Beyoncé‘s new album “Renaissance” is finally here.
Hype for the new music began in early June after the star first started dropping hints about a new endeavor. Some of the earliest whisperings followed after the Grammy-winning artist removed all of her profile pictures from social media and people within her circle, including her mom Tina Knowles and makeup artist Sir John, began dropping seemingly-random adoration posts about her.
Finally, in the wee hours of June 16, Tidal, the music streaming service formerly owned by Beyoncé’s husband Jay-Z, shared the official news: “Renaissance” would arrive July 29.
Here are all the updates that led to the official release of Beyonce’s seventh solo album, “Renaissance.”
If the Beyhive is anything, it’s loyal.
“Renaissance” leaked two days early, with CDs appearing in stores overseas and a version of the full album appearing on social media Wednesday morning.
Fans had mixed reactions to the yet-unconfirmed album being shared, with some people asking for a link, others urging fans to wait for the official release and others making memes.
When the official album was released Friday, Beyoncé thanked fans in a handwritten letter on Instagram for waiting “until the proper release time.”
“I can’t thank y’all enough for your love and protection,” she wrote. “I appreciate you for calling out anyone that was trying to sneak into the club early. It means the world to me.”
For singer-songwriter Kelis, imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery.
The singer responded to an Instagram post Wednesday that highlighted usage of her music in the “Renaissance” track “Energy.”
According to Genius, “Energy” uses a drum interpolation of Kelis’ “Milkshake” and samples her song “Get Along With You.”
“I heard about this the same way everyone else did,” Kelis commented. “Nothing is ever as it seems, some of the people in this business have no soul or integrity and they have everyone fooled.”
“Thats a collab the world really needs,” one comment read. Kelis responded, “it’s not a collab it’s theft.”
In a pair of follow-up videos on Instagram, Kelis said her main issue was not with Beyoncé personally, but rather because she was not notified about the sample. She also said the interpolation of her song was a “direct hit” from past collaborators Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who make up the production and songwriting duo The Neptunes.
“It has to do with the fact that, from one artist to another, you should have the decency and the common sense and the courtesy to call, reach out,” Kelis said. “Even if you’re going to do it anyway.”
Kelis has previously opened up about being shortchanged professionally, telling The Guardian in 2020 that she made nothing from sales of her first two albums, both of which were produced by The Neptunes.
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