Beyoncé shocked her fans early Friday morning when she released her fifth self-titled studio album. The 32-year-old singer dropped the visual album on iTunes without any promotion or warning. The album features 14 songs, 17 music videos and appearances by Jay Z, Blue Ivy, her mom Tina Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams.
"I see music. It's more than just what I hear," she explained. "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."
Each song has an accompanying video. Beyoncé collaborated on the video with Drake, Pharrell Williams, Frank Ocean, Justin Timberlake and more. There has been speculation for almost a year about when the album was released.
There were rumors that the singer was supposed to release the album in November but was forced to start over after she scrapped more than 50 songs. Her rep denied the rumors saying that Beyoncé's album was right on schedule.
Queen B skipped the usual promotional work that goes into releasing an album. In an introduction video she explained that she didn't want to release singles or music videos and she wasn't interested in spending months generating buzz about her music.
"I didn't want to release my music the way I've done it," she said. "I am bored with that. I feel like am able to speak directly to my fans. There's so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fans."
"I feel 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," she continued.
Check out the full track list below:
Pretty Hurts
Blue
Drunk in Love
Yonce
XO
Ghost
Grown Woman
Haunted
Jealous
Heaven
Mine
No Angel
Partition
Flawless
Rocket
Superpower
Blow
What do you think of Beyoncé's new album? Let us know in the comments.
