9 minutes ago, Cbreezy said:

I kind of wondered the same and alluded to this possibly being the case above.

That said, this was interesting...

I do remember reading about LVMH's broader moves. So, that tracks.

At the same time, and not to lean in on the negative, if the brand was this barnstorming success, do we really think they would offload?

And that's not even to make it a leading question. Because there is a scenario where it could be showing earlier promise, but if the broader business need is to have a leaner, trimmer operation, it may have made for them to wilfully sell it back to her.

Also, while I'm not doom-and-gloom Hive, I'm always cautious not to immediately buy into "ah, it was her master plan all along" Hive mentality either.

The scenario of using a huge corporate giant to launch a brand to then take it on solo doesn't stand up to even the most basic scrutiny.

LVMH isn't just a bag or visibility; it's a huge infrastructure of expertise in beverages and beyond. It's extremely rare (arguably unheard of) for someone to start with that and then wilfully take on the burden of that solo. If keeping it indie is Bey's motif, she is now tasked with overseeing production, marketing, innovation, retail strategy, etc ...in house...with a team she now has to put in place. Are the sales margins / forecasted profits that big to warrant this? Again, not a leading question, but moreso a curious one.

Equally, there's a world where maybe they've crunched the numbers and have a strategy that will see the brand manage to sell (maybe d2c like Cecred and her perfumes).

One thing that is equally encouraging and frustrating (because Bey's yet to master it) is: she literally could cut through way more via better use of social media. Not even her channels but just savvier use of SirDavis' social presence. Like, as a billionaire, how hard is it to hire an iconic, proven social media company to make SirDavis a viral, almost-self-promoting enterprise with regular and well-aligned experiential activations? It's above my pay grade, but even permanent installations at arenas, airports etc all help offline visibility and bring the brand into the real world. Thus far, while the efforts have been encouraging, it still kind of felt tethered to whatever Bey had going on e.g. CCT.

It's like she wants in on the extracurricular stuff, doesn't go all in for whatever reason, gets the blowback of "another underperforming Beyonce venture" (rumblings of which I've seen today on Twitter and IG, just not loudly) and then re-ups with something else (arguably as a means of proving people wrong or just trying again afresh), only to kind of do the same thing again. Rinse and repeat lol. It's so odd.

I'll just leave this at: thank goodness for Cecred and I hope they find a successful landing for SirDavis.

She wants to launch luxury products but she has a broad fanbase of normal people who can't afford to buy that stuff from her. cecred is one thing, but I'm not spending £80 on any liquor in this economy, let alone a random whiskey I've never tasted. Trying a new product is a gamble because you don't even know if you'll like the taste / have it worth the money. I get she wants to be luxe, but why not send £20 smaller bottles to normal retailers and supermarkets? Why not do a deal with a mid-tier bar chain to have one of her SirDavis cocktails on the menu? There's so much obvious stuff she could be doing. I mean, it's even like how Ivy Park x Adidas fumbled the bag by skipping over making normal, affordable-ish gym clothes and instead selling £80 hoodies and £120 pleather boiler suits. We dont have the money for nonsense, Giselle!!! But if an Ivy Park tee was in store for £20 I'd consider it...

19 hours ago, king_queen said:

Just listened to POTS into VG and Renaissance is still the greatest album of all time iktr

ITG - Cozy - AS

POTS - VG

AHAP - P/H

Now these are the album's highlights imo.

4 hours ago, tachiwaka said:

Church Girl 🫶🏾

It being the only song without a transition makes it so easy too

Am I one of the FEW Church Girl truthers left?!

48 minutes ago, Redporus said:

Am I one of the FEW Church Girl truthers left?!

I have to be in the right mood. It gets a little too busy for me at times.

18 hours ago, Redporus said:

I know they are different artists, but I can't seem to shake the fact that I see parallels in Bey and Madge's discographies when it comes to:

RENAISSANCE and Confessions on a Dancefloorboth exceptional dance albums, Madge did more euro/house/pop while Bey delved much deeper and bended more genres.

COWBOY CARTER and Music - more so in the iconography and visual motifs being Americana, obv Music is an Electronic/Dance/Folk album, both of them having their own twist on the genre listen, btw listen Riiverdance and Dont Tell Me they are basically sisters sonically.

BEYONCE and Erotica - both sexually liberated, career-defining albums that were tied to massive media coverage ST being positive and highly acclaimed while Erotica being negative and highly polarizing.

Lemonade and Ray of Light??? - one would argue that these are the magnum opuses of both artists in terms of the artistic growth and weight they carry in terms of artistic expression and critical acclaim.

I still think sonically Bey is yet to do her Ray of Light (something extremely left field but great....Rennie came close, esp with Alien Superstar but there is still room for more innovation and sound exploration, me thinks.

Thoughts? lemme tag two of the Hive Scholars in this @swissman @Cbreezy

EIL being her Madame X or whatever other garbage she released between Confessions I and Confessions II exactly

48 minutes ago, ScorpiosGroove said:

EIL being her Madame X or whatever other garbage she released between Confessions I and Confessions II exactly

See how we left out The Gift again. Not that Madge has anything remotely comparable.

Page 501. Remembering all the clownery surrounding 5/01 and the Levii's 501.

12 minutes ago, Redporus said:

See how we left out The Gift again. Not that Madge has anything remotely comparable.

the gift is not a beyonce album

Did base know B'day is a chronological album similar to Lemonade?

Deja Vu - Obsessed with man she keeps seeing

Get Me Bodied - On a mission to get said man

Suga Mama - Obtaining man

Upgrade U - Bettering said man

Ring the Alarm - Bettered man cheats on her and pissed that the man she leveled up was taken by some hoebag.

Kitty Kat - Moving on

Freakin Dress - Out on the prowl to find a new man

Green Light - Giving old man permission to move on like she has too.

Irreplaceable - Officially kicking him out

Resentment - Reflection

Then she added the bonus tracks and ****** it all up.

I KNOW MOST OF Y'ALL THOUGHT THIS WAS JUST A MIXTAPE OF UPBEAT SONGS WITH NO OVERARCHING THEME. Lemonade's reheated nachos.

Edited July 30Jul 30 by Fleahive

Saw Andrew last weekend at an event lol ....he realy is short king with shades and what seemed to be Yeezys or idk what type of shoes theyy were . Couldnt be bothered to engage though ...or should i have ?

12 minutes ago, Punch said:

Saw Andrew last weekend at an event lol ....he realy is short king with shades and what seemed to be Yeezys or idk what type of shoes theyy were . Couldnt be bothered to engage though ...or should i have ?

And say what? "I loved your work with #her! I'm so sad she fired you last year."

19 minutes ago, Punch said:

Saw Andrew last weekend at an event lol ....he realy is short king with shades and what seemed to be Yeezys or idk what type of shoes theyy were . Couldnt be bothered to engage though ...or should i have ?

a short hairy thick king take me now

4 hours ago, Redporus said:

Am I one of the FEW Church Girl truthers left?!

Nope I love church girl - the pitched soul sample, those pianos, the background harmonies, the southern bounce, the gospel! It's a liberation anthem! It just feels so good.

I really see the vision and why she loves it so much...not saying it should've been a single, but it's truly one of the biggest growers on the album.

Edited July 30Jul 30 by 50thStateofMind

29 minutes ago, Fleahive said:

And say what? "I loved your work with #her! I'm so sad she fired you last year."

Oh Flea....obviously not 1) Im not a Child and work in the industry myself 2) If so id rather say " you better dont play and talk bad /bad mouth mother lil man " lmaooo .

4 hours ago, Lose My Breath said:

I have to be in the right mood. It gets a little too busy for me at times.

I can only listen to tour version

2 hours ago, Shone Ai said:

I can only listen to tour version

which version tho? cause version two was ASS a thique ass

2 hours ago, Joaco95 said:

which version tho? cause version two was ASS a thique ass

2 hours ago, Shone Ai said:

WRONG ANSWER

Church Girl AND Thique are masterpieces

Is it just me or does Jolene sound completely different on Spotify rn. Sounds so fresh and so clean. Vibing like I haven't before. Was it remastered or did it always sound so crisp?

14 hours ago, Shone Ai said:

I can only listen to tour version

Every time I see church girl live it hits in a way it never has done on the album. truly a live anthem.

Do we have any tea on the End of Time music video if there was one shot? Kinda shocking that she would perform it as the pre-album track at places like Glastonbury, GMA and then not release a video during the anthology run in the fall of 2011. This was one of the first times I accepted she simply won't do something or release something already shot even when it makes total sense.

Church Girl was made for the Southern Baptist church kids who couldn't be their authentic self because of politics within religion.

I cry to the song because it resonates with me so much as a Black male growing up in the Bible Belt South who felt his bisexuality was an abomination.

"I'm finally on the other side, I finally found the urge to smile
Swimmin' through the oceans of tears we cried (tears that we've cried)
You know you got church in the morning (the morning)
But you're doin' God's work, you're goin' in
She ain't tryna hurt nobody
She is tryna do the best she can
Happy on her own, with her friends, without a man"

WHEW

19 minutes ago, dnboy1 said:

Church Girl was made for the Southern Baptist church kids who couldn't be their authentic self because of politics within religion.

I cry to the song because it resonates with me so much as a Black male growing up in the Bible Belt South who felt his bisexuality was an abomination.

"I'm finally on the other side, I finally found the urge to smile
Swimmin' through the oceans of tears we cried (tears that we've cried)
You know you got church in the morning (the morning)
But you're doin' God's work, you're goin' in
She ain't tryna hurt nobody
She is tryna do the best she can
Happy on her own, with her friends, without a man"

WHEW

The "Free" background adlibs during the 2nd chorus are truly liberating.

Church Gworl's only sin is simply being a 9 in a sea of 10s, same with POTS
i think both would be viewed more fondly on other albums, but the competition on Rennie is just THAT fierce

and for the inevitable AUIYM slander when people (incorrectly) try to say it's not a 10: suck my entire ass