Cbreezy

Very confused about what is going on (Donk is not a B'Day song lol), but alas I'm along for the ride. Have a hunch the Jay remix (which is cute btw) is: For Grammy submissions (bookmark: they will for sure submit) To give them something "new" to perform at his upcoming London shows To elongate Donk ahead of whatever meatier ish is on the anniversary edition We're probably extremely close to a proper reveal about what said anniversary edition will show up as (cover, tracklist, variants etc). The "buzz" around helps anchor that. Wouldn't be surprised if it was even later today. Somehow living between acute excitement and frustration that all of this just means we legit are not as close to Act III as we hoped. Unless there's some crazy/unlikely bait-and-switch surprise with the rollout.

Clocked this, too! Can we talk...

FINALLY! It's crystal clear that NDAs, industry etiquette, and setting up a firm landing elsewhere are what have kept them quiet, but this is the exact degree of candidness that helps her personal PR. Being honest like this positively massages her perception with the GP. I get that outright JoJo honesty may not have been in Mani's best interest if still angling to exist in the major label system post-RCA. But she reclaims her power from the haters and educates the confused by giving some semblance of context. The radio silence allowed others to make her a punchbag and a punchline. The apparent Brandon tea is my kind of reveal, because it's extremely nuanced in a way that makes the extent of her awkward position make so much more sense. Piecing together things, I get the vibe... IMO, the present feels like: * She is off RCA (this much I feel I even had confirmed offline) * Not convinced she's had a new label this whole time; they were probably shopping a deal. As of now, they're talking like something is in place. Very interested in who it could be. Another major? Jive recently relaunched. Uptown Records relaunched. Could she do a Raye and go the premium indie route? * They are lining up the right endorsement partnerships to properly fund the vision. Not sure I buy that she has the kind of leverage needed to yield a huge deal at a new label. What feels more plausible is a "decent" deal, which, if they're on it, will be more of a label services partnership and gives her lots of flexibility re what she records, who she works with, and when it's allowed to drop. It'll likely be a light investment with flexibility to plug in brands for video placement to fund the type of visuals she's trying to create. * The 5H reunion is clearly happening and she will use it as the springboard for her solo return. I think we need to manage expectations about what that means for the "when". It's August and there's no 5H announcement of yet. So, realistically, any kind of tour is looking like next year. Earliest end of this year. With that, if Mani is using it to her benefit, her ish will be after. Most we may get is a new label announcement. * More performances for visibility and coin $.

What's this looking to do chart-wise?

Love her, but seems this flopped in a major way. Everywhere. I'm puzzled by what's at play. All at once, she feels like a label priority (as evidenced by the all-out promo post-release), but the pre-release silence and fan calls for her to even share the pre-save link were telling. Have a hunch that something is up (label-side?) There's also a baffling disconnect between her profile and her success. The latter lags majorly, while her name feels like it has growing stock to it. Will be interesting to see if it's a case of keep swinging the bat and something will stick OR a case of another MPG hopeful whose full potential we will never see.

Re-reading the rep statement was hella concerning, Topline, the "taking a break because of scrutiny" part is totally understandable. It's both direct enough and vague enough to both explain and protect her/whatever is going on. That part is good PR. However, the overt coating of "healthily" and "athletic show" is BS gaslighting at its finest. And, IMO, is the exact type of spiel that fuels that terrible trolling she receives. As others have said, maybe it was the agreed-upon medium needed to all at once explain her imminent hiatus while not fessing to what so obviously is going on (assuming, for instance, she's in denial or just doesn't want to give the haters their "gotcha" moment). At the same time, telling us she is healthy when that is so clearly not the case is not helpful at all. A sky is green, while it's clearly blue, tea.

Wishing her the best. I'm a casual fan at most (she is immensely talented and easily the top of the crop of the 2010 newbies), but I admittedly don't follow-follow her ish beyond surface engagement in her eras. So, I've been nonethewiser about the growing talk about ED etc within her fandom. Like most, it became glaringly obvious something was up just before Wicked (iirc, 2022/2023). In a post Chadwick Boseman-situation, my initial thinking was that it's important to be extremely careful about commenting on ish without full context. HOWEVER... It is beyond clear that something very serious is up. And that it's unlikely to be terminal illness. At a topline level, there is no conceivable way she'd have passed insurance for the projects and tours she's embarking on if she were ill, Chadwick-style. Not to mention, no one looks that kind of terminal fragile for years on end. So, it's almost certainly not...that. Logically speaking. Beyond one's own logic, seeing the floods of people with ED themselves (past and present) referencing how mirroring her appearance, antics, and the overall situation is to theirs, not to mention how triggering it is to see it on such a mainstage, has been validating to what most of us can see to be the case. While I think it is important to be delicate with how we discuss this publicly, it is extremely dangerous to pretend nothing is going on. Some of the idol worship existent in stan culture is scary af. Either zombified, brainwashed hot takes that she just lost baby fat and is healthier than ever or over-the-top demands for folk to stay silent on something so glaring and worrying. Yet, let anything happen to her and it will be "why did no one step in?' Like, WTF. I also find the politics around weight contradictory. Because should any of our faves blow up in weight like a house, I'm not sure the discourse will be so demanding of the "be kind" rhetoric. I would like to think this break will yield her the rest and intervention recovery needed. I also legit feel like someone finally stepped in. The various forces that power her career were probably fine letting her press on so long as the $$$ rolled in. But the optics atm are horrendous and heads will roll should anything happen to her. As an MJ fan, those "post-worst-thing-happening" lawsuits are no joke. Everything and everyone would come under immense scrutiny. E.g., how did she pass the insurance physical for the tour? Why was she allowed to do XYZ movie when her medical records confirm extreme ED in that exact timeframe? Etc. It won't be pretty. So, both at a literal level for her and, dare I say at a corporate level for everyone else, this hiatus is honestly in everyone's best interest. I still cannot believe that Petal video was ok'd for release. Shocking.

412k US streams on Spotify. Good or bad? I know she + Hip Hop in general does better on Apple (which has higher chart weighting0.

A BOP! She's going for it with the CD singles. Slightly worried about the debut given the Ariana avalanche. Still, the physical sales may give this a leg up. Optimistic: #9 or #10 on the dot (if a quiet week) Realistic: Top 20/30 because of the Ariana tracks. The great part here is that the song is great, so radio, remixes, etc may help this become an actual summer hit.

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.

Hmmm. I have thoughts, but will save them. I like/appreciate the spin, though. Totally random (or maybe not) ,I am thankful she's in her stride with Cecred.

Yes and no, no and yes. Bey is s a vocal beast and has a voice that is up there as the best of today. But she also lips a lot. Almost certainly for preservation and perfectionism when it comes to showmanship, but let's also be actual and factual.

Love ya, but you tried it. I don't need to be a dancer to understand the concept of showmanship, pacing, aging gracefully, and what could be tweaked. All I'm saying, and maybe I could land it better, is: I stan dancers. Many legacy dancers at that. MJ, Janet, Bey, etc. Janet absolutely is doing what Fatima said. She lets the spectacle happen around her. And increasingly so. But, trust and believe, when that 'If' dance break hits, she punches tf in. Even now at 60. Same with the 'All for You' choreo. if we're keeping it a buck, and every body/dancer is different, one could actually argue Janet's dance style is more intricate/full-out to Bey's mix of seductive, accessible, and equally technical. So, by that yardstick, I'm not really able to give her passes. MJ, while not the best example given what ultimately happened. But he too adapted his style as time went on. So, while he leaned heavily into the spectacle more than the all-out choreo for every single beat (especially with what was about to be This Is It), it was a given that woud absolutely body Billie Jean every time, he'd hit the Beat It crescendo, etc. I'm not saying Bey is doing none of that, And again, I absolutely believe she would be wise to scale back in places/pockets, but there is still a show to give and an expectation of the "Beyonce' experience. So, if that knee is healed, I frankly don't want to see her sitting down for Virgo's Groove, walking up and down for BMS, or doing the bare minimum shimmy shake (at most) for her most upbeat hit in a long while: Cuff It. Like, can we be serious? There is a world where several things (aging gracefully, scaling back, keeping up the illusion of high energy in places, and aiming for longevity) can all exist at the same time!

I'm with you and we're actually on the same page. For me, I'm more than happy with her scaling back for longevity purposes. But it's more about what she chooses to "punch in" for. Why bother with a Thique routine (or the song at all) on CCT and make fan fave Bodyguard such a non-event? Similarly on RWT, there were songs that got more only for her to make main attractions like BMS and Cuff It so nothingy by contrast. There no issue with her scaling back (it's actually smart), it's the how, when, and where she does it in the show that needs tweaking,

I love Fatima, but have always been mad at her for this lol. In reality, I literally get it and may even agree with a bit of it, but I come from the school of more is more. Granted, we know Bey had some ish going on with her leg; there is a magic that makes Bey who she is. I'm all for dialing back to preserve her long-term ability, but diluting too much takes away from Beyonce being "Beyonce". RWT found its stride and was amazing by its climax, but we're in collective agreement that something felt different (in general and with her) and took time to get into. CCT (which Fatima's team did not do, btw) felt like the ever-so-slight incline of this same Fatima ethos (even in her absence). I agree the rigors of performing all-out (and the pressure to keep up with that standard) are what have left us without MJ, Prince, Whitney, and more. But, the reality is, if MJ were still with us, the expectation would be for him to dance down, Moonwalk, and be MJ with understood acceptance of him scaling back a lil with age. With some artists, like MJ, Bey, and similar, it just is what it is. I can make peace with Bey pulling back a lil, but on two conditions: 1) she continues to GO FOR IT in her visuals. There are no excuses when having the benefit of cuts and edits. 2) On stage, there needs to be a better dispersal between her laid-back and all-out moments. There will continue to be no excuse for her doing so little during key UPTEMPO songs (like BMS, Cuff It, Bodyguard). I'd prefer she shorten the show for a tighter all-out experience than sitting on sofas (that Levi's Jeans setup was wild in the worst way) in order to pace out a stretched-out runtime.