is not my 1st language so if you're reading this I thank you for your patience

I saw on tik tok that Renaissance hit 3x platinum? Is that true? I thought it wasn't even close to that.

13 minutes ago, Timber said:

I saw on tik tok that Renaissance hit 3x platinum? Is that true? I thought it wasn't even close to that.

It did 1,147m in 2022, 915k in 2023 according to hitsdd, so probably around 2.1-2.2m now. Think should go 3x towards the end of next year if all goes well

Even more so than Renaissance, the songs on CC really need to be listened in the context of the album. There is something so powerful about it as a body of work, it's really hard to describe. 

2 hours ago, Space&Time said:

I have to wonder, assuming Beyoncé is releasing visuals when the ACTs are done. Will it be worth it?  Sacrificing the joy that comes with the visual representation of music has been tough. Will it have been justified? 
 

We've debated about whether it will be a video per song, or a collage of moments equaling a couple hours. 
 

Maybe it will be somewhat like black is king after the gift, coming in 2026, but with some songs omitted or abbreviated to fit in a 2 hour music visual movie (this will surely piss folks off and no one will be pleased if their favorite songs are cut or shortened).  

 

Regardless, will that have real lasting impact, compared to giving life to the music at it's cultural height?

 

 

I've been pondering this too! Not even on some "stan wants visuals now" ish, but much in the way you very fairly unpacked it. 

 

Each passing week, month, and year just heightens the need for the visuals to be next level. 

 

And while "time" may be exactly what's needed to achieve that, there's also the possibility of it all being kinda "meh" or "that's nice...what's for dinner" when she finally decides to drop it. Which will be unfortunate given how much effort she's gone to and the delayed gratification of it all.

 

IMO, BIK is the best thing she's released visually and this long-in-the-making visual effectively *NEEDS* to be significantly better and be much more than pretty videos (however that's possible) to be worth it. 

 

I trust her, but despite being as monumental as she is artistically, she exists in a new era of diminished attention spans and a market that struggles to divide its interest between one big news item and another. 

 

So while I'm hopeful, the visual itself and the visual rollout has to be masterful.

2 hours ago, Blue Rose said:

 you work for Parkwood cuz ain't no way

He's the one answering to all those Beyoncé email "interviews".

 

Hence the constant BS essays.

3 hours ago, Space&Time said:

I have to wonder, assuming Beyoncé is releasing visuals when the ACTs are done. Will it be worth it?  Sacrificing the joy that comes with the visual representation of music has been tough. Will it have been justified? 
 

We've debated about whether it will be a video per song, or a collage of moments equaling a couple hours. 
 

Maybe it will be somewhat like black is king after the gift, coming in 2026, but with some songs omitted or abbreviated to fit in a 2 hour music visual movie (this will surely piss folks off and no one will be pleased if their favorite songs are cut or shortened).  

 

Regardless, will that have real lasting impact, compared to giving life to the music at it's cultural height?

 

 

I think the first act was always going to suffer a bit from having to shoulder the burden of introducing and setting up an entire 3 act project, but without the visual component that set up is made even harder. Renaissance was the right choice to release first given where we were coming out of the pandemic, but it's always harder jumping to the middle of the concept first and hoping fans stick along for the ride to get more context. I think if it's true that they weren't expecting Renaissance to be as culturally relevant as it was so they elongated the era, it's driven expectations higher than they would've been otherwise.

 

Equally, if there's a drawn out campaign for CC, then we're probably looking at an Act 3 release late-2025 at the earliest, in which case it'll be 5+ years since she wrote most of these tracks and potentially 4 years of the release schedule for all the acts. It's a lot of time for fans and the media to build up expectations for something that'll no doubt be high quality, but might feel less relevant come 2026. The mess with the physicals indicates she hasn't shot visuals for some of the fan faves like YA YA. Which…if fans are going to wait that long to receive the full cohesive visual story, most people will want their songs to be included. There might also have to be significant re-edits of the visuals now that we know she changed the release order. I don't know if it would connect as well if most people expected to experience the project like they've been released and then had CC first.

3 hours ago, Space&Time said:

I have to wonder, assuming Beyoncé is releasing visuals when the ACTs are done. Will it be worth it?  Sacrificing the joy that comes with the visual representation of music has been tough. Will it have been justified? 
 

We've debated about whether it will be a video per song, or a collage of moments equaling a couple hours. 
 

Maybe it will be somewhat like black is king after the gift, coming in 2026, but with some songs omitted or abbreviated to fit in a 2 hour music visual movie (this will surely piss folks off and no one will be pleased if their favorite songs are cut or shortened).  

 

Regardless, will that have real lasting impact, compared to giving life to the music at it's cultural height?

 

 

That's an interesting point. I had this debate with Swissman during Renaissance. Videos become impactfull and transcend because they are linked to a time in our life when we experience with most of our senses as a whole new package, "OMG have you seen the video, I love the video so much, how that connects with this part of the song etc, it made me appreciate the song even more," you discover that with your friends, family, coworkers and since it is linked with emotions and the overall shared enjoyment - because music at its most powerful is music that is shared - it sticks and becomes powerful. Black Is King has imo two of her best videos ever : FYWB and Water. Those two videos are Flawless imo and I find Water in particular just breathtaking but it will never evoque the same feeling of nostalgia or joy as Naughty Girl for example.

 

More than that, this new act as a whole do not function as an album for me. Very strong individual songs but that appear like different scenes and plays merge into one. I haven't able to play it as a whole since the first two days, I think a visual could really help structure that. 

 

But on the other hand, I also wonder and anticipate how she can tight all of that together. 

Edited April 11, 20242 yr by BnPac

4 minutes ago, BnPac said:

That's an interesting point. I had this debate with Swissman during Renaissance. Videos become impactfull and transcend because they are linked to a time in our life when we experience with most of our senses as a whole new package, "OMG have you seen the video, I love the video so much, how that connects with this part of the song etc, it made me appreciate the song even more," you discover that with your friends, family, coworkers and since it is linked with emotions and the overall shared enjoyment - because music at its most powerful is music that is shared - it sticks and becomes powerful. Black Is King has imo two of her best videos ever : FYWB and Water. Those two videos are Flawless imo and I find Water in particular just breathtaking but it will never evoque the same feeling of nostalgia or joy as Naughty Girl for example.

 

More than that, this new act as a whole do not function as an album for me. Very strong individual songs but that appear like different scenes and plays merge into one. I haven't able to play it as a whole since the first two days, I think a visual could really help structure that. 

 

But on the other hand, I also wonder and anticipate how she can tight all of that together. 

I just want her to go back to her old way of music video making. Just shoot them per song. I don't need a whole a$$ story to go with it. Self-titled really accomplished this so well, and the GP still knows every video despite them being released on YouTube a year later.

yeah she better put all night, daddy lessons, pycm, 6 inch and love drought on the setlist 

 

that's the LEAST her lying, trifling ass can do for us 

Going with Renaissance first was the correct decision, but it seems to have thrown things askew. If this was conceived as a three act project from the beginning, it probably derailed a multi-year plan. Hell, imagine being Nadia Lee Cohen or any of those other people who probably don't even know themselves when or if what they worked on is coming out.

 

I know we blame Parkwood employees a lot, but I've worked for an indecisive boss before. Working for someone who changes their mind day to day is incredibly taxing and we all know that's how she is. Something you worked on for weeks if not months can become obsolete overnight. 

 

I have no doubt this will all be worth it at the end of the road for us as stans, but I really hope we get insight into the process behind this trilogy and the work it took to get it out.

Did ya'll know she wanted to release another album around December 2003? The 1st single was supposed to be Scent of You but nothing happened. The way we wouldn't have the iconic music video of Naughty Girl

 

 

Edited April 11, 20242 yr by Crayzik

13 minutes ago, Crayzik said:

Did ya'll know she wanted to release another album around December 2003? The 1st single was supposed to be Scent of You but nothing happened. The way we wouldn't have the iconic music video of Naughty Girl

 

 

It was pushed back to 2004 thanks to Naughty Girl, though. It still didn't come out but I always wonder what could have been.

6 hours ago, Blue Rose said:

 you work for Parkwood cuz ain't no way

I do think complaining about a situation where we ultimately got extra songs is finding a complaint. I'm not saying all people who complain about the physicals are making their feelings up, but that a lot of people (Beyoncé fans and haters) are just grabbing onto any perceived flaw (and this admittedly is one) to validate their "Parkwood is a mess" stance they seem to cling to at every turn.

 

It's interesting you think I work for Parkwood because of what you've quoted, meanwhile you've cropped out the part of my comment where I was critical of the physicals going to stores after being labelled a "webstore exclusive".

44 minutes ago, Crayzik said:

Did ya'll know she wanted to release another album around December 2003? The 1st single was supposed to be Scent of You but nothing happened. The way we wouldn't have the iconic music video of Naughty Girl

 

 

That's actually an insane idea for her to talk about freely lol. Releasing your sophomore album ~6 months after your debut album is released...and talking about it before your debut album is even released is an unprecedented thing. I'm sure it had more to do with a Mathew Knowles goal-of-commerce (continuing the hits, and like the other poster said Naughty Girl extended the era) rather than art, but it's interesting to see her talking about this confidently, already unafraid of the box of the traditional pop release structure.

 

 

I'm glad it never happened though. Usually scrapped, unused or deleted media are not used for a good reason.

 

 

Edited April 11, 20242 yr by swissman

4 hours ago, BnPac said:

More than that, this new act as a whole do not function as an album for me. Very strong individual songs but that appear like different scenes and plays merge into one. I haven't able to play it as a whole since the first two days, I think a visual could really help structure that. 

I felt similarly on first listen... after coming off what? three narrative records in a row it felt jarring to not have a structure from song to song, and the "here's one song ok here's another that's kinda different" shocked me, but I do think the radio/media-based interludes really help situate the album structure as giving you the feeling of listening to tv/radio at 1AM, just in the background and hearing song after great song.

 

I liked what I read on Twitter, that the first third of the record is Beyoncé doing more traditional country/folk songs, then the second third its more modern versions and the last third is where she completely does it her way, where the "this a Beyoncé album" is proven. And that to me also adds context to the overall structure.

I wonder how Parkwood feels about every song literally dropping insanely (aside from THE) like that. Do they think its fine? Do they not care? 

I would really love to have an inside on their Observation towards that

 

Do they feel "we had a great opening week, nothing else matters" or are they worried like us stans?

Edited April 11, 20242 yr by Kristie Kuwa

7 hours ago, Space&Time said:

I have to wonder, assuming Beyoncé is releasing visuals when the ACTs are done. Will it be worth it?  Sacrificing the joy that comes with the visual representation of music has been tough. Will it have been justified? 
 

We've debated about whether it will be a video per song, or a collage of moments equaling a couple hours. 
 

Maybe it will be somewhat like black is king after the gift, coming in 2026, but with some songs omitted or abbreviated to fit in a 2 hour music visual movie (this will surely piss folks off and no one will be pleased if their favorite songs are cut or shortened).  

 

Regardless, will that have real lasting impact, compared to giving life to the music at it's cultural height?

Of course it'll be worth it! (imo lol)

 

If the Put It In A Love Song music video dropped tomorrow, would we not watch it? Would we not press play in utter happiness and disbelief that this thing we thought we'd receive is finally available for us to experience for the first time? It may not have the same impact as if we saw it in 2010, but would it also have a personal impact all its own, something different, a unique kind of pop experience?

But obviously this project is not a scrapped video for a featured song that only fans care about. It's a highly anticipated visual for two #1 albums and I think what we're underestimating is the actual power of the music she's released this era, how strong the music is just by itself and how she's developed such a cult following for her albums unlike any since 4. And like most cult-works, 4's cult following seems as much in defiance of its underperformance as the music. With RENAISSANCE and COWBOY CARTER, she's reached new audiences because of the music alone, created widely acclaimed single-play masterpieces and had everyone asking "where's the visuals?" It surely won't be the same effect as releasing right away, but neither albums are like Lemonade where a sense of urgency with the visuals/message was crucial to its impact. When/if the visuals do arrive, it'll give millions of people a sort of earned adrelaline that comes from unlocking "secret" new content for works you absolutely adore.

 

I think there is something to be said for prolonging pleasure, too. And it's something that really has not been explored in pop at all, where everything is so immediate. So it's interesting that she (seemingly) is doing that here. Beyoncé has been adamant on challenging, questioning and then ideating on the limits of traditional releases. We've seen it countless times now in various ways, I say let her cook lol.

 

As for lasting impact, it really depends, I think, on how it's rolled out. My ideal would be like three episodes released a week apart on a streaming service, so each album gets their full glory and space for discourse/consumption.

And I can see a way for the visuals to still have lasting cultural impact despite not being new content because as we've seen, old content doesn't' necessarily mean outdated or old impact. Runnin' Up That Hill was one of the biggest songs a few summers ago. Bloody Mary became one of Gaga's biggest selling singles. I think people are willing and eager to celebrate things that either didn't get their shine, or are due for being celebrated again if they're good.

 

And then there is the near certainty that putting visuals out later will boost the album in ways that not much else can. We saw the way The Gift (ostensibly a flop) returned to the Top Ten after Black is King. Now imagine what it would have done if it had contained multiple #1s, her longest running Billboard Hot 100 hit, several cult favourites (HEATED, ALIEN SUPERSTAR, etc.) and had been something fans had been asking, pleading, begging for for years.

 

 

[and in case anyone is wondering, I do not apologize for having written an "essay"]