If you thought there were no more high-profile albums to be released in December 2013, you were dead wrong.
Pop culture superstar Beyonce shocked the world late Thursday with the surprise release of a self-titled “visual album.” An iTunes exclusive, the album features fourteen songs and seventeen videos (as well as a “credits” video).
Featured guests on the release include her husband Jay-Z, her daughter Blue Ivy, Frank Ocean, Drake and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Regarding the surprise release, Beyonce explains, “I didn’t want to release my music the way I’ve done it. I am bored with that.
“I feel like I am able to speak directly to my fans. There’s so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fans. I felt 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.”
In the official synopsis, iTunes adds, “Beyonce’s fifth studio endeavor is a provocative, unguarded artistic statement — revealing a side of the icon previously unknown to fans and cementing her status as a pop visionary.”
Available now on iTunes (individual tracks become available for purchase on December 20), the “Beyonce” tracklist is as follows:
Songs
1. Pretty Hurts
2. Haunted
3. Drunk In Love (feat. Jay Z)
4. Blow
5. No Angel
6. Partition
7. Jealous
8. Rocket
9. Mine (feat. Drake)
10. XO
11. ***Flawless (feat. Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche)
12. Superpower (feat. Frank Ocean)
13. Heaven
14. Blue (feat. Blue Ivy)
Videos
1. Pretty Hurts
2. Ghost
3. Haunted
4. Drunk In Love (feat. Jay Z)
5. Blow
6. No Angel
7. Yonce
8. Partition
9. Jealous
10. Rocket
11. Mine (feat. Drake)
12. XO
13. ***Flawless (feat. Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche)
14. Superpower (feat. Frank Ocean)
15. Heaven
16. Blue (feat. Blue Ivy)
17. Grown Woman
18. Credits