“Renaissance” is Beyonce’s seventh studio album and her first solo release since “Lemonade” in 2016.
So let’s dive into the new album and its unique sound based on the 90s house scene.
- Renaissance is the seventh studio album by American singer Beyoncé,
- It is also titled as Act I: Renaissance
- The album released on July 29, 2022
- It was released via Columbia Records and Parkwood Entertainment
- It is her first solo studio release since Lemonade (2016)
- It serves as the first installment of a trilogy project
- Beyoncé conceived the album to reflect her state of mind during the COVID-19 pandemic
- She wrote and produced it with Nova Wav, The-Dream, Symbolyc One, A. G. Cook, Honey Dijon, Beam, Tricky Stewart, BloodPop, Skrillex, Hit-Boy, No I.D., P2J and various others
- Beam, Grace Jones and Tems appear as guest vocalists
- The lead single “Break My Soul” was released on June 20, 2022
- The song reached the top 10 of the singles charts in eight countries
- Including a peak of number six on the US Billboard Hot 100
- “Renaissance” is an upbeat dance, pop, and R&B album drawing influences from disco and house music styles
- With the subject matter characterized by hedonism, sex and self-worth
- It received widespread acclaim from music critics for its cohesive, eclectic sound and joyous mood
- In her August 2021 Harper’s Bazaar cover story, Beyoncé revealed that she had been working on her seventh studio album for over a year,
- Beyoncé began to tease a new album on June 7, 2022
- She removed her profile picture from all of her social media platforms
- Four days later, the text “What is a B7?” appeared on the homepage of the singer’s official website
- Fans noticed that the website also had placeholders for her upcoming seventh and eighth studio albums
- Beyoncé officially announced the album and released the pre-sale for Renaissance on her website and digital streaming platforms the following day
- It is Beyoncé’s first solo studio album since Lemonade (2016), marking the longest gap between studio albums in her career
- Discussing the album’s themes and her creative intention, Beyoncé explained her desire to “create a safe place, a place without judgment”
- She called it “a place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom”
- Upon the album’s release, Beyoncé posted a note on her website revealing that Renaissance is the first part of a three-act project that she recorded over the past three years, during the COVID-19 pandemic
- She also shared that the album is dedicated to her children, her husband, and Uncle Jonny
- Uncle Jonny was her late first cousin who was gay and battled HIV
- She says he was “the first person to expose [her] to a lot of the music and culture that serve as inspiration for this album”
- On June 30, 2022, Beyoncé revealed the album’s cover art, accompanied by a brief note, on her social media accounts
- In the cover image, she is seated atop a “glowing”, “holographic”, “crystal horse” in a “futuristic, centipede-ish bikini”
- Critics interpreted the equestrian pose as an allusion both to John Collier’s 1897 painting Lady Godiva and to photographs of Bianca Jagger riding a horse into Studio 54
- Beyoncé’s garment was designed by Nusi Quero and is reminiscent of the crystal top she wore on the 2003 Dangerously in Love cover
- An alternate cover image for the vinyl release features Beyoncé atop the same horse, but “wearing a white cowboy hat with a silver headpiece that hides her hair” and “sparkling silver chains that drape her arms and legs, as white, feathery poofs hang along the body of the horse”
- On June 20, 2022, Beyoncé announced the album’s lead single, “Break My Soul”, would be released at midnight Eastern Time on June 21
- The release was to coincide with the 2022 summer solstice
- The song appeared on music streaming service Tidal hours early, on June 20
- A lyric video was later released on YouTube
- After first joining TikTok in December 2021, Beyoncé posted her first video, a compilation of “dancing, vibing, and singing along” to Renaissance’s lead single, “Break My Soul”, on July 14, 2022
- Further, she made her entire catalogue available for use on the platform, attracting significant media attention
- Two days before the scheduled release, on July 27, the album arrived in retailers in France
- The album eventually leaked onto the Internet
- Billboard said Renaissance has an innovative and playful approach to genre
- With the album blending and shifting between several styles
- Musically, Renaissance is a dance, pop and R&B album
- Drawing influences from disco, and house styles such as Chicago house, deep house, electro house and hip house
- With elements of techno, garage, Afrobeats, boogie, funk, gospel, soul, hip hop, trap, gqom, new jack swing, Jersey club, synth-pop, hyperpop, dancehall, and nu disco
- The tracks are connected by seamless transitions, evoking a DJ mix
- Lyrically, the album “urg[es] listeners to wholeheartedly embrace pleasure”
- The album emphasizes Black joy and Black pride
- Upon release, Renaissance was met with widespread acclaim from music critics
- Many of whom praised its cohesive yet eclectic production, joyous nature, and vocal range
- On review aggregator Metacritic, Renaissance received a score of 93 out of 100
- Based on 15 reviews
- Indicating “universal acclaim”
- On review aggregator AnyDecentMusic?, the album has a rating of 8.3 out of 10
- Based on 15 reviews
- The song “Heated” was met with criticism online for its use of the word “spaz” in its lyrics
- Some disability advocates viewed as an ableist slur
- Others highlighted that the word is not taboo in the US, and that “spaz” is a different word in African-American Vernacular English (meaning “freak out”)
- This meaning of the word has been widely used in historically black genre
- The same day, Beyoncé confirmed the word would be removed from the song
- An earlier version of Lizzo’s 2022 song “Grrrls” also included the word
- The song was met with similar criticism before it was eventually removed from the song
- In the UK, as of its second day, Renaissance outsold the rest of the week’s top five best-selling albums combined
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