Beyoncé's Renaissance is out, here are the first reactions

Beyoncé's Renaissance is out

After a long wait, it is finally out: Beyoncé's Renaissance was the most anticipated album of the summer, now finally available on all platforms after an illegal leak two days ago that angered the singer, who worked on this new project for three years: “Creating this album gave me a place to dream and escape from these scary times,” wrote Queen B: “It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when few things move. My intention is to create a safe space, free from perfectionism and too many thoughts, a place in which to scream, let loose, feel free ". After 2006 Lemonade, a musical project both extremely personal and extremely political, Beyoncé now chooses the path of escapism and the formula seems to work.

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Already the first single released a few weeks ago, Break My Soul, sampling Robin S.'s classic Show Me Love but also Big Freedia's bounce Explode piece, best represented the singer's new direction, also allowing her to climb the charts of the best-selling singles in the United States and the United Kingdom for the first time in years (despite being very relevant from a cultural and social buzz point of view, in fact, Queen B recently has never been a real hitmaker to top 10).

“In its sixteen tracks Renaissance is essentially a tribute to two musical forms: the house of the late eighties and early nineties and the disco”, writes the Telegraph, even if the influences are truly endless, including soul , gospel and rap. Her collaborations are also numerous, ranging from her husband Jay-Z to an icon like Grace Jones, who appears together with the Nigerian singer Tems in Move; and again Drake, Pharrell, Skrillex, the Jamaican rapper Beam (who participates in the track Energy).

Renaissance is also a huge sampling exercise: Alien Superstar contains a sample of I'm Too Sexy by Right Said Fred, Cut It Uff - a collaboration with Nile Rodgers of Chic - has elements of Ooh La La la by Teena Marie, and above all the final track Summer Renaissance takes up Donna Summer's I Feel Love, with the production of Giorgio Moroder that is projected even more into the future of sounds. Not everyone was happy with this musical voracity, however: singer Kelis, whose Milkshake is sampled in the song Energy, made it known that she had never been asked for her consent: "I knew when the rest of the world, some people in this business have neither the soul nor the integrity ", and then add:" It was not a collaboration, it was a theft. "

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Acredini aside, Renaissance is truly a record of great lightness, syncretism and amazement, which certainly projects Beyoncé into new, eclectic and perhaps unexplored territories for her. Despite having abandoned the more political proclamations (even the song America Has a Problem is less busy than the title suggests), there are still some slogans related to self-realization, to liberation from the preconceptions and judgments of others, with also a lot of self-determination and sensuality ("It's hot and sometimes a little dirty," said Usa Today).

“While it's not Beyoncé's best album, it certainly fully achieves her liberating intent. Her sense of freedom is palpable everywhere and becomes an irresistible call to action, ”writes the Guardian. The Telegraph also says that the album is "energizing, exciting, stimulating ... and exhausting": sixteen tracks all very fired up in terms of rhythm and quotes, in fact, can be tiring if played one after the other.

But the experimentation that Beyoncé is carrying out (and will continue as Renaissance should be the first of three chapters already announced) certainly has a pregnant meaning in an age of great confusion, heaviness and opacity. Especially her fans are convinced of it, who have faithfully waited for midnight to enjoy the album and are already flooding the web with memes to symbolize their enthusiasm. Queen B has come to free us all and, whether we like it or not, she will make us all dance again this summer.

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