Irreemplazable

Irreemplazable
EP by Beyoncé
Released	August 27, 2007
Genre	Latin pop R&B
Length	31:04
Language	Spanish English Spanglish
Label	Columbia Music World
Producer	Beyoncé Knowles (exec.) Ne-Yo Timbaland The Underdogs Eduardo Cabra Olgui Chirino Rudy Pérez Jake Cohl
Beyoncé chronology
B'Day Anthology Video Album (2007)B'Day Anthology Video Album2007 Irreemplazable (2007) The Beyoncé Experience Live (2007)The Beyoncé Experience Live2007
Beyoncé EP chronology
True Star: A Private Performance (2004) True Star: A Private Performance2004 Irreemplazable (2007) Irreemplazable2007 Heat (2011) Heat2011

Irreemplazable is the first extended play (EP) by American recording artist Beyoncé. Comprising Spanish, English and Spanglish re-recordings of songs from her second studio album B'Day (2006), it featured as a bonus disc for the North American deluxe edition of B'Day, before being released separately on August 28, 2007 through Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment. It was produced by Cuban American musician Rudy Pérez who also helped with writing the songs in Spanish. Copies purchased from Walmart also contain a DVD featuring a Beyoncé's concert, television performances and behind-the-scenes footage.

Irreemplazable received a mixed review from AllMusic's Andy Kellman, who criticized its lack of content and the fact that the EP was released several months after the deluxe edition of B'Day. Irreemplazable peaked at number one-hundred-and-five on the US Billboard 200, and has sold 57,000 copies in the United States. It also appeared on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, the Top Latin Albums and the Latin Pop Albums charts. "Bello Embustero", the Spanish version of "Beautiful Liar" (a duet with Colombian singer Shakira) was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards (2007).

Background

Growing up in Houston, Texas, Beyoncé was surrounded by the Spanish language, and learned some Spanish as a child, which she later forgot. When re-recording songs for Irreemplazable, Beyoncé's vocal coach provided the Spanish lyrics phonetically, and each line was recorded up to four times for the EP. Beyoncé has stated that she intends to take up Spanish lessons in the future.^[1] She said of the EP's recording, "This is such an honor for me to be able to connect with all my fans. I had so much fun singing in Spanish. It reminded me of growing up in Houston".^[2] The Denver Post's John Wenzel interpreted the release of Irreemplazable as "an effort to meet the exploding market for Spanish language music".^[3]

Release and promotion

Irreemplazable was released as the bonus disc on the deluxe edition of B'Day in the United States on April 3, 2007,^[4] before being released separately through Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment on August 28, 2007.^[5] iTunes Store began selling the EP on August 27, 2007.^[6][7] However, a remix of "Get Me Bodied" was available only on the individual release of Irreemplazable. Beyoncé appeared on Tr3s' television show Mi TRL on August 2, 2007 and showed a behind-the-scenes special, "Making of the Spanish EP".^[5] An exclusive DVD accompanied the EP in Walmart stores, containing behind-the-scenes footage and taped performances from The Beyoncé Experience and Beyoncé's appearance on The Early Show, as well as a documentary named "La Evolución Latina de Beyoncé" ("The Latin Evolution of Beyoncé").^[3][8]

Music and lyrics

Irreemplazable is primarly a R&B and Latin pop album. The Spanish-language songs from the EP were written by Cuban American composer Rudy Pérez and he wrote the lyrics phonetically to help Beyoncé perform the songs in Spanish. "We spent hours and hours working on it. She wanted to make it perfect. She worked hard. That's why people are saying it sounds like she's fluent in Spanish", Perez added.^[9] Pérez changed some of the words in Spanish as he felt it they "didn't fit the music" and "doesn't make sense". He assisted with Beyoncé on pronouncing her r's in Spanish.^[10] Irreemplazable opens with "Amor Gitano", a duet with Alejandro Fernández originally from Fernández' fifteenth studio album, Viento a Favor. "Listen", a theme song from Dreamgirls, in which Beyoncé appears, was re-recorded under the title "Oye". The EP's title track is a Spanish version of "Irreplaceable", a song that was highly successful in its English recording.^[11][12] Three recordings of "Beautiful Liar" appear on Irreemplazable: a Spanish version (titled "Bello Embustero"), a remixed English version and a Spanglish version. A norteña remix of "Irreemplazable" is the EP's seventh track, while Timbaland's remix of "Get Me Bodied", which features vocals from Voltio, closes Irreemplazable.

Critical reception

Giving it two and a half stars, Andy Kellman of AllMusic said that "there's not that much to the disc," and alleged that it was unnecessary, concluding "if you're a die-hard Beyoncé fan, you'll probably feel jerked around a bit — especially if you bought B'Day when it came out in September 2006 and bought the deluxe edition seven months later, only to find out that the bonus material would later come out on its own (with a track not on the second disc of the deluxe edition!)." Kellman selected "Amor Gitano", "Irreemplazable" and the "Get Me Bodied" remix as the highlights of the EP.^[13] The EP led to Beyoncé receiving a nomination for Pop New Artist of the Year at the 2008 Lo Nuestro Awards,^[14] and "Bello Embustero" was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.^[15]

Accolades

Commercial performance

Irreemplazable debuted on the US Billboard 200 at number one-hundred-and-five on the chart dated September 15, 2007,^[16][17] selling over 6,000 copies that week.^[18] It remained on the chart for three weeks.^[19] On the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, the EP made its entry at number forty-one the same week,^[20] and spent five weeks on the chart.^[19] Irreemplazable performed better on the Latin charts, debuting at number three on the Top Latin Albums^[21] and number two on the Latin Pop Albums.^[22] The EP stayed on the charts for twelve and thirteen weeks, respectively.^[19] As of October 6, 2010, Irreemplazable had sold 57,000 copies in the United States.^[23]

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic and Irreemplazable's liner notes.^[24][25]

Charts

References