Beyonce

The singer's seventh studio album, “Renaissance,” is fast approaching, and Queen Bey has been sprinkling a trail of breadcrumbs leading to its release. On June ...

“I’m tellin’ everybody, everybody.” —”Heated” —”Move” —”Energy” On Wednesday, however, the album reportedly leaked online approximately 36 hours before its scheduled release. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking.

Kelis put Beyoncé and Pharrell Williams on blast Thursday for sampling one of the singer's songs without her permission or even advance notice.

“It’s called thievery because ... the definition of collaboration, it means that we are working together,” she added. “My mind is blown too because the level of disrespect and utter ignorance of all 3 parties involved is astounding,” she wrote in the comments of the fan account’s post. “The reality is, all of this female empowerment, it only counts if you really do it,” she said. He does this all the time, it’s very petty,” she said, while insisting that she is not jealous of Beyoncé. “If you’re really living it and walking the walk. I have the right to be frustrated,” she said in the first video, just hours before Beyoncé's new album is set to be released.

While Beyoncé has a songwriting credit for every song on the new album, her decision to tap many collaborators for the project is in keeping with her past work.

One only need look as far as “Break My Soul,” which credits house legend Robin S., thanks to an interpolation of the synths from her oft-sampled song “Show Me Love.” While the interpolation itself is fairly subtle, Beyoncé shows an admirable dedication to giving credit where credit is due to the artists whose work has touched her albums. Sampling and interpolation have now become mainstays of the music industry, especially as hip hop and R&B, genres that have long relied on samples as part of the craft, have become more mainstream. The most surprising of the songwriters might just be the polarizing indie rocker Father John Misty, who got connected with Beyoncé through the producer Emile Haynie (also a credited songwriter on the track). Father John Misty ended up writing the first verse and the catchy “jealous and crazy” refrain. However, the songwriting credits for rapper Soulja Boy probably best epitomize why contemporary music, especially hip hop and R&B with their heavy sampling and interpolation, has so many songwriters. That album boasted 72 songwriters in addition to Queen Bey. The sizable number spawned many a think piece and even a questionable meme, with detractors making the case that Beyoncé’s creative talent or finished project was somehow diminished by working with multiple collaborators. A single which dropped in June, “Break My Soul,” suggested that the album might be strongly influenced by house music.

Kelis reportedly did not approve of Beyoncé using a sample from her 1999 hit “Get Along With You” on 'Renaissance.' The Neptunes' Pharrell Williams and Chad ...

In 2020, she revealed to the Guardian that she allegedly did not make any money from the sales of her first two albums, which were produced by the duo. Kelis, known for hits like “Bossy” and “Milkshake,” is publicly criticizing Beyoncé for not receiving a heads up that her 1999 song “Get Along With You” was being used on the Renaissance cut “Energy.” But the issue is larger than just the one track: Kelis is also criticizing the Neptunes’ Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who she worked with on her first album, for not crediting her to begin with on the original song and then, 20 years later, using it without even notifying her. The R&B singer soon commented on the post, expressing her disbelief: “My mind is blown too because the level of disrespect and utter ignorance of all 3 parties involved is astounding. In a follow-up post, Kelis said that “all this female empowerment stuff only counts if you really do it if you’re really living it and walking the walk” and then noted the hypocrisy when it comes to Williams and music ownership, citing a Variety interview where Williams championed artist rights and ownership of their work. Kelis called Williams “petty” and that he “does this shit all the time” in order to spite her. It all started on July 25, when a Kelis fan page on Instagram posted that Beyoncé would be sampling ”Get Along With You,” thus breaking the news to Kelis herself.

The cover of Beyoncé's "Renaissance" album. Beyoncé transforms into a disco diva on her new album, “Renaissance.”Columbia Records. Music ...

It’s also an homage to the dance greats who came before her; disco diva Grace Jones returned to the studio for a rare feature on “Move,” and Robin S.’s 1990 house classic “Show Me Love” is sampled on the Great Resignation-backed lead single “Break My Soul.” Her bars may be dirtier than ever, but “Renaissance” is a classic Beyoncé album through and through. “America Has a Problem” is similarly deceiving with its political-sounding title.

Beyoncé is opening up in an open letter — even sharing a rare photo of her three kids — ahead of Friday's release of her seventh studio album, "Renaissance.

And a special thanks to my beautiful husband and muse, who held me down during those late nights in the studio,” she wrote. "I hope you find joy in this music," she told them. A place to scream, release, feel freedom." This is a celebration for you." "A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. I love you,” she wrote.

More than six years after the lauded visual album Lemonade, Beyoncé returns, evolves and responds to a very different world.

You may click on “Your Choices” below to learn about and use cookie management tools to limit use of cookies when you visit NPR’s sites. If you click “Agree and Continue” below, you acknowledge that your cookie choices in those tools will be respected and that you otherwise agree to the use of cookies on NPR’s sites. NPR’s sites use cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about the device you use to access our sites (together, “cookies”) to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPR’s traffic.

He was my godmother and the first person to expose me to a lot of the music and the culture that serve as an inspiration for this album.”

“A big thank you to my uncle Jonny,” she writes. “He was my godmother and the first person to expose me to a lot of the music and the culture that serve as an inspiration for this album.” Friday marks another cultural reset, with music superstar Beyoncé preparing to release her seventh solo studio album, Renaissance, which was announced to the world when she dropped its lead single “ Break My Soul” in June. On Thursday, a letter was posted to Beyoncé’s website that included a special message of thanks to her uncle Jonny, who was gay.

Beyoncé's highly anticipated seventh studio album, 'Renaissance' Act I, is out now. A visual component to the record will be released at a later date.

Renaissance celebrates physical movement and expression, and includes 16 songs for the first installment of what Bey calls a “three-act” experience (which likely means two more Beyoncé albums will be coming in the near future). “Break My Soul” led the charge of collaboration and callbacks for the new era, with the singer interpolating the synths from “Show Me Love” by Robin S. While the record is filled with plenty of more collabs and samples, including artists like The-Dream, Nile Rodgers, NOVA, NO ID, Raphael Saadiq, Mike Dean, Honey Dijon, Chris Penny, Luke Solomon, Skrillex, Beam, Big Freedia, Grace Jones, and Tems, it doesn’t let us forget that Beyoncé, herself, is “that girl.” It’s finally here: Beyoncé’s Renaissance Act I has arrived as another piece of art in the BeyHive Museum of Culture. Despite being a leader in the visual album format, Beyoncé’s latest release will not have a visual component — yet. According to a press release, the singer “decided to lead without visuals, giving fans the opportunity to be limitless in their expansive listening journey.” The lead single off the album, “Break My Soul,” had limited visuals when it dropped too (there was a bare bones lyric video that accompanied its release) foreshadowing the wait for more Yoncé. The album is also not a digital-only release — a deluxe CD and vinyl is available for purchase for physical media fans, if you can still snag a copy.

Popular on Rolling Stone · Yes, Renaissance is a dance album. But where are the ballads? · No, “America Has a Problem” isn't an explicitly political song. But ...

“I can be the one that takes you there/I can be your ecstasy,” she sings on “Virgo’s Groove” while inviting the lover she’s relaxing with to lift her blouse. “I like it rough,” she lilts on “Plastic off the Sofa.” For “Heated,” she flirts, “Now I want to flaunt it/Panty and a bra/We can get involved.” She also seemingly references chemical substances. However, she also clarifies on “I’m That Girl,” “Don’t need drugs for some freak shit/I’m just high all the time.” “Comfortable in my skin/Cozy with who I am,” she sings on “Cozy.” “Paint the world pussy pink.” “I just fell in love/I just quit my job,” she sings. (As with everything Beyoncé does, this one verse generated Great Resignation headlines by itself.) Meanwhile, on “Energy,” she rhymes, “I just entered the country with Derringers/’Cause them Karens just turned into terrorists.” “Just know I roll with them goons/In case you start acting familiar/This kind of love, big business,” she asserts in a sung-rap flow. Songs like “Halo” and “Irreplaceable” remain some of the most treasured numbers in her extensive catalog. Just as the interpolation of Robin S.’s “Show Me Love” in “Break My Soul”promised, Renaissance has melodies that hearken to peak hours in club history. No one expects Honey Dijon — the famed DJ who co-produced “Cozy” with another Chicago house legend, the delightful oddball Green Velvet — to throw on a beat-stopping ballad in the middle of a Boiler Room set. “Crazy in Love,” “Baby Boy,” “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” “Love on Top,” “***Flawless”: there are too many classics to list here. From the instant hit “Break My Soul” to her photo shoot for British Vogue and making physical copies available for pre-order on her website (sorry, they’re currently sold out), the release of Reniassance has been one of the more refreshing, and exciting, rollouts of the past year.

"Act I" of Beyoncé's seventh studio album, recorded over the last three years of pandemic life, has just gone live.

Really, what could say “I desire a release from ennui” like riding through the universe on a horse made out of the galaxy brain meme? Said themes include a general desire for freedom, escape, joy, and other reliefs from the monotony that we imagine gets down even those of us who happen to be Beyoncé; of course, you didn’t really need us to lay that out for you, since all those ideas are perfectly encapsulated in the album’s cover. More specifically, she’s released Renaissance: Act I, but since this thing is 16 tracks long, we’re going to go ahead and take it as qutie a bit more than a prologue.

Beyoncé's seventh album, "Renaissance," is a 16-song opus that delves into sex and self-worth, all while beckoning listeners onto the dance floor.

“Summer Renaissance”: Beyoncé wraps her ambitious opus with a nod to Donna Summer as a sample of “I Feel Love” swirls in the background. “Plastic Off the Sofa”: Beyoncé’s tremendous vocals are showcased in this pretty package of soulful nostalgia that cools down the tempo with woozy guitar strains and angelic backing vocals. “Energy”: A spicy banger that features Jamaican rapper Beam and samples Kelis’ 1999 song “Get Along With You,” which has incited some controversy. “America Has a Problem”: The most intriguingly titled song on the album includes production from The-Dream, a co-write by husband Jay-Z and a jittery hi-hat powering the production. “Move”: With guests Grace Jones (!) and Nigerian singer Tems backing her, Beyoncé is strident and fierce. “Alien Superstar”: Synthesizers creep in the background of this futuristic romp that is lyrically rich and musically zigzagging.

The artist's first record since Lemonade has been met with a blockbuster response – and a spot of controversy.

In a Guardian interview from 2020, Kelis claimed she was “blatantly lied to and tricked” by her early collaborators the Neptunes and, as a result, “made nothing from sales of her first two albums”. In a Vulture interview earlier this year, Hugo brushed off the comments: “I heard about her sentiment toward that. House musician Robin S, whose track Show Me Love is sampled in Beyoncé’s Break My Soul, has said she was also unaware of the usage before the single’s release – though she received the news more positively. “I appreciate you for calling out anyone that was trying to sneak into the club early.” “I can’t thank y’all enough for your love and protection,” she said. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom.”

The pop star's seventh solo album is “Act I” of work born during the pandemic, a time she “found to be the most creative,” she said in a statement.

“He was my godmother and the first person to expose me to a lot of the music and culture that serve as an inspiration for this album,” she wrote. The performance was later turned into a Netflix special and an album, both titled “Homecoming.” In an explanatory statement posted to Instagram last month that Beyoncé expanded on her website on Thursday, she said “Renaissance” was part of a “three act project” she recorded during the pandemic. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. She announced the album more than a month ahead of time, did an interview with British Vogue, put out the single “Break My Soul,” revealed a track list and finally began posting on TikTok. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” she added, thanking her followers “for your love and protection.”

Beyoncé dropped her seventh solo album, “Renaissance,” on Thursday night as scheduled, calling out those who leaked the album two days early.

Late last month, Beyoncé surprise-dropped “Break My Soul,” the first single from the album. "My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment. It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when little else was moving.

"So, the album leaked and you all actually waited until the proper release time so you all can enjoy it together," Beyonce writes.

To date, none of her studio albums have missed the No. 1 chart target. A place to scream, release, feel freedom. My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment. Her message continues, “Thank you for your unwavering support,” she continued. It means the world to me.” I appreciate you for calling out anyone that was trying to sneak into the club early.

Beyonce, seen here performing in 2016, just dropped her new album. (CNN) You should know by now that a Beyoncé album release is ...

Witnessing his battle with HIV was one of the most painful experiences I've ever lived." "I appreciate you for calling out anyone that was trying to sneak into the club early," she wrote. "He was brave and unapologetic during a time when this country wasn't as accepting. This is a celebration for you." So much to digest, so much to dissect and so much to dance to. "I've never seen anything like it.

Kelis accused Beyoncé of “theft” after Queen Bey sampled her 1999 song “Get Along With You” in “Energy.” The “Milkshake” singer, 42, took to Instagram to ...

Black queens can have conflict and also resolve.” … Kelis needs 2 take up her misplaced anger with her former label.” “I heard about this the same way everyone else did,” she continued. “It’s just common decency … even if you’re gonna do it anyway.” The reality is, this is frustrating. “This is a direct hit at me.

On her 2016 masterpiece, Lemonade, Beyoncé gifted us with a stunning “visual album” that was at the vanguard of Black contemporary art — an aural analog to ...

The cleverly titled “America Has a Problem,” which samples from Atlanta rapper Kilo Ali’s 1990 song “Cocaine (America Has a Problem),” is a cool-as-the-inside-of-an-ice-cream-truck banger, driven by stark chords and jittery drums, wherein Bey talks up her addictive properties (”I’m-a make you go weak for me/Make you wait a whole week for me”), insinuating that when a bossed-up Black woman is as swaggy and on-point as she always is, that’s a threat to the very power structure in this country. But for the woman who coined the actual Webster’s term “bootylicious” some 20 years ago, “Thique,” with its would-be salacious references to “that jelly, baby,” “that candy-girl piñata,” and “that oochie coochie la la” come off a tad trite, as if Beyoncé absentmindedly consulted some instant IG caption generator. And she sings with plain-spoken passion, confessing later on that “I think you’re so cool, even though I’m cooler than you,” while sounding flirty and down-to-earth, as if she’s just some regular woman enjoying her baecation, and not the most famous singer on the planet in a state-of-the-art home with multiple Basquiat paintings hanging on its walls. On the languorous “Plastic on the Sofa,” Bey croons, “I love the little things that make you you,” over lilting bass and sunny guitars whose warm Seventies aura recalls peak Minnie Riperton. It’s a heartfelt ode to everything Beyoncé loves about being in love. Most captains of industry with roughly the same net worth as Bey will tell you that coolness doesn’t scale — you can’t do Kmart numbers if the very “it” factor to your boutique brand is owed to its exclusivity. On her 2016 masterpiece, Lemonade, Beyoncé gifted us with a stunning “visual album” that was at the vanguard of Black contemporary art — an aural analog to curator Kimberly Drew’s beloved Tumblr theme around Black artists.

With fifteen new songs in addition to “Break My Soul,” Queen Bey has gifted us a hefty chunk of new music to soundtrack our foreseeable future. From ...

“Cuff It,” fittingly the fourth track on Renaissance, combines all of the hallmarks of Beyoncé’s artistry into one gargantuan display of excellence. Across Renaissance, you’ll hear the rasp of her self-titled album, the gritty funk of 4 and B’Day, and the bright flirtatiousness of Dangerously In Love. On the aptly titled “Virgo’s Groove” you get every shade of Beyoncé’s voice in one behemoth of a song. “Break My Soul” all but guaranteed an uptempo dance album, so the existence and function of slower tracks remained a question mark until the night of the album’s release. Clearly dedicated to the preachers’ kids who start their weekends in the club and end their weekends in a church pew, “Church Girl” is the kind of uber-specific celebration of Black music that genuinely inspires awe. In many ways, “Break My Soul” is the thesis of Renaissance. From a structural and musical standpoint, this is easily the most traditional and accessible song on the album. There wasn’t a more fitting way to conclude Renaissance than using the track that interpolates Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love.” In 2003, Beyoncé earned one of her first solo hits with “Naughty Girl” — a track that borrowed an early hook from Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You Baby.” Nearly two decades later, Queen Bey brings her most experimental album to a close with a song that cleverly incorporates its sample into a soundscape primed to flaunt her otherworldly vocal acrobatics. When a track opens with an announcement requesting that we “do not attempt to leave the dancefloor,” you know you’re in for a ride. “Thique” walks in the spirit of “Bootylicious,” and Beyoncé’s raspy vocal contrasts nicely with the sleek production. “Break My Soul” is an anthem of reclamation; Beyoncé is reclaiming her joy and inner peace. Beyoncé is far from the first name that comes to mind when thinking of mainstream artists likely to foray into the vast universe of hyperpop, but she sounds right at home in the genre on the ethereal “All Up In Your Mind” — which even features genre stalwart A.G. Cook as a writer and producer. Brooding synths and urgent bass bookmark “Thique.” One of the songs that appear in the back half of the album, “Thique” finds Beyoncé and her collaborators sauntering through lyrics that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Chlöe single. The skittish track uses a sample of Kilo Ali’s “Cocaine” to provide a canvas for some of the best rapping of Beyoncé’s career; it’s an ambitious song that reveals new rewards with every listen.

More than six years after the lauded visual album Lemonade, Beyoncé returns, evolves and responds to a very different world.

"A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. She addressed the leak, and the backlash from patient fans it received on social media, in a post just ahead of the album's actual release, writing: "I appreciate you for calling out anyone that was trying to sneak into the club early ... we are going to take our time and enjoy the music." Ha! And to feel as unique, strong, and sexy as you are." "My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment," Beyoncé's statement on her website reads. On her website, Beyoncé wrote of Renaissance, "This three act project was recorded over three years during the pandemic. Beyoncé's long-awaited and highly anticipated seventh studio album, Renaissance, is now available for the world to hear.

6 Revelations From Beyoncé's New Album Renaissance ... Beyonce performs during the 94th Academy Awards in Hollywood on March 27, 2022. ... Bow down to the new queen ...

Beyoncé dedicated her latest album to her uncle Johnny, who she refers to as her “godmother and first person to expose me to a lot of the music and culture that serve as inspiration for this album,” in Renaissance’s liner notes. So far, fans seem to be losing their mind over the twerktastic “Church Girl,” the out of this world “Alien Superstar,” opener “I’m That Girl,” and the sweet and sexy “Cozy.” The late Teena Marie-sampling “Cuff It” has also gotten a lot of love for sounding like classic Beyoncé with a twist. “If this [is] what Beyoncé was doing in the house the whole quarantine,” a fan joked on On the soulful “Church Girl,” she urges everyone to “drop it like a thottie” and shake those “pretty tig ol’ bitties.” “Thique” is an ode to anyone who has a little more to work with: “She say she on a diet, girl, you better not lose that ass, though.” On the more demure “Plastic on the Sofa,” she proclaims she likes it rough, before making it clear she needs “more nudity and ecstasy” on the sex-positive “Virgo’s Groove.” Dr. Ruth would be very proud. “Thank you to all of the pioneers who originate culture, to all of the fallen angels whose contributions have gone unrecognized for far too long. Trying to keep up with Beyoncé is just part of the fun, though. So go buy yourself a big bag of glow sticks and let the summer of house music continue. Renaissance offers a history lesson in dance music by paying homage to the genre’s many (many) forms. When putting together the list of collaborators for her latest album, Beyoncé really said legends only. a place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. “It allowed me to feel free and adventurous at a time when little else was moving.” “Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world,” Beyoncé explained in Renaissance’s liner notes.

A roundup of the songwriters who collaborated with Bey on 'Renaissance' -- and the songs that are sampled or interpolated on the album. By Joe Lynch ...

WRITTEN BY BEYONCÉ, DENISIA “@BLU_JUNE” ANDREWS FOR @NOVAWAV, BRITTANY “@CHI_CONEY” CONEY FOR @NOVAWAV, TERIUS “THE-DREAM” GESTEELDE-DIAMANT, LEVEN KALI, MIKE DEAN, ATIA BOGGS P/K/A INK, LEVAR COPPIN, SALIOU DIAGNE , RICKY LAWSON, DONNA SUMMER, GIORGIO MORODER, PETER BELLOTTE CONTAINS SAMPLE OF “COCAINE” WRITTEN BY TINO SANTRON MCINTOSH AND KILO AND PERFORMED BY KILO ALI. PUBLISHED BY OLIK MUSIC (BMI), SANTRON PUBLISHING (BMI) Renaissance was preceded by “Break My Soul,” a house-indebted anthem of resilience featuring frequent collaborator Big Freedia, which hit No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. WRITTEN BY BEYONCÉ, MICHAEL TUCKER, DARIUS DIXSON, MICHAEL POLLACK, DENISIA “@BLU_JUNE” ANDREWS FOR @NOVAWAV, BRITTANY “@CHI_CONEY” CONEY FOR @NOVAWAV, TERIUS “THE-DREAM” GESTEELDE-DIAMANT, RAPHAEL SAADIQ, MOI RENEE, ERIC SNEAD, JEREL BLACK, MICHAEL D COX , KEVIN MARQUIS BELLMON, ANDREW RICHARDSON, COUNT MAURICE "Thique" CONTAINS AN INTERPOLATION OF “OOO LA LA LA” WRITTEN BY MARY CHRISTINE BROCKERT, ALLEN HENRY MCGRIER AND PERFORMED BY TEENA MARIE. PUBLISHED BY MC NELLA MUSIC (ASCAP), MIDNIGHT MAGNET MUSIC PUBLISHING (ASCAP). CONTAINS AN INTERPOLATION OF “MILKSHAKE” WRITTEN BY PHARRELL WILLIAMS, CHAD HUGO AND PERFORMED BY KELIS. PUBLISHED BY WATERS OF NAZARETH PUBLISHING (GMR), EMI POP MUSIC PUBLISHING (GMR) AND UNIVERSAL MUSIC – CAREERS (BMI). CONTAINS A SAMPLE OF “EXPLODE” WRITTEN BY ADAM JAMES PIGOTT, FREEDIE ROSS AND PERFORMED BY BIG FREEDIA. PUBLISHED BY ADAM JAMES PIGOTT PUBLISHING DESIGNEE (BMI) AND GIRL DOWN (BMI). CONTAINS ELEMENTS OF “SHOW ME LOVE” WRITTEN BY GEORGE ALLEN, FRED CRAIG MCFARLANE AND PERFORMED BY ROBIN S. PUBLISHED BY EMI BLACKWOOD MUSIC INC (BMI) AND SONG A TRON MUSIC (BMI). CONTAINS A SAMPLE OF “EXPLODE” WRITTEN BY ADAM JAMES PIGOTT, FREEDIE ROSS AND PERFORMED BY BIG FREEDIA. PUBLISHED BY ADAM JAMES PIGOTT PUBLISHING DESIGNEE (BMI) AND GIRL DOWN (BMI). "Heated" Check out our ranking of the Renaissance tracks here and see which songwriters Beyoncé collaborated with on each of the 16 songs on Renaissance below. WRITTEN BY BEYONCÉ, RICHARD ISONG, ARIOWA IROSOGIE, DENISIA “@BLU_JUNE” ANDREWS FOR @NOVAWAV, BRITTANY “@CHI_CONEY” CONEY FOR @NOVAWAV, TEMILADE OPENIYI, RONALD BANFUL WRITTEN BY BEYONCÉ, DENISIA “@BLU_JUNE” ANDREWS FOR @NOVAWAV, BRITTANY “@CHI_CONEY” CONEY FOR @NOVAWAV, MORTEN RISTORP, RAPHAEL SAADIQ, TERIUS “THE-DREAM” GESTEELDE-DIAMANT, MARY CHRISTINE BROCKERT, ALLEN HENRY MC GRIER, NILE RODGERS "Cozy"

The expansive new album of the pop auteur feels even bigger than her reputation.

Elsewhere in the track list, she experiences a flash of carpe-diem panic while romping through the disco plushness of “ Virgo’s Groove,” singing about how she consulted a psychic who “told me we got s--- to do, we ain’t got time like we used to.” In the titular opening line of “ All Up In Your Mind,” she delivers her monosyllables in a skull-penetrating staccato, then burrows in deep, the way only the best pop singers can. Affirmation and locomotion are her twin themes here, and when she gets their edges to align this perfectly flush, it’s an invitation to shake your body to something that feels more optimistic than escapist, which is exactly how a superstar earns the right to name her pandemic-era album “ Renaissance.”

The new album pulls from '70s disco, '80s synth-pop, '90s house and afro-beats. In other words, it makes you want to dance. This is only the first act ...

You may click on “Your Choices” below to learn about and use cookie management tools to limit use of cookies when you visit NPR’s sites. If you click “Agree and Continue” below, you acknowledge that your cookie choices in those tools will be respected and that you otherwise agree to the use of cookies on NPR’s sites. NPR’s sites use cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about the device you use to access our sites (together, “cookies”) to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPR’s traffic.

It's not a collab it's theft,” Kelis wrote on Instagram.

“I thought it was a beautiful and pure, creative safe space, but it ended up not being that at all.” “And it just so happens that I was thrown in this.” I usually hire business folks to help out with that kind of stuff.” And he never wrote a song, a lyric a day in his life,” she claimed. “It’s real cute and fun to sing all these girls’ songs — come on now. “The reality is, all of this female empowerment, it only counts if you really do it — if you’re really living it and walking the walk,” she said. This is a direct hit at me [and] he does this stuff all the time,” she said. “Someone has to talk about it and bring it up,” she said. “I heard about this the same way everyone else did,” she continued. “It’s fine, I don’t care about that.” I also know the lies that were told. “I know what I own and what I don’t own.

Singer Kelis has said she's furious that Beyonce didn't tell her she was sampling one of her songs — but it's about a lot more than that.

Variety explored this issue at length last year in an article titled “ Inside the Dirty Business of Hit Songwriting,” which shows that the practice of artists or business people taking credit or royalties for songs they did not write goes all the way back to the 1950s and, as depicted in the film 2020 “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” much longer than that. Williams — who spoke at length about himself being on the wrong end of a publishing deal during his induction speech at the Songwriters Hall of Fame last month — has declined to discuss the situation with Kelis in the past and a rep for him did not respond to Variety’s request for comment. While some instances are allegedly cut and dried — Elvis Presley’s manager and countless others have demanded a significant percentage of a song’s earnings, arguing that the money wouldn’t be rolling in without them — others are among the greyest of grey areas. “I was told we were going to split the whole thing 33/33/33, which we didn’t do,” she told the Guardian in 2020. Kelis has said previously that she feels she was not properly credited or compensated for her work with the duo. In the past 48 hours, the only noise louder than the Beyhive’s buzz has been coming from R&B singer Kelis, who is outraged that Beyonce sampled her 1999 song “Get Along With You” without informing her.

Kelis accused Beyoncé and songwriter-producers Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of “thievery” late Thursday after discovering a track on Beyoncé's highly ...

“Show Me Love” is credited to Allen George and Fred McFarlane — who, similar to the situation with Williams and Hugo, earned writing credits on the Beyoncé track. “I also know the things that were stolen. “I also know the lies that were told,” she continued. But early on in her career, she struck a deal with Williams and Hugo that she now considers to be unfair. Neither Beyoncé nor Williams and Hugo were any under legal obligation to contact Kelis before drawing from “Milkshake,” Bennett said, as Williams and Hugo, who produced the 2003 single as the Neptunes, were also the only songwriters listed on it. A common industry model, called out in recent years by Taylor Swift, is for the record label to own the masters and the songwriters the musical work.

On her new album Renaissance, Beyoncé samples Kelis' 2003 song 'Milkshake,' but Kelis has criticized the way the singer went about doing it.

The Renaissance credits listed on Beyoncé’s website state that “Energy” contains an interpolation of “Milkshake,” which was “written by Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo and performed by Kelis.” Beyoncé, however, has a history of dutifully crediting all of her many collaborators and contributors (even if those contributions are unwitting)—hence the lengthy “credits” section under each song on her website. In the last 15 or so seconds of the track, those “las” that Beyoncé softly sings are an apparent reference to the earworm pre-chorus from the Kelis track. “Nothing is ever as it seems, some of the people in this business have no soul or integrity and they have everyone fooled.” “Ah, la-la, ah, ah,” Beyoncé sings. “Ah, ah, ah, la-la-la-la-la-la,” Beyoncé responds.

"Renaissance," Beyoncé (Columbia Records). Beyoncé has been reborn again; this time it's on a shimmering dance floor. But in her seventh studio album, ...

Standouts are “Virgo's Groove" and “Heated,” which was co-written by Drake who dropped his own dance-inspired album earlier this summer. The singer boldly states against a thumping rhythm and synth, that she is “too classy for this world, forever, I’m that girl.” “Cuff It” transitions to “Energy,” which starts with Jamaican American rapper BEAM.

If the music is an homage to uninhibited movement, the still images are steeped in fashion history, high maintenance glamour and perfectionism.

But there’s no denying that these pictures also express a delight in the male gaze — as well as the female gaze, the non-gendered gaze and the gaze of anyone who’d like to look. The clothes tell the chaotic story of an era in pop culture when people were determined to have a good time. The dancing endured in the face of the AIDS epidemic, homophobia, economic peril and dire crime statistics. And after years of track pants and yoga pants and dressing only from the waist up, she also presents her audience with fashion that is turned out, spit polished, cinched up and exhausting. The world has borne witness to the seventh coming of Beyoncé in the form of her studio album “Renaissance.” The 16 tracks are an expression of her moods and desires during the height of the pandemic when she decided to record music that allowed her to dream and to escape, as she wrote on her website. Back then, the pleasure bubbled up despite — and perhaps because of — dire circumstances. The posture makes one think of the fashion photography of Helmut Newton and Jean-Paul Goude. There are spangled ones and molded ones and one that is really just a bit of silver chain and rhinestones. Beyoncé sits atop it wearing chains and spikes and wielding a white hat; it calls to mind the pop culture moment from 1978 when Bianca Jagger rode a white horse into Studio 54 and helped cement the night club’s reputation as the era’s non plus ultra location for decadence and debauchery. There’s more Alaïa on display in the form of a custom acid-green lace dress with Mongolian lamb trim. She doesn’t communicate that much in a glance that’s caught in the click of a shutter. Photographs on her social media aim to evoke those emotions in concrete terms — in the form of bodysuits, disco balls, hologram horses and bedazzled saddles.

Ignore the leaks — Beyonce's seventh studio album “Renaissance” has officially arrived. As hinted, it's an all-encompassing album for the dance floor, ...

More than 20 years later, Beyoncé's version remixes it with an eerie bassline that keeps that same emotion, comparing her addictiveness to that of the powder with lines like “I’ma make you go weak for me / Make you wait a whole week for me / I see you watching, fiending / I know you want it, scheming.” Beyoncé travels across the realm of Black music on “Renaissance,” as she’s done throughout her catalog. As a whole, the song turns the church on its head, opening with traditional gospel before trapping out the drums to let herself go, “Church girls acting loose, bad girls acting snotty,” she sings on the chorus while instructing you to drop it low and dance as you please. “And a special thanks to my beautiful husband and muse, who held me down during those late nights in the studio.” Beyoncé has shown love to her children across her catalog, but on track two of “Renaissance,” she honors her own body for bringing them into the world. She credited him for exposing her to the sounds that inspired “Renaissance.”

Beyoncé wears Gucci, Mugler, and Schiaparelli for the art released with her newest album, 'Renaissance.'

Then, wearing a custom Alaïa dress, Beyoncé seems to levitate in one of the photos, like the goddess she is. Her tiny sunglasses sit low on the bridge of her nose and a microphone docked in a pistol-shaped holder lays just beside her on the crushed red velvet of the seat. Thankfully, this is only part one of a three-part drop (and we are hoping that the other parts include a visual album.) All the while, Beyoncé has been quietly teasing us with visuals — decked out in the likes of GCDS and Harris Reed — on her Instagram for a while now.

Fans celebrate the queer inspiration the music draws from as well as the Black LGBTQ artists who are featured on the album.

“This is Black culture, not the culture of kicking people out, not excluding people,” Tinsley said. “Break My Soul,” which has been celebrated as a gay anthem, was Beyoncé’s second collaboration with Big Freedia. She previously paired up with the rapper for “Formation” in 2016. The 16 tracks in “Renaissance” draw from house, disco and bounce music, genres that hark back to underground ballroom culture from the 1970s. They contrasted this joy with the political moment: “Renaissance” comes at a fraught time for the LGBTQ community amid an unprecedented onslaught of anti-LGBTQ legislation as well as recent protests and attacks at Pride events. “Thank you to all the pioneers who originate culture, to all of the fallen angels whose contributions have gone unrecognized for far too long.” In an era that has left LGBTQ rights vulnerable, Beyoncé has reaffirmed her support of the queer community.