Beyonce - 4

Still think 1+1 is a hit

As in a song destined to be one

a miscarriage interpretation wouldn't be implausible, i guess. i mean the only line explicitly about a baby is on "countdown" and i could well imagine she threw that in just to fulfil the song's concept

Apparently Diplo produced "End of Time"? Didn't know he had it in him

I particularly love the analysis of Beyoncé as a hedge fund in your review lex, it reminded me of a scene from old destiny's child footage (when beyonce was in queen bitch survivor mode) - it's the last part:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZzJ8-qTkg0

Look at the sheer disgust Beyoncé has on her face when Michelle says that if she was Queen for a day the thing she'd want would be for things to be free - the removal of all economic value from things would probably be her vision of hell!

(and then Farrah says "you'd get kicked out", though to whom? <3)

Also:

My favorite song is actually going to be on the deluxe (Target) edition of "4." It's a song called "School & Life." It has a Prince vibe. The-Dream wrote and produced it, and it's basically a song about life and growing up. We recorded that toward the end of the project. As soon as I heard it I told B, "That's the one . . . I love that song." I actually got the chance to mix that record. It was incredible that she allowed me to do that.

Perth musician and one-half of electro-pop duo Empire Of The Sun, Luke Steele will appear on Beyonce's upcoming album. Steele, who cut his musical teeth in the Perth band Sleepy Jackson, has co-written a track on the R&B star's highly anticipated album titled 4, which is due for official release next week. The song, Rather Die Young, has been leaked online today and is being touted by reviewers and music bloggers in the US as the one of the highlights of Beyonce's fourth studio album. Steele's influence is also heard in the instrumentals of the electronic sounding love ballad.

"Rather Die Young" sounds like Diamonds & Pearls-era Prince

OMG that clip prolego. "everything - would be free?"

also given that beyoncé WAS queen of DC (not just for a day) that was tantamount to lèse majesté. shocking stuff, michelle :o

also, beyoncé as hedge fund would make solange one of those "ethical" banks (that secretly fund grizzly bear shows)

Number None where are you c/ping from?

The quote about The-Dream song is from this
http://www.billboard.com/#/news/beyonce-experimented-with-everything-on-1005240182.story
Luke Steele bit from here
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/luke-steeles-love-song-for-beyonce-20110617-1g796.html

Just got those from googling around to see what credits i could scare up

Supposedly Rich Harrison worked on the album too. "Love On Top" maybe?

it's so weird to me that beyoncé has been to bath, lol

Great review, lex.

uh, so "rather die young" was co-written from some guy from empire of the sun??????

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/luke-steeles-love-song-for-beyonce-20110617-1g796.html

smh.com

http://images.smh.com.au/2011/06/17/2436504/Luke-Steele_729-420x0.jpg

andre 3000 flows like yelawolf on this

i had zero expectations for this album after sasha fierce/"run the world" but this is really one of the better albums released this year

xp more like yela kinda flows like andre

I'm not sure how anyone can confidently say there are no hit singles on this album, or that it's too retro, in a pop environment where Adele is the year's biggest star.

xp more like yela kinda flows like andre

― 51 suggest gang (The Reverend), Sunday, June 19, 2011 3:22 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark

well yeah, but there's something about the elongation of "ooooo" in that verse that struck me as distinctly yelawolf

I'm not sure how anyone can confidently say there are no hit singles on this album, or that it's too retro, in a pop environment where Adele is the year's biggest star.

― Matt DC, Sunday, June 19, 2011 1:57 PM (13 minutes ago)

in the uk maybe dude

the better example would be cee-lo, but that's more kitschy than "love on top" -- i mean retro songs can be hits still certainly, but i don't think there's a smash on this album

there might not actually be a song as big as "motivation"

yeah i know what you mean

in the uk maybe dude

― jag goo (k3vin k.), Sunday, June 19, 2011 11:10 AM Bookmark

and like second biggest in the us?

nah, biggest in US to

too

I was giving Lady Gaga benefit of the doubt

i haven't paid attention to the pop charts but i'd be surprised if adele was a"bigger star" than gaga or beyonce yeah

She's had the #1 album for 9 weeks (non-consecutively) and the #1 single for 6 (consecutively). Looks like she's already taken back the top spot on albums from Lady Gaga so some dude is otm.

in any event snorting "YEAH MAYBE IN ENGLAND COR BLIMEY BLOOD SAUSAGE" was pointless

ive heard the song a million times but i didn't realize she existed

There are other ways to measure stardom than chart performance ... thankfully.

Still think 1+1 will be a hit hold this against me later

Nitsuh's review is really great too (obviously):

http://nymag.com/arts/popmusic/reviews/beyonce-abebe-review-2011-6/

I like this in particular:

"Much of Beyoncé’s appeal has lain in her over-the-top levels of poise and ­confidence—her almost machinelike command of the art of being an R&B star. (She makes you experience emotions in about the same way a surgeon makes you not have an appendix anymore, and backed with similarly cutting-edge technology.) But the way she sings about love here—which is to say, love as a grave and weighty life choice that demands hushed music, spotlights, and occasional anguish—means singing about things that can sound more like weakness and dependency. She does a wonderfully convincing job of making this seem like a form of bravery. As if, having asserted herself time and again as independent, single, and tough, it’s now more powerful to choose vulnerability—kind of how humans, having conquered most of this planet, might tackle the vulnerabilities of piloting rockets into space."

waht

Beyonce's voice could power space rockets if only NASA would let her.

lol

"i care" on hot 97 sounds REAL nice

WOAHWOAHWOAH:

http://www.rap-up.com/2011/06/22/new-music-beyonce-schoolin-life/

yesssss. incredible

so awesome

so terius, too

why has rap-up had this same image on their site for like 2+ years?

http://cdn.rap-up.com/covers/current.gif

damn, this is great. i think i'll be deleting the tedder/warren song + who run the world girls & pretend like the album goes straight into the bonus tracks

ajij;kafpoerif;fjioa;rjufaeiuo;ra;rfd

Yeah, this thing is in my top twenty.

thats cool. also imo basically proves the dream-needs-to-get-over-the-solo-career hypothesis that says hes at his best when operating as a songwriter rather than performer

feel like there's too many failed big terry/trick hype singles swept under the mindcarpet for that opinion to really take hold

request a shipley statistical beatdown on this matter