base talk Songs Meant for / Passed on / Taken by Beyoncé (Master-list)

[nooniebao]

@trainsskyscrapers do we know if Wrecking Ball reached Bey’s camp?

[Misguided Ghost]

On 1/19/2023 at 10:27 PM, trainsskyscrapers said:

Not an insider by any means, but I think it had a pretty good chance of getting to her team at least. At the time (based on Billboard & NME articles), B was compiling tracks for a throwback-themed album that was going to pay homage to "Doowop, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, D'Angelo, 90s R&B, and Prince". Cross-referencing the teams involved in the articles, tracks that were spoken about, and the songs we know that were in contention (coupled with a few ??? ones), I have a feeling the album submissions looked something like this in late 2012 / early 2013 (not including the Hamptons sessions that added a whole bunch of "international, anthemic songs" (Pretty Hurts, XO, Footprints, Standing On The Sun, Rise Up, Jealous, God Made You Beautiful), the NYC sessions at Oven/Jungle City Studios that were more "urban-based" alongside Jay-Z & Justin Timberlake making their own albums in the same space (DIL, Grown Woman, YONCE, Mine, Flawless, Partition), and Chairlift/Boots coming in with darker, left-field sounds):

 

"Wake Up" (Pharrell, The-Dream) - Doowop/Diana Ross

"Superpower" (Frank Ocean, Pharrell) - Doowop/Aretha*

"All About That Bass" (Meghan Trainor, Kevin Kadish) - Doowop

"Love On The Brain" (Fred Ball, Joseph Angel) - Aretha

"Rocket" (Miguel, JT, Timbaland, James Fauntleroy) - D'Angelo/90s R&B* (I think she spliced additional registered track "Free Fall" here)

"Blow" (Pharrell, Timbaland, The-Dream, James Fauntleroy) - Prince* (I think she spliced additional registered track "Cherry" here for the bridge)

"Donk" (The-Dream, Pharrell) - 90s R&B (A snippet leaked but unreleased)

"Part II (On The Run)" (Timbaland, James Fauntleroy) - 90s R&B

 

*(Made the completed album)

It makes sense now, cause I was a little shocked when I saw "All About That Base" here. Can't imagine her singing it

 

Also, interesting to see "I Hate This Part" there, I can totally imagine Beyonce making this song her own.

[trainsskyscrapers]

2 hours ago, nooniebao said:

@trainsskyscrapers do we know if Wrecking Ball reached Bey’s camp?

Based on this article I just read, no.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.yahoo.com/amphtml/entertainment/wrecking-ball-escaped-beyonce-become-143000337.html

 

They had B in mind initially, and the session was booked for her, but it never made it to her team. I could def see B doing the verses and maybe the bridge, but not the hook or chorus. 

[trainsskyscrapers]

Quote

 

How did you react when you heard that Beyonce was interested in your music?

It’s a big compliment. I mean, if you write music, it’s not much different if say the public likes the music. The fact that anyone likes your music if you’re a musician is a compliment.

Beyonce’s team wanted your song, “Relax My Beloved,” on her record. Tell us how it all went down.

I wrote it. I wrote the song in its entirety and, like an idiot, I should’ve probably just said, “Yeah. Go on, Beyonce, you can have it.” But I think if you write a song and you have a strong attachment to it, it’s kind of hard to give it up.

Would you ever write a song for Beyonce then?

Hell yeah! She’s an ultimate pop star. I will gladly go and write a song for her if she wanted another song. I will do that in a heartbeat.

The perfect bridge between "I Care" and "I Miss You" with the electro-synth warbles and soul. 

 

[Nippy'sReceipts]

On 1/12/2023 at 5:45 AM, B-Luke said:

Great list, very informative

 

Baby I - (Babyface, Antonio Dixon, Patrick "J Que" Smith) ---> Ariana Grande

This one shocked me the most, I couldn‘t imagine Beyoncé singing this teeny bopper track, not even in her debut era (and I love the song)  or All About That Bass

Baby I is the most Beyonce like track on this list though lol. I would love to here her sing it. 

[trainsskyscrapers]

The first potential Renaissance sessions outtakes: "Hazel Theme" / "Still Here With The Ones I Came With" (Leven Kali, Skrillex, Snoh Aalegra, Porter Robinson)

 

Skrillex released two albums within very quick succession of each other, and it definitely has to be noted how many collaborators are in the Renaissance Sphere or the Beyonce sphere over two the albums: BEAM, Snoh Aalegra, Leven Kali, Skrillex Himself. 

Leven worked on: Virgos Groove, Alien Superstar, Summer Renaissance

Skrillex: Energy

BEAM: Energy

 

Didn't Edward Enniful from UK Vogue talk about UK Garage beats. (That could definitely be "Break My Soul" though)

I could definitely see something like these two segueing after BMS and before Church Girl (with more structured verses and additional lyrics).

[trainsskyscrapers]

On 1/12/2023 at 4:45 AM, B-Luke said:

Great list, very informative

 

On 1/12/2023 at 1:37 AM, Wolf Alice said:

Very informative! Thanks for putting it together 

Thank you! Just went back to the beginning of the thread and saw these. 

[Alex]

 

sounds like a RENNIE b side ngl

[Katamari]

the thought of bey singing all about that bass

[trainsskyscrapers]

New track: If (B'Day Deluxe Edition)

 

It's looking like it was written by Ne-Yo for inclusion on Christina Milian's 2006 album So Amazin' and left on the cutting-room floor. When you find out many of the early tracks for Christina's album were written in response to Nick Cannon's infidelity ... it makes so much sense.

Edited April 23, 2023 by trainsskyscrapers

[suburbannature]

I had no idea Mariah was originally supposed to be the female feature on Love in This Club Part II

Edited April 23, 2023 by suburbannature

[trainsskyscrapers]

On 3/28/2023 at 2:46 PM, dangerousalex said:

 

sounds like a RENNIE b side ngl

I agree. Also, looking at the writing credits, I see the 2nd producer from both "Single Ladies" and "Break My Soul" (Tricky Stewart), as well as Theron Thomas (Rock City) who was an integral writer on "All Night".  Definitely plausible that this beat was scrapped and re-used. I'll add it to the unknown category. Thanks for sharing!

[trainsskyscrapers]

I could not imagine being invited to Beyonce's Self-Titled writing camp in the Hamptons, creating 30 songs, getting intel that 6 are being looked at, and ZERO make the final cut. Makes me wonder which songs out there were hers.

 

 

We also have producer Roccstar (who ended up on Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood) that was slightly bitter his tracks "Legends" and "Turn It On" did not make the self-titled album, but then pivoted quickly in 2014 to do a large chunk of JLo's AKA album alongside Detail ("Drunk In Love", "7/11") and Chris Brown's album "X". I wonder if any of JLo's tracks were songs B passed on. Hmm.. could the phrase "Turn It On" have been changed to create the extremely-MJ-influenced "Add Me In" worked on by both Eric Bellinger + Roccstar for "X"? I could kinda see her doing that song so I'll add it. 

 

[suburbannature]

Do you have a source for I Choose You's connection to Mariah? I can't find anything.

[yonsé]

when i found out So Into You was a beyoncé demo i levitated

 

thank you for this thread! its super informative

[trainsskyscrapers]

4 minutes ago, suburbannature said:

Do you have a source for I Choose You's connection to Mariah? I can't find anything.

https://ratedrnb.com/2021/12/board-pen-elijah-blake/ 

 

Quote

Keyshia Cole — “I Choose You” from Woman 2 Woman

That song is the song that changed my life. At first, the interest started with Beyoncé. I’ve never heard her version, if she did do a version. I don’t want to lie, but I think she ended up getting pregnant with Blue [Ivy] and the studio sessions, and everything came to a pause from it.

 

Then, it ended up [with] Jennifer Hudson. Then I was getting the call in New York [and] they were like, “Hey. Can you come [and] make changes? Mariah [Carey] wants to do the record.” I ended up getting in the studio with Mary [J. Blige] with that record, and I recorded her on there. It became the song that could. It’s the song that everybody wanted, and it became so political.

 

I made enemies with people I never even met, managers of people who wanted that song and artists of people who wanted that song. The producer [Jack Splash] was very particular as to the home of that record. I was so young at the time. I’m coming out of high school, so these are people I didn’t even think I would meet in my life. The producer had already done stuff with Alicia Keys and other people, so I think he cared more about where the song ended. 

I got a call one day to go in with Hit-Boy and Keyshia [Cole], and that session didn’t happen. But then the label was like, “We really want Keyshia to do this ‘I Choose You’ record.” I was like, “Certain people couldn’t hit the high notes.” The song was super, super high. At the time, there was a girl who I really did the song for. Her name is Loren Allred. She sang the song so well that she got a record deal just off the demo.

 

[trainsskyscrapers]

21 minutes ago, yonsé said:

thank you for this thread! its super informative

No problem! I love listening to music podcasts and watching interviews with songwriters, and because Beyonce has become clickbait these days, everyone who is anyone has a story or song that connects to her in some way.

[lonnie]

All Night was also intended for Rihanna 

[trainsskyscrapers]

Did some sleuthing tonight, and found some gems:

 

(1) The demos for "I Care" and "Rather Die Young". Both were released on Soundcloud for a Jeff Bhasker Project under his alias Billy Kraven, and the amount of changes is astounding. She really polished a diamond in the rough (for the former). As for the latter, B seemingly made some slight lyrical changes and spruced up the dynamics after the bridge before the final chorus. 

 

 

(2) Got another track for you, @Jeremiah: Famed songwriter Shelly Peiken posted on her website about a song called "Love Is War" that was meant for Britney's "Femme Fatale" project after being produced by Fraser T. Smith and didn't make the cut, but was also pitched for Beyonce's 4, Celine, Rihanna, Adam Lambert, and Leona Lewis.

https://www.shellypeiken.com/blog/love-is-war

 

 

(3) "Paralyzed": A demo from the I Am... Sasha Fierce era.

Maybe a replacement for "Ave Maria"? Next to "Hello", "Save The Hero", and "Scared of Lonely" on the deluxe? On the platinum edition next to "Poison"? The vocalist, Korin Deanna, finally released it officially on her own last year. I would've given this to Tamar Braxton for her "Love & War" project.

 

 

(4) Another elusive Boots demo for Beyonce, but produced by Kanye West for Self-Titled. How intriguing? Maybe for the Platinum edition alongside 7/11? In competition with "XO" for the main album pop single slot? Kanye took the song back, and it was possibly mentioned for his shelved "Yandhi" project alongside Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla Sign's "New Body". Who knows at this point? He should've given this to Kelly Rowland, tbh. It has a breeziness like "When Loves Takes Over". 

 

[trainsskyscrapers]

On 10/3/2023 at 10:00 AM, lonnie said:

All Night was also intended for Rihanna 

Thank you! That's true. I'll add it. 

[trainsskyscrapers]

Another one for tonight: The Carters "LOVEHAPPY" was originally a Vic Mensa demo titled "Partners In Crime".

https://genius.com/a/vic-mensa-s-manager-shares-snippet-to-the-original-version-of-beyonce-and-jay-z-s-lovehappy 

 

(If anyone can find the demo, please post it here)

[trainsskyscrapers]

Quote

In this bonus segment of The Process with Peter Rosenberg, Azealia Banks talks about her current single, "ATM Jam." She explains how the single came during the course of a writing session with Pharrell. He gave her two beats and asked her to write them as if she was writing for Beyonce (the other song she wrote was in fact given to Beyonce). She said that when she came up with the version of "ATM Jam" that has now been released, she "didn't even like it."

https://www.complex.com/music/a/dharmic-x/azealia-banks-the-process-with-peter-rosenberg-atm-jam

 

 

 

 

 

Quote

Along with those established names, Beyoncé's also tapped a rising star for her next album, reportedly collaborating with Azealia Banks. In a recent interview for ASOS [via Rap-Up], Banks confirmed that she had spit some bars for the upcoming LP.

"I actually did something for her record in Miami a couple weeks ago," Banks said. "I really didn't want to say it because I didn't want to jinx it … Even the fact that I was considered to rap on a Beyoncé track was just… I'm about to cry. It was amazing."

https://exclaim.ca/music/article/justin_timberlake_pharrell_azealia_banks_rumoured_for_new_beyonce_album

The other song mentioned that began as a Pharrell beat and actually made it to B is her "Partition" verse. Would've been a cool remix addition for the Platinum Edition version. (That Busta Rhymes verse was meh..)

 

 

[Peak Now]

Just happened to see this thread from the main page. Very informative and I live for this sort of tea, so kudos to the OP for the research that went into this.

 

By the way, does anyone know if there's a similar thread for Rihanna on this site? 

[trainsskyscrapers]

Another new one that isn't much of a surprise at all: "Church Girl", produced by 4:44 executive producer No I.D., began as a beat for a Jay-Z song that Beyonce poached.

 

Quote

You had worked with Jay-Z a lot by this point, so it seems fair to assume that you wound up working on Beyonce’s last album through your association with Jay.

NO ID: Yeah, it was literally, I was at his house one day, and I had some equipment with me, and I just started making a beat. And he was rapping to it, it was for him. And he just put it in the computer, I never thought about it again, I literally forgot about it. And then one day, I just get a call. When you get 2-3 calls from people in a row, you know it’s something. “Hey, do you have this idea? Beyonce got somethin’ to it.” And Jay jokingly tells me, “Man, she stole my beat. She was like, ‘Remember that idea in the computer that you didn’t finish?'” And I went to see her, we talked about the record, we listened to her album.

https://www.stereogum.com/2239092/weve-got-a-file-on-you-no-i-d/interviews/weve-got-a-file-on-you/

 

[trainsskyscrapers]

 

I wonder what song of Stacy Barthe's didn't make the cut for "4"? In the years surrounding 4, Stacy secured placements for Alicia Keys, Brandy, Marsha Ambrosius, Estelle, and Teyana Taylor. 

Edited October 23, 2023 by trainsskyscrapers