B'Day

B'Day is the second solo studio album by American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles. Columbia Records, in collaboration with Music World Music and Sony Urban Music, released it worldwide on September 4, 2006 to coincide with Knowles's twenty-fifth birthday.

The album was originally planned for a 2004 release as a follow-up to her debut album Dangerously in Love. However, the project was put on hiatus due to the recording of Destiny's Child's final studio album Destiny Fulfilled and her starring role in the 2006 movie Dreamgirls. While on vacation after filming Dreamgirls, Knowles began contacting various producers; she had employed technique for faster collaboration, and completed B'Day in three weeks. Most of the lyrical content of the album was inspired by Knowles' role in the film. The album's musical style ranges from '70s to '80s funk and balladry to urban contemporary elements like hip hop and R&B. Live instrumentation was employed on most tracks as part of Knowles' vision of creating a record using live instruments.

The album was commercially successful, debuting at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. It sold 541,000 units within a week of release, beating its predecessor, Dangerously in Love. The album yielded six singles, and was successful in music markets, entering the top ten of several charts worldwide. B'Day was re-released on April 3, 2007 as an expanded double-disc deluxe edition; a DVD counterpart was also released, featuring ten music videos of the songs from the album. The album has earned a triple platinum certification in the United States from the Recording Industry Association of America.

Conception

Background

In 2002, Knowles had generative studio sessions in the making of her debut album, Dangerously in Love, recording up to forty-five songs.^[1] After the release of Dangerously in Love in 2003, Knowles had planned to produce a follow-up album using several of the left-over tracks.^[1] However, on January 7, 2004, a spokesperson for her record label, Columbia, announced that Knowles had put her plans on hiatus in order to concentrate on the recording of Destiny's Child's final studio album, Destiny Fulfilled, and for her singing of the US national anthem at the Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston, which was her childhood dream.^[2] In late 2005, Knowles decided to postpone the recording of her sophomore album because she had landed the starring role in the film adaptation of the 1981 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Dreamgirls.^[3] As she wanted to focus on one project at a time, Knowles decided to wait until the movie would wrap up before returning to the studio.^[4] Knowles told Billboard magazine, "I'm not going to write for the album until I finish doing the movie."^[5]

While having a month-long vacation after filming Dreamgirls, Knowles went to the studio to start working on the album. She said, "[When filming ended] I had so many things bottled up, so many emotions, so many ideas",^[4] prompting her to begin working without telling her father-record label manager Mathew Knowles.^[6] People who knew she went to the studio were her A&R man Max Gousse, and the team of producers they contacted to collaborate for the album.^[7] Knowles began working with songwriter-producers Rich Harrison, Rodney Jerkins, and Sean Garrett.^[6][8] She also collaborated with several studio personalities: Cameron Wallace; the Neptunes, Norwegian production duo Stargate, American hip hop producer-rapper Swizz Beatz, and Walter Millsap.^[9] Two female songwriters were also included in the production team who helped structure the album: Knowles' cousin Angela Beyincé, who had previous collaborations in Dangerously in Love, and up-and-coming songwriter Makeba Riddick, who actually made her way onto the team after writing "Déjà Vu", the lead single of the album.^[4]

Recording

Influenced by Jay-Z's method in collaborating with multiple record producers,^[10] Knowles rented the whole Sony Music Studios in New York City and booked Harrison, Jerkins and Garrett, each with their own room to work in.^[6] During sessions, Knowles would go to each room after the other to check the progressions her collaborators had made, and had fostered "healthy competition" among producers.^[6] When Knowles conceived of a potential song, she would tell the group who would later deliberate; after three hours, the song would be created.^[4] While Knowles and the team brainstormed on the lyrics, other collaborators like the Neptunes, Jerkins and Swizz Beatz would simultaneously produce the tracks.^[4] They would sometimes begin working at eleven o'clock, reaching fourteen hours a day during the recording process.^[4] Knowles arranged, co-wrote and co-produced all the songs.^[6] Makeba Riddick of MTV News later said of the production experience:

She [Knowles] had multiple producers in Sony Studios. She booked out the whole studio and she had the biggest and best producers in there. She would have us in one room, we would start collaborating with one producer, [and] then she would go and start something else with another producer. We would bounce around to the different rooms and work with the different producers. It was definitely a factory type of process.^[4]

—Makeba Riddick

Swizz Beatz co-produced four songs for the album, the most-produced tracks by a single producer in the team.^[4] Knowles recorded three songs a day, finishing it for two weeks.^[7] B'Day, which is coined as tribute to Knowles' birthday,^[11] was completed in three weeks, ahead of the originally planned six-week toil.^[12] Twenty-five songs were produced for the album; eleven of the tracks were selected for the track list, and mastered in early July.^[13]

Music

Musical style

Knowles singing "Listen", which was inspired by her role in the film Dreamgirls

B'Day was musically crafted from a variety of American genres,^[14] and like the roots of her previous album, incorporated urban contemporary elements including contemporary R&B and hip hop. Some songs have '70s and '80s styles, inspired through record sampling. "Suga Mama", which employs blues-guitar samples^[15] from Jake Wade and the Soul Searchers' "Searching for Soul", reminds a '70s funk-flavored and '80s go-go influenced melody.^[16] "Upgrade U" is sampled from the Betty Wright's 1968 "Girls Can't Do What the Guys Do". "Resentment", on the other hand, used Curtis Mayfield's 1972 "Think (Instrumental)", from the Super Fly soundtrack. "Déjà Vu" has '70s influence,^[17] "Green Light" is a classic groove,^[18] and "Get Me Bodied" features twang, a musical style originated from Texas.^[19]

Knowles crafted most songs in B'Day through live instrumentation. Evident on the song "Déjà Vu", the track utilizes bass guitar, conga, hi-hat, horns and the 808.^[18] In an interview, Knowles said, "When I recorded 'Déjà Vu' ... I knew that even before I started working on my album, I wanted to add live instruments to all of my songs..."^[4] While "Déjà Vu" employs a production of old school horns,^[20] other songs like "Ring the Alarm" uses percussion and "Irreplaceable" features a guitar-driven melody.^[21]

Lyrical themes

Much of the theme and the musical style of the album was inspired by Dreamgirls. The plot of the film revolves around The Dreams, a fictional '60s group of three female singers who had changed in plight after discovering their manipulative manager, Curtis Taylor. Knowles portrays Deena Jones, the lead singer of the group and the wife of Taylor, and is emotionally abused by him. Because of her role, Knowles was inspired to produce an album with an overriding theme of feminism and female empowerment.^[4] In the bonus track, "Encore for the Fans", Knowles says, "Because I was so inspired by Deena, I wrote songs that were saying all the things I wish she would have said in the film."^[22]

Content

"Déjà Vu", which features rap from Jay-Z, is the opening track of B'Day. Set as the album's lead single, it was released in July of 2006 to mixed reviews.^[8][20] The single reached number four in the US, and number one in the UK. The single's couture-motivated music video evoked displeased reaction from fans, thousands of whom petitioned for it to be re-shot.^[18][23] "Get Me Bodied" features former band-mates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams and sister Solange Knowles in its '60s-influenced instructional music video.^[24] It is the second track of the album, and was the fifth single released in the US. "Get Me Bodied" was the album's lowest charting US-released single, having reached the Billboard Hot 100 below top fifty.^[25] "Suga Mama" is set as the third track; its music video features Knowles riding a mechanical bull.^[26]

The promotional single "Upgrade U" is the album's fourth track. Another collaboration with Jay-Z, the lyrics speaks of luxuries.^[27] Knowles acts as Jay-Z in his part of the single's music video.^[28] "Ring the Alarm", which is the album's second-released single, is noted for the use of a siren in its melody. It was called a song that "shows a harder edge to Beyoncé's sound".^[6] The single was released on October 3, and became her highest-charting single debut, opening at number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100.^[29] "Kitty Kat" is the sixth track of the album; its music video features Knowles with a gigantic cat.^[24] "Freakum Dress", the next track, is a crescendo that uses a two-note riff and galloping beats.^[30] The song "advises women who have partners with straying eyes to put on sexy dresses and grind on other guys in the club to regain their affections."^[27] Knowles made a video for the song to explain what "Freakum Dress" was, using different women on ages, races, and sizes, along with the thirty metallic dresses used in the production.^[24] "Green Light" is the seventh track, and was released outside the US. Its use of the "uh-huh huh huh" vocals and brassy stabs are a direct echo of "Crazy in Love".^[23] A three day-shoot music video, it is remembered for giving Knowles a blistered foot and muscle spasms because of wearing ballet-pointed heels for an 18-hour filming;^[26] Knowles considered it as her toughest video shoot.^[28]

"Irreplaceable" is the ninth track of the album, and was released as the third single in the US and the second single outside North America. Gaining positive critical reviews, "Irreplaceable" was the most successful single off the album, staying on the Billboard Hot 100 at number one for ten weeks consecutively. The single's music video features the debut performance of her all-female band, Suga Mama.^[28] The ballad and gospel-influenced^[31] "Resentment", which was treated as an "oversung downer",^[27] is the album's closing track. "Listen", a bonus track for the North American release, is an inspirational ballad about "the song in my heart".^[32] Originally produced for Dreamgirls' soundtrack, Knowles co-wrote "Listen", which was suggested by the film's director, Bill Condon, because the second half of the movie needed to have an accompanying song. She performed the song when her fictional life in the story changes direction.^[33]

Releases and promotion

Knowles performing "Flaws and All", one of the new tracks included in the deluxe edition of B'Day

B'Day was released through Columbia Records in collaboration with Sony Urban Music and Music World Music on September 4, 2006 to coincide with Knowles' 25th birthday.^[5] Subsequently, it was released on September 5 in North America.^[4]

An expanded double-disc deluxe edition of the album was released on April 3, 2007,^[34] seven months from the release of the original version. It was later released on April 23 in the UK.^[35] Aside from the original track listing, the new edition features five new songs, including "Beautiful Liar", a duet with Colombian singer Shakira; the single holds the distinction of having the largest upward movement on the Billboard Hot 100, moving ninety-one positions from number ninety-four to number three on April 7, 2007.^[36] "Amor Gitano" or "Gypsy Love" is a flamenco-pop song duet with Mexican singer Alejandro Fernández, a soundtrack for Telemundo's "El Zorro" telenovela,^[37] is included in the new version, alongside several Spanish re-recordings. The idea of recording foreign language songs was derived from her group's collaboration with Alejandro Sanz for "Quisiera Ser". Knowles worked with producer Rudy Perez for these recordings.^[28]

Simultaneously, B'Day Anthology Video Album was released, featuring ten videos, including the director's cut of "Listen" and the extended remix of "Get Me Bodied". Most of the videos are from her up tempo tracks;^[28] it is more on retro, colors and black hair styles which Knowles thought would be like her character Deena.^[24] The shooting of the videos was done in two weeks.^[26] At first, the DVD was available in Wal-Mart,^[28] but later released to other markets. Other editions of the second issue in several countries do not include the Spanish songs, instead the ten music videos in the DVD.^[38]

In mid-2006, Knowles looked for an all-female band for her 2007 tour, The Beyoncé Experience, to promote the album. She held an audition for keyboard players, bassists, guitarists, horn players, percussionists and drummers around the world.^[39] Visiting over ninety venues,^[40] Knowles embarked on the tour in Japan on April 10, 2007^[28] and concluded it on December 30, 2007 in Las Vegas.

Reception

Critical response

Critics gave the album generally positive reviews, though many cited the short-spanned production and numerous collaborations of the album as its downfall. Roger Friedman of FOX News reviewed the album negatively and stated that "the result of so many cooks in the kitchen ... is that ... Beyoncé serves up a ... shrill singing and invariably tuneless songs".^[8] The Boston Globe's Sarah Rodman, however, stated that the production team helped Knowles "focus on edgier, up-tempo tracks that take her sweet soprano to new places".^[27] Andy Kellman for his Allmusic review stated that Knowles' "hurryness" in the album produced "no songs with the smooth elegance" of "Me, Myself and I" or "Be with You"; he however added, "... there is nothing desperate or weak about this album".^[17] Mike Joseph of PopMatters stated that "the album is solid", but because of its rushed production, he counter-argued that "aside from its relatively short running time, its sound suspiciously under produced".^[19] Rolling Stone magazine's Brian Hiatt averred that "while the mostly up-tempo disc never lacks for energy, some of the more beat-driven tracks feel harmonically and melodically undercooked, with hooks that don't live up to 'Crazy in Love' or the best Destiny's Child hits".^[15]

Other critics, however, found positive from the album. Bill Lamb of About.com complimented the album for exuding the "work of a woman with focus, energy, empathy, and vocal firepower to spare", giving it four and a half stars out of five.^[31] Entertainment Weekly's Jody Rosen noted that "the songs [in the album] arrive in huge gusts of rhythm and emotion, with Beyoncé's voice rippling over clattery beats", rating the album A-.^[32] Jonah Weiner of Blender magazine approved the album with four stars for "producing up-tempo beats bringing the dance floor never cool down".^[21] Billboard magazine's Gail Mitchell wrote that "throughout [the album], she romps with creative abandon, thankfully unafraid of stretching the boundaries lyrically and musically".^[41] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine noted that "B'Day is a reminiscent of Knowles' former group at their commercial peak.^[42]

Accolades

In 2006, B'Day was nominated for five Grammy Awards, including "Best Contemporary R&B Album", "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" for "Ring the Alarm", "Best R&B Song" for "Déjà Vu", "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" for "Déjà Vu", and "Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical" for "Déjà Vu" (Freemasons club mix - no rap) (remixed by Russell Small and James Wiltshire). B'Day won the Best Contemporary R&B Album.^[43] The following year, B'Day received two Grammy nominations for Record of the Year for "Irreplaceable" and Best Pop Collaboration for "Beautiful Liar". She also received a Grammy nomination for her work on Dreamgirls.^[44]

Commercial performance

B'Day peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, the official album chart in the US, on September 23, 2006,^[45] becoming the chart's highest debut.^[46] The album gave Knowles her second highest charting album since Dangerously in Love, which topped the chart also on its debut. The album racked up 541,000 units sold after a week of release, 224,000 higher than Dangerously in Love's 317,000 sales, but 122,000 lower that her former group's Survivor, earning 663,000 on its start. According to Nielsen SoundScan, a music source provider, B'Day was the chart's best sales number since Tool's 10,000 Days selling 564,000 copies in May of the same year.^[45] Simultaneously, B'Day also charted at the number one position on the Billboards's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums tally^[45] and later on Billboard Top Internet Albums.^[47] The album, however, failed to continue its domination of the top spot after Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006) replaced it the following week. In 2006, the album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.^[48] B'Day became the US' thirty-eighth best-selling album of 2006.^[49]

While the album's chart performance eventually began to falter, the release of the deluxe edition helped it break the top ten; it had sold 214,000 copies since its release at the beginning of April.^[50] After the first week of the re-release, the album's number sixty-three position surged back to number three,^[51] and charted again at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It sold up to 126,000 scans having its sales increase by 903 percent.^[51] On April 16, 2007, Recording Industry Association of America re-certified B'Day as triple platinum.^[48] It has sold 3.2 million copies according to SoundScan.

Internationally, B'Day garnered mostly positive reaction. In the UK, B'Day debuted at number three on September 11, 2007 selling 35,000 copies in its first week.^[52] Like the album's performance in Ireland, where it debuted at the same number, it did not reach any higher position and stayed on the chart for thirty-eight weeks. The British Phonographic Industry certified B'Day double platinum for shipping 600,000 units. Across the Oceania, B'Day had the same reception debuting on Australian Albums Chart and New Zealand Albums Chart both at number eight on the same week, September 11, 2006.^[46] It stayed at the stop position on two weeks in New Zealand. B'Day remained the charts for twenty and twenty-five weeks respectively.^[46]

Controversies

Three weeks after their release,^[53] the deluxe edition and the video anthology DVD was temporarily ceased in the retail stores. A lawsuit was filed for breach of contract of using "Still in Love (Kissing You)", a version of British singer Des'ree's original song Kissing You.^[50] Not intended for the album's inclusion, Des'ree's deal also stipulated that the title of the song was not to be altered, and a video was not to be made; however, Knowles did otherwise.^[53][54] After the infringement issue, the present version of the re-issue does not include the track.^[53]

The artwork of B'Day, including the cover of "Ring the Alarm", fueled controversy after Knowles used alligators during the photo shoot. Knowles revealed that using the animal and taping their mouths shut was her idea. PETA, an animal rights organization which had previous confronted her after she had used furs for her fashion line's clothing design, contacted a biologist who later wrote a letter to her:

As a specialist in reptile biology and welfare, I'm concerned about your posing with a terrified baby alligator for your new album cover. Humans and alligators are not natural bedfellows, and the two should not mix at events such as photo shoots. In my view, doing so is arguably abusive to an animal.^[55]

In 2007, Knowles appeared on billboards and newspapers across the United States showing her holding an antiquated cigarette holder. Taken from the back cover of B'Day, the image provoked response from an anti-smoking group, stating that she needed not to add the cigarette holder "to make herself appear more sophisticated".^[56]

Track listing

Standard edition

1. "Déjà Vu" Featuring Jay-Z (B. Knowles, R. Jerkins, D. Thomas, Makeba, K. N. Price, S. Carter) – 3:59
2. "Get Me Bodied" (B. Knowles, S. Knowles, K. Dean, S. Garrett, Makeba, A. Beyince) – 3:25
3. "Suga Mama" (B. Knowles, R. Harrison, Makeba, C. Middleton) – 3:24
   • Samples: "Searching for Soul" by Jake Wade and the Soul Searchers
4. "Upgrade U" Featuring Jay-Z (B. Knowles, MK, Makeba, S. Garrett, S. Knowles, A. Beyince, S. Carter, W. Clarke, C. Reid) – 4:32
   • Samples: "Girls Can't Do What the Guys Do (And Still Be a Lady)" by Betty Wright
5. "Ring the Alarm" (B. Knowles, K. Dean, S. Garrett) – 3:23
6. "Kitty Kat" (B. Knowles, P. Williams, S. Carter, Makeba) – 3:55
7. "Freakum Dress" (B. Knowles, R. Harrison, A. Beyince, M. Riddick) – 3:20
8. "Green Light" (B. Knowles, P. Williams, S. Garrett) – 3:29
9. "Irreplaceable" (S. Smith, B. Knowles, M. S. Eriksen, T. E. Hermansen, E. Lind, A. Bjørklund) – 3:47
10. "Resentment/Encore for the Fans" (B. Knowles, W. Millsap III, C. C. Nelson, C. Mayfield) – 15:29
    • Samples: "Think (Instrumental)" by Curtis Mayfield
    • Contains an Interlude – 0:39, "Listen" – 3:37, and "Get Me Bodied (Extended Mix)" – 5:59 as part of encore.

Deluxe edition

Disc 1

1. "Beautiful Liar" Featuring Shakira (B. Knowles, M. S. Eriksen, T. E. Hermansen, A. Ghost, I. Dench) – 3:19
2. "Irreplaceable" – 3:47
3. "Green Light" – 3:30
4. "Kitty Kat" – 3:55
5. "Welcome to Hollywood" (S. Carter, R. Perry, S. Smith, B. Knowles) – 3:18
6. "Upgrade U" Featuring Jay-Z – 4:33
7. "Flaws And All" (S. Smith, S. Taylor, B. Knowles, S. Knowles) – 4:08
8. "World Wide Woman" (B. Knowles, S. Garrett, Makeba, L. Daniels, A. Beyince) – 3:42
9. "Get Me Bodied (Extended Mix)" – 6:19
10. "If" (S. Smith, M. S. Eriksen, T. E. Hermansen, B. Knowles) – 3:18
    • Replaced "Still in Love (Kissing You)" – 4:36
11. "Freakum Dress" – 3:21
12. "Suga Mama" – 3:25
13. "Déjà Vu" Featuring Jay-Z – 4:00
14. "Ring the Alarm" – 3:23
15. "Resentment" – 4:42
16. "Listen" – 3:39

Disc 2
B'Day Anthology Video Album

1. "Beautiful Liar" with Shakira – 3:34
2. "Irreplaceable" – 4:17
3. "Kitty Kat" – 1:03
4. "Green Light" – 3:31
5. "Upgrade U" featuring Jay-Z – 4:38
6. "Flaws and All" – 4:14
7. "Get Me Bodied (Extended Mix)" – 6:42
8. "Freakum Dress" – 3:21
9. "Suga Mama" – 3:37
10. "Déjà Vu" featuring Jay-Z – 4:06
11. "Ring the Alarm" – 3:33
12. "Listen" – 3:49

Album bonus tracks

1. "Check on It" Featuring Slim Thug & Bun B (B. Knowles, K. Dean, S. Garrett, A. Beyincé, S. Thomas) – 3:30
2. "Creole" – 3:52
3. "First Time" (B. Knowles, P. Williams, C. Hugo) – 4:19
4. "Lost Yo Mind" (Swizz Beatz) – 3:51
5. "Back Up" (R. Jerkins, B. Knowles) – 3:28

Chart history

Personnel

Notes

External links

• B'Day at Metacritic
• Official B'Day website
• Tracklistings
  • B'Day deluxe edition (main)
  • B'Day deluxe edition (Spanish version)