#NewRules Beyonce Reveals Why She Released 14 Songs & 17 Videos All In One Night

‘All this sh-t I hear is boring, I don’t trust these record labels, I’m torn’ -Beyonce

Well, y’all kept asking “Where’s the new album?’…

At midnight on the 13th (1 +3 = 4) of December, Beyonce followed in her hubby’s footsteps with some new rules of her own when she decided to drop her fifth studio album, with no warning and no promotion. The self-titled album is priced at $15.99 on Itunes, and although you can’t download any of the content separately, you get BANG for your buck with 14 songs and 17 videos.

Today is obviously Bey Day!

Although fans are still shocked that she decided to put out her album and it’s videos all at one time, Beyonce has been plotting this for some time after being unhappy with the shift in the music industry. In her Life Is But A Dream Documentary that first aired on HBO earlier this year, she said that people don’t make albums anymore, they just try to sell a bunch of quick singles or put out an album every year.  She also made the statement that people don’t listen to a body of work anymore, and they are brainwashed. Now, the focus is more on who they are dating and what their child is wearing, versus their voice and art form. [Full statement here]

Today, Beyonce reiterated her thoughts on today’s music, while explaining the reason she decided to release her album in this particular way:

I feel like right now, people experience music differently. I remember watching Thriller on TV with my family, it was an event, we all sat around the TV and now looking back, I am so happy I was born around that time. I miss that immersive experience. Now, people only listen to a few seconds of a song on their IPODS, they don’t really invest in a whole album. It’s all about the single and the hype. There’s so much that gets between the music, and the artists and the fans. I felt like, I don’t want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it is ready, and from me to my fans.
I told my team, ‘I want to shoot a video for every song and put them all out at the same time!’ Everyone thought I was crazy, but we’re actually doing it, it’s happening!’
I wanted to make this body of work, and I feel like it’s something that’s lost in pop music. I wanted people to hear things differently and have a first impression. Not just listen to a 10 second clip, but actually be able to see a whole vision of the album. It was important that we made this a movie, we made this an experience.
I wanted everyone to see the whole picture, and to see how personal everything was to me. I will make my best art and just put it out. And that’s why it’s out today!

Here are a 6 facts about the new album:

1) This album took a year and a half to create.

2) The initial recording process started in the summer of 2012, after the writers and producers gathered under one roof in The Hamptons to live together, work together and to immerse themselves into her world and into her head.

3) The videos were shot throughout her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in places that included a beach in Brazil, the streets of NYC, a rollercoaster in Coney Island, New York, downtown Los Angeles, a chateau in Paris, a roller skating rink in Houston, Texas where she skated as a child, and a beautiful church in South America.

4) There are a long list of songwriters, producers, and video directors on the project which include JAY Z, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams, Drake, The Dream, Sia, Miguel, Frank Ocean, Hit Boy, Ammo, Boots, Detail, Hype Williams, Terry Richardson, Melina Matsoukas, Jonas Akerlund, Noah “40″ Shebib, and more [No Ne-Yo????]

5) The album is available exclusively on Itunes (sucks for Droid users) for a week. It will go to retail December 21.

6) Two tracks are expected to be announced as the lead singles for different formats next week (per Billboard). [The last time she did this was with her third studio album 'I Am...Sasha Fierce']

Song List

Pretty Hurts
Haunted
Drunk in Love (Featuring JAY Z)
Blow/Cherry
No Angel
Yoncé/Partition [ Jealous
Rocket
Mine (Featuring Drake)
XO
***Flawless (Featuring/ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
Superpower (Featuring Frank Ocean)
Heaven
Blue (Featuring Blue Ivy)

And a message from Beyonce (video may not be compatible with mobile phones)

Post by Beyoncé.

My personal note: I thought that guy Jay was genius, but this whole roll out by Bey just put the G in genius.  In an interview earlier this year, Jay Z made a good point when he talked about music critics and people writing reviews on an album before they've even had a chance to give it a few listens and digest the content.  Now, Beyonce puts out this album, and it's so much to take in at one time that people have no choice but to enjoy the visuals that she's put together for each music video first, and then go back and give the actual album a few listens before they form an opinion to put out to the masses.  It's rather clever, but only a select few artists could actually do this and pull it off.

Bey really did fool me. I originally said this project was coming (with no warning) this year and I just knew it was going to be on the 4th (that would have been too predictable right!) [Catch this post for my original tea] There were too many clues that this was happening, including the numerous videos that were being shot, and a second round of tour dates, however I will admit,  I lost faith after last week.

She got me.

P.S. The look on her face in the pic posted at the top of this post pretty much summed up my reaction to the news the album dropped today.

What are your thoughts on the new album so far?