swissman

it would be iconic. like starring in two commercials with new music in them, performing the songs on tour, but not releasing anything until December 13th, 2013, and neither song being on that release.

Looking back now... I'm glad Flawless remix wasn't able to be its own hit.

Coming back to this, I think for it to be an "incorrect gamble" we'd have to prove that her not allowing it to go #1 has hurt your career or her legacy. Since she very effortlessly got two more solo #1s on her following two solo albums after Lemonade, I think it's hard to say that she took a gamble by not properly releasing Formation, and that it didn't pay off, or that it did her a disservice. And considering the moment she gave her lead singer's a proper chance, she had the literal peak of success with it, I think it was the correct gamble.

It's been announced.

Beyoncé withholding Formation for three months while giving it away for free and performing it at the Super Bowl will always be one of my fave moves she's done in her career. I think valuing a #1 more than actual bold, idgaf, confident goat energy is weird.

is it really so hard to grasp what she's doing with MORNING DEW (DONK) ? I mean, it came with a press release.

I don't think this changes what I said though, which is that Beyoncé made it so her worth was not measured by the scope of her hits, but by the content of her work.

anyway this remix ep is really good, it's nonstop over here. it did take more than a listen to get used to the new production but now I can barely remember what the original was, and it feels like it was created for this song. I never really got "DONK"'s appeal before, it very much sounded like it was unreleased for a reason and listening to Grown Woman last night, another ST-era fan-service gift, I feel similarly. Obviously GW is a great, fun song, but I am so glad she didn't put it out in 2013 as planned. It maybe would have been a moderate hit but if she didn't start thinking differently about her career and just went on with the status quo like GW and SOTS, then she'd have been chasing hits. I really adore that our fave does things her way, and while J.Lo, Britney, and Christina were chasing current sounds in the early/mid 2010s without also thinking about the artistry behind it, or how it fits into their broader career, or how it paves the way for their future career and then being measured by their chart positions rather for their career or artistry, Beyoncé was purposefully flopping with Formation (a current sounding song but with bigger aspirations than the charts) without it hurting her career or reputation one bit. and I'm in awe of that as a stan, because really this is uncharted territory. Even Prince didn't maintain this sort of cultural savvy, artistic appreciation (for his new work) and continued relevance in his withholding eras.

If you are a Beyoncé fan in 2026 then one should know that even a hint is not a guarantee, so getting upset because something you decided was a hint wasn't fulfilled is not really her fault. I get your point overall, that any negatively she receives could be avoided by actually being up front, but I'm not defending her alone, per se. I'm talking about it from the point of view of being a stan... we could just allow her to do whatever and be content, or we can hold her accountable to every supposed hint and be in a continual state of distress. Which is a more pleasing state?

That is an entirely different thing than what I've stated though. I said the first two acts were released in a moment where the music was suited to the cultural moment. Supposed hints don't constitute a cultural moment.

They're not on pins and needles, but if your point is that there's so much going on that the average person doesn't care about her releases, wouldn't that be all the more reason for Beyoncé to tease and draw things out to build hype? and anyway, if you put her song on a playlist, then you are engaging with her in a low-stakes way, and in that way she is building up demand for act iii, something which, by the way, deserves to have a little more hype and fanfare leading into it than the first two acts. I'm glad she's not rushing into it.

For the past five years this base has been full of expectations for a release on September 4th... surely, they said, she would release something on her birthday (the visuals, an album, a single, something) despite never actually having done that before in her career except for B'Day. BUT NOW she is releasing something on her birthday and we're upset? Why? Because you want it to be something else? It's not. Now what? I know we are all allowed to have our own expectations and feelings, but at some point it would be wise to not set yourself up to be angry considering you know Beyoncé isn't following any traditional rollout or expectation. If you don't understand this and you are still getting upset, it might be time to relax and let her do what she wants, no expectations, no thinking you know what she's going to do next, no thinking you know better than her (or at least, no being angry about it). I've been saying this longer than this trilogy began, too. I guess if you wanna complain go ahead though.

May 29th felt like the right moment for the Hive because it was the 29th and after the Met Gala. And because the Hive wanted it to be. That's it. What other reasons made it the right reason for a rock album, culturally? Is it because Charli was releasing a song called Rock Music? That's just reason for a delay, really. Perhaps when she releases it there will be no "right moment" cultural feeling anyway but if we review: act i, a dance album, was released just as people were emerging again, ready to party after the pandemic act ii, a political country album, was released during a contentious American election year If we are always looking for clues, why are we overlooking her intentions and only using calendar clues? What I've said here, and what I'm saying, is she might just be waiting to build hype while also waiting for the right moment.

ngl it doesn't even feel like it would be the right moment to release act iii so I duno why people are so mad. both previous acts were perfectly timed for their concept/moment.

It's Beyoncé and it's 2026. Expecting us to know anything until it's happening is futile.