Surprise Beyonce Album Gives Women Hope

Beyonce pulled the biggest power move any woman has ever pulled in the music industry. She released a surprise album with no promotion, hint, or warning. She released an audio album as well as a visual album. Not only was the concept creative, expensive, and time consuming, but considering the massive amount of people it took to achieve it, one can only wonder, how did she keep it a secret?

When my best friend texted me, “KING Bey” in the middle of the night, I had no idea when I woke up at 7:00 am I would be enjoying a new Beyonce album with my morning joe. The project was released at midnight (EST) Friday Dec. 13^th, this ingenious move by the queen just might upgrade her crown. A surprise self-titled “visual album” comprised of 14-songs and 17-videos featuring husband Jay Z, daughter Blue, and artists Drake, Frank Ocean and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie exclusively released on iTunes? I’m barely able to process it all.

The beyhive, a term Beyonce affectionately uses to refer to her fanbase, has been waiting for this, her last album was released in 2011. We. Have. Been. Waiting. and the wait was becoming unbearable. I admit, as a Beyonce fan, we are just spoiled. She’s consistently given us new music since her debut solo album “Dangerously in Love” in 2003. Now we have an expectation, we always want more, and we were ready for something new. But if we knew THIS was in the works maybe it would have satiated our appetites. NOT. Our longing was reignited with her Super bowl performance, HBO documentary, and the Mrs. Carter tour. I will never get tired of the standards, but fans were beginning to demand, “Where’s the new music?” Staying true to her consistency she delivered for the fans in a major way. Without the frills. Without the puff. She finally gave us the music. ”I didn’t want to release my music the way I’ve done it,” she said in a statement. “I am bored with that. I feel like I am able to speak directly to my fans. There’s so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fans. I felt like I didn’t want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it’s ready and from me to my fans.”

When I heard it was a “visual album” I thought it was going to be pictures, but I was pleasantly surprised that each song would have a video. What a dynamic concept. In a statement about the project Bey explained, “I see music. It’s more than just what I hear. When I’m connected to something, I immediately see a visual or a series of images that are tied to a feeling or an emotion, a memory from my childhood, thoughts about life, my dreams or my fantasies. And they’re all connected to the music.”

What an amazing Christmas gift for her fans! A new album AND music videos, everything we would have been painstakingly waiting for as ad campaigns ran and marketing schemes plotted for higher numbers. She just gave them to us. No wrapper, no string, no bow. What a beautiful way to start the year, by giving women the courage, the power, and the strength to follow their hearts and execute their visions as they see fit. Merry Christmas! Thanks Bey!

By Jemier Jenkins