Some
artists may give up after producing three kick ass albums. Some may even be
content with their artistic contribution to the world after making three
critically acclaimed, phenomenal records. The Queen feels no such way. Beyoncé,
ever so brilliantly, named her fourth released solo studio album, 4.
The Queen’s fourth album was released June 24, 2011 after taking a few
years off since releasing I am…Sasha Fierce. 4 is Beyoncé’s first
album released after her ‘business breakup’ with her father, Matthew Knowles.
This breakup up lead her to singing about more mature topics that revolve
around female empowerment, relationships, and love. Beyoncé is different from
most artists singing about female empowerment though. There are studies to
prove that most female artists talk shit while trying to be empowering, which
is basically just counterproductive. An artist who exemplifies this conundrum
is Christina Aguilera. One minute she can be singing a song about being and
loving yourself no matter what anyone has to say about it and the next minute
she can be saying that she isn’t sure whether Lady Gaga is a man or a woman. Do
you see the imbalance there? Thankfully, Beyoncé strays away from this
foolishness and is nothing but empowering for her listeners. The album produced
five international singles and was named the best album of the year 2011 by The
New Yorker. Strangely enough this was Queen Bey’s first album to not have
any singles reach number one on the charts. Instead, the top slot on
Billboard’s Hot 100 was taken up by Maroon 5 with “Moves Like Jagger”, Adele
with “Someone Like You”, and Rihanna with “We Found Love” after the release of 4. It’s as if she reached a sophomore
slump on her fourth album release somehow. However, one of the greatest
compliments paid to Beyoncé and the album was by writer, Kenneth Partridge. He
was quoted saying, “whether she’s hopelessly heartbroken or crazy in love,
Queen Bey works damn hard to make you feel exactly what she’s feeling.” I am
thinking this Kenneth guy is definitely someone I would get along with. He is
very right about Beyoncé’s ability to appeal to a listener’s soft side and put
them in a glass case of emotion or her ability to appeal to their wild side and
get them in their “freakum dress.” There are twelve tracks on 4 and only
one of them features another artist. In the song “Party”, Beyoncé guests
features rapper, Andre 3000. Oddly enough, that is the only song on the album
not directly related to female empowerment or relationships. It does seems as
if Beyoncé is remaining the solo figure on many of the songs so that her
overall theme and goals shine brighter than the people who could have been
possibly featured on the tracks.
1.
“Run the World
(Girls)”
Chances are, unless you’ve been living under a rock the past four years,
you have heard (and most likely jammed out to) this song. This is one of the
iconic Beyoncé songs that everyone seems to know, sort of like “Crazy in Love.”
It was released on April 21, 2011 as the first single of the album. If you
can’t tell from the ever so subtle title, this song is basically about women
being boss ass bitches. It almost literally screams female empowerment. Unlike
many of her songs previously that share the same underlying theme, in “Run the
World (Girls)”, Queen Bey comes right out and says, “Hey, listen, get out of
the way. Girls run this damn world. BYE FELICIA.” Like the lyrics, the music
video that accompanies the song is not shy with creatively showing its theme as
Beyoncé rides in on a big, black stallion. Critics have mixed reviews about the
song. They nearly all agreed that the track had the typical catchiness that is
expected with any Beyoncé song, but the female empowerment theme was so loud
that is threw the song off itself. I think this is because people and critics
are so used to artists passive aggressively singing about their problems and
feelings that is took them by surprise when Beyoncé put it all out there.
Personally, I loved the song because it truly was the Queen doing her thing and
singing about something she is passionate about. I can’t hear the song without
putting my diva face on and screaming “GIRLS!” whenever Queen Bey asks me
personally who runs the world (yeah, she is totally talking right to me in the
song…we’re tight like that).
2.
“Best Thing I
Never Had”
The
second single was released on June 1, 2011 and called “Best Thing I Never Had.”
This song is a complete 360 when compared to “Run the World (Girls).” While the
first single was upbeat and had a dance vibe running through it, the second
single is more of a ballad. This song is about relationships and revenge on
someone breaking the Queen’s heart. Many believe it was the follow up to the
song on her previous album. “Irreplaceable.” Even though it had a positive
reception, it too was unable to reach the top of the charts as it peaked at
number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 list. It did do a little better on the Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, reaching number 4. Even though I really do like
the song, I am NOT a fan of the music video for it. It reminds me of a college
girl on Halloween…just looking for an excuse to dress slutty. It opens up with
Beyoncé wearing lingerie and holding a flower. It all just seemed a little
ridiculous. I definitely think she could have done a little more thinking on
the video, but I mean even the Queen can’t be perfect all the time. Critics
agreed that this was one of Beyoncé’s best songs all around. Her vocals were on
point, the message was relatable, and it was something that anyone could listen
to and enjoy. I am shocked that this song didn’t do better in the charts
because it was a number one single in my book…which I mean really… that’s more
important than Billboard’s opinion anyway.
3.
“Party”
Queen Bey’s third single from the album, “Party”, was released on August
30, 2011. This is the only track from the album that had a featured artist,
Andre 3000. Some praised Andre for his verse in the song because of how
effortless his rapping seemed to be. Others deemed “Party” to be the worst song
on the album and something they could have done with out. Unfortunately, I
agree with the latter. When I read the title of the song, I expected some
crazy, dance evoking, fun beat but I was sorely disappointed. It is terribly
mediocre compared to her previous two singles on the album. To me, the song is
too “ballad-y” to be about partying. Also, I don’t think that Andre 3000’s part
adds much to the song. I do think he is a talented rapper and that he does a
great job, but it needed to be done in a different way. I would have enjoyed
the song more if the Queen had created this song into a more “Crazy in Love”
beat that made me want to jump up and down and dance around.
4.
“Love On Top”
“Love On Top”, released on September 12, 2011, was the fourth single
from the album 4. Thankfully, this track did everything for me
that “Party” wasn’t able to do. It brings in the dance evoking aspect along
with an undeniable and contagious sassiness. The only thing greater than the
song is the song’s music video. Queen Bey just seems to be having so much fun
with the song and dancing while continuing to seem passionate about what she
was singing about. “Love On Top” is Beyoncé’s second highest debuting single on
the Billboard Hot 100 having started off at number 20 on the list. While it
didn’t reach number one on the Hot 100 list, it did reach number on the Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and stayed there for seven straight weeks. This
song gave me what I look for in every Beyoncé album: something I can bump to
and sing at the top of my lungs with my friends.
5.
“Countdown”
Released on October 4, 2011, “Countdown” was Beyoncé’s final single
released from the album. Despite how fantastic I think this song is, it didn’t
do so great in the charts. It peaked at number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100
chart and number 12 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart. I was not the only
one who loved “Countdown.” Most of the critics also felt like that was a great
song and showcased not only her voice, but also her personality and most
definitely her sass. The music video for the track was well received, even
though some legal issues arose from it but that’s beside the point. It matched
the tone of the song and continued its upbeat vibe and ‘dance-y’ feel. I think
that “Countdown” was the perfect song to be the last single of the album
because it tied everything back together and showed the Queen just doing her
thing. I wish I had been 21 when this song came out because I would love to be
in a bar or club when they played this gem.
Despite
a hiccup here and there, I did truly enjoy this album. I think Beyoncé brought
the appropriate amount of sassiness, seriousness, and just plain fun that made
it irresistible to the listeners. With that being said, I would give this album
an 8 on the Bootylicious scale because of the diversity of the tracks and the
overall vibe it puts off.
