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I personally think the song below is more compelling than "Drunk In Love," but I must also admit I that DIL performance was the last time I saw what a solid opening Grammy performance could do on the charts. Back to the task at hand: DC turned a potential Lil' Kim beat into a 7-week #2 pop anthem (trapped behind Janet Jackson's "All For You").

Had a Trinidad James interview cross my desk this morning. When I started this songwriting activity, I had two hypotheses: (1) Rihanna's page would take the longest to complete (2) Beyonce's page would never close. Both were accurate. Between a hundred-plus songs fighting for 20 slots on each album and attentive A&Rs that know she'll accept many sounds for one project, everyone wants a piece. Here's the kicker: Beyoncé pays full price for each song she wants to keep, whether it makes the project or stays in the vault. EVERYONE has a Beyoncé writing story. (Until I figure out which era these are from, I won't include anything on the original post.)

I hope not. I've noticed both UK / US markets are very fickle with Black British girls after the first BIG era. She should release the lead for her next album instead so she can prolong her moment. Because the US is always late to the show, releasing a deluxe of their breakout album (with some new tracks geared to the US market) instead of a single towards their next album wrecked the momentum of Leona Lewis, Corinne Bailey Rae, Rebecca Ferguson, and Emeli Sande stateside, and they never got it back. (Sidebar: In an interesting move, SYCO never got around to marketing Alexandra Burke in the US, even after working with US producers, filming music videos in the US, and working on a US record deal. ) Raye avoided this pitfall by releasing standalone single "Prada", something for a soundtrack, and a few features for others instead. Very glad "Where Is My Husband" wasn't a re-release single.

Dance music is her wheelhouse, and David Guetta her best collaborator. ("When Love Takes Over", "Forever And A Day", "Commander") I even have a feeling David Guetta reserved a feature slot for her on his biggest stateside album Nothing But The Beat and she turned it down last-minute, resulting in the demo songwriter getting a big hook opportunity:

The Acoustic mix reminds me so much of the lush guitar intro of this Alex Isley (a daughter of the Isley Brothers) record:

4 weeks in and it's looking like "Morning Dew (Donk)" is here to stay for the summer! Putting its peak at #26 for the time being in very esteemed company ('Bodyguard" and "I'm That Girl").

Does anyone know what ended up happening to this beat? Was it lost to 1501 / 300? If so... this would've been enough to reach that 45-minute runtime threshold on Something For Thee Hotties.

Now that I hear the album and subject matter as a whole... I really wish she kept the vitriol of "How I Look On You" for this project. Would've provided a nice change of tempo. In hindsight it didn't fit a Thank U, Next context as previously suggested, but was way too high in quality for Charlie's Angels. Dare I say this could've been a good second single (with "Petal" becoming third single - album release day).

She writes a lot of her songs, no? Out of her 30 airplay top 10s, her debut album singles run, "Just A Dream", "Blown Away", "Dirty Laundry', "Church Bells," and "Ghost Story" are the only outliers. Let's just say her lows have never reached the lows of those who confuse writing everything with quality.

I agree with you.... yikes. Also surprised both took priority over Carrie Underwood who was the backbone of women on Country Radio from 2006-2018. I don't think any woman in modern country will break her streak of Country Airplay Top 10s (30 with "Ghost Story").

I'm so glad! Top 2 on her project. This could qualify for the new R&B Collaboration with vocals category and/or Gospel as well. My number one is "I Will Overcome." I hope that gets a video too. It could be really low budget and follow the lyrics: I just see her drunkenly walking through the dark night of Paris but briefly stopping to see her old pop self in the reflective glass of a boutique window, jumping on a penthouse hotel bed with a vinyl playing and a plate of cake in hand, rain, streetlamps, and maybe a troupe of ballet dancers when the symphony orchestra takes over in the outro.

I'm so glad. My Twitter feed was in two camps with their guesses: H.E.R. and Brandy/Beyonce/Patti Labelle/Gladys Knight/Jazmine Sullivan. Am I aging myself to say I wanted it to be in her growly, "Beggin' and Pleadin'", "Jefferson's Outro" Aretha-esque pocket, and not so much her 'Put It Down f. Chris Brown' bag?

I don't know if I would give Harry Styles credit for that sound in a post-"Blinding Lights" world. "I Feel It Coming," "Save Your Tears," "Twilight Zone," "Blinding Lights," and "Bunny Hop" are all cousins.

I disagree. She has created an argument for the most musically expansive + critically acclaimed 7th, 8th, and (potentially) 9th albums while still a key figure of the music industry zeitgeist in history. The acclaim shows it, the unsung heroes each project woke up and brought renewed attention to show it, the sold-out short (but strategically-venued) stadium tours show it, the spaces each album remain sacred to show it, and the fact every song has charted on Part 1 and Part II shows it. (Multiple solo #1 singles, top 10s, and takeovers of the dance-electronic, R&B, and country songs charts) The loss of direction you see is due to wrangling behind-the-scenes: Rumors swirling that Netflix (home of her Christmas special + Homecoming - with a current 3-project deal on the table) balked at the price of the visual project and left-field design (Nadia Lee Cohen), removing future teasers of visuals from subsequent album rollouts until a "home" can be formally locked down. The visuals themselves: will she keep them wacky-and-sci-fi (think CC tour visuals)? Or tweak pieces like Lemonade with incorporation of more "approachable" Melina / Jake Nava / Pierre Debuscherre / Jonas Akurlund additions? AMC's leader leaking news of her Renaissance Concert film early to satiate theater distributors angry they couldn't prepare properly for the previous Eras Tour film? BAD business, especially for someone who thrives on synergy and loyalty like a Beyonce. He broke the NDA, sabotaged the relationship, and I have a feeling the CC Tour Film and 3rd Tour Film (which I assume were to be distributed similarly - what would have been another indication of some formal promotional structure to the trilogy) were jeopardized. She's currently in a strange / mysterious strategic partnership with Disney (Black Is King, Making The Gift, Lion King IP) where she probably doesn't want to ask for too much as it looks like Blue might be starring in a live-action remake of Lion King 2: Simba's Pride, and they handled the entire Busbee controversial release on Lion King premiere day seamlessly. HBO is not the singular prestige entertainment distributor it was at the time of Peabody-winning Lemonade and her previous tour specials: she now has to contend with Apple+ TV and a few other players. Will there be a fashion component? Many people saw the direction of this album and think Agnes Dereon (the family fashion matriarch) might be incorporated in some way like Uncle Johnny (Renny), Uncle Butch (CC), and her paternal great-grandfather Davis Hogue (Sir Davis). Is Ivy Park / Dereon coming back to collaborate with a department store (like a Macy's). fast-fashion (like H&M), or some high-fashion atelier (Louis Vuitton, Rabanne)? Narrative-wise, how does "Delresto (Echoes)" fit into the larger theme of the visuals? We saw the newspaper print which brought up discussions of a fictional gotham like Echoville, aliens, and other sci-fi themes.... but the world-building has not been fleshed out (publicly) yet. All of these could be wrapped up with a bow in time for the end of 2026 if fates allow and deals are made, so I still think there's a chance for all of the clouds behind-the-scenes to clear.

Tangentially related to this: The way so many participating people see an album track become a multiplatinum top 20 and think they can suddenly cash in is funny. TBH, this is the consequence with creating a successful piece of art with so many varied influences (18 co-writers): legal advisors will tell each writer desperate for wealth (Right Said Fred - nasty pieces of work who expected a sweet-heart TS Madison "Cozy" deal after she announced hers and just got the industry regular fee, the supposed owners of "Moonraker", etc.) that they could be making more royalties from the song as a reason to recruit them for legal representation. Then it becomes a Wild West tug-of-war between the attorneys that represent the writers. You can only split 100% of Royalties on the writing side so many ways. I'm intrigued to see how promissory estoppel / detrimental reliance will play into this litigation.