On BEYONCÉ, the singer and mogul showed that, radio play or no, she was still a member of pop’s ruling class-and she did so not by flipping pop’s script, but by drawing inspiration from its most enticing aspects while writing a completely new playbook. Pop’s sound had shifted at the turn of the decade, with electro-pop-influenced tracks taking the spaces on radio and on the charts where Beyoncé and other R&B-leaning artists had ruled during the 2000s. The Williams-directed video for the gently funky “Blow” is a roller-rink fantasia the Åkerlund-helmed clip for the dreamy “Haunted” channels Madonna’s groundbreaking 1990 short film “Justify My Love” through Beyoncé’s 21st-century luxe aesthetic. The videos, too, run the gamut in both style and feeling, with prestigious directors like Hype Williams, Jonas Åkerlund, and Melina Matsoukas creating companion pieces for each of BEYONCÉ’s songs. The exploration of grief “Heaven,” the ferocious pop-feminist anthem “***Flawless,” and the jagged statement of artistic intent “Haunted” fill out the emotional and musical spectrum. Eroticism is a large part of BEYONCÉ, both in sound and in subject matter-the spikily giddy duet with husband JAY-Z “Drunk in Love” and the slow jam “Rocket” are two of the most carnally delightful entries in Beyoncé’s catalog, while the massive “Jealous” examines what happens when desire fuels inner strife.

Opening with “Pretty Hurts,” a soaring ballad that dives into the body-image issues that even the most revered women have to endure, even as children, and closing with “Blue,” a swaying ode to her first child (who makes a cameo on the track), BEYONCÉ reveals where the pop star’s mind had wandered after the release of her monogamy reflection 4 two years prior.

Years after its release, BEYONCÉ remains a touchstone not just for Beyoncé, but for any marquee artist who wants to break from expectations, with Beyoncé’s forward-thinking, collaborative approach to creating art aiding its of-the-moment yet not-stuck-in-time feel. Across its 14 tracks, Beyoncé pushes herself artistically and emotionally, opening up about her insecurities, her sexuality, and her happiness over songs that demonstrate the strength and versatility of her voice. Surprise drops became something of a norm not just for pop’s top tier, but for any artist with a devoted fanbase-the month’s advance notice for RENAISSANCE seems almost quaint by comparison.īut BEYONCÉ would have been a career achievement even if it had been released in an old-school way. That this was a visual album-with every song accompanied by a short film-only made Beyoncé’s flex more impressive, changing the game for how artists would handle releasing new music in the digital era. Here was one of music’s biggest stars dispensing with the normal prolonged rollout of a major work, instead simultaneously alerting people to it and releasing it. When Beyoncé’s self-titled fifth album landed unannounced on the iTunes store in December 2013, the pop world trembled.

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