BEYONCÉ: the discography rate ~ WINNER revealed!

Maki

Maki

Just as I was about to express utter shock that @Ana Raquel is stanning a ballad, hehe.

Seems like this "B'Day" revisionism is happening to the wrong songs for most of the time... anxious to see which songs "Lost Yo Mind" outlasted. Hopefully one of them is "Back Up".

Not to be a nitpick, but "Resentment" should actually be at #124, since there was a (broken) tie between "A Woman Like Me" and "Keep Giving Your Love to Me". By the way you're doing a fantastic job especially considering there's so many songs, @allyshone!
 
Ana Raquel

Ana Raquel

she/her
allyshone said:
Okay so updates... I've tried to re-arrange some of the posts, but please let me know if you find any errors anywhere.

- World Wide Woman moves up a spot to #147, pushing Shining down one.
- Welcome To Hollywood moves up to #120, pushing Nile down one.
- Resentment moves down to #125, pushing everything else after it up one.
- Lost Yo Mind's new position is #109.

Phew... I think that is everything. I'd skipped a score of yours, @Ana Raquel, so filled the middle of the album wrong. The last few tracks were fine though, and everything else. God knows how that happened!
Click to expand...
don't worry, it happens!

good for lost yo mind though!
oprah-well-hello-lets-celebrate-that.gif
 
allyshone

allyshone

Let's get back to eliminations shall we, what a mess...














117
eil-lovehappy.png

SCORE: 7.025
TOTAL POINTS: 210.75

2016: N/A
HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 1 ( @Phonetics Girl )
LOWEST SCORE: 1 x 1 ( @Daniel_O )
MY SCORE: 8/10

Okay, NOW we're back into our 7 point average!

Sadly, the track to go is another, I think, stellar song from Beyoncé and Jay-Z's joint album, Everything Is Love. LOVEHAPPY is the album's closer and marks a happy ending and conclusion to the couple's relationship saga, which began with Beyoncé's Lemonade and then Jay's 4:44. The song was co-written with Brittany Coney, David Sitek, Denisia Andrews and Nija Charles but actually has a tonne of other writing credits on it due to the samples, namely Eddie and Ernie's You Make My Life A Sunny Day and Erykah Badu's Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop).



The song is one of the most candid on the album as the couple talk about their marriage, their children and their breakup. LOVEHAPPY ends up being a celebration as they've worked through their issues and are back on top. On initial listen of the album, I never really went back to LOVEHAPPY ever, however over the years it's really grown on me. The sample is a perfect fit for the overall feel of the album and with the lyrics being so connected with the themes from the couple's previous efforts, it truly is, not only a great album closer, but a great ending of a chapter in their lifes.

The song has never been performed live and has around 24m streams on Spotify.
Again, as always, #Justice4EverythingIsLove!

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Maki

Maki

Resentment - 8.25
~ Not surprising to see this being the first 'real' cut from "B'Day", but I definitely thought it had a strong chance to reach top 100. Either way, I think this is a very sweet song, despite the lyrical matter being the opposite. The melody is charming, especially with these additional backing vocals. Yeah, it does get a bit monotonous and whiney by the end, but I mostly enjoy it.
And just for the record, Victoria's (notably inferior) version of the song actually got an official release on that DVD that was mentioned, along with the double single "Let Your Head Go" (bop!) / "This Groove" and three more songs. It was only months before her label went bankrupt oop.

Creole - 7.5
~ A playful tune that suits the album sound really nicely, despite feeling a bit underdeveloped and being among the weaker songs from the era. There are some catchy parts and I really like the brass instruments. Fair placement for this one.

Lost Yo Mind - 5.5
~ I know some (or most) of you are very much here for shouty Beyoncé, but that doesn't appeal to me often at all. One of the prime examples here - even though the song isn't bad, it's just unpleasantly loud to the point I have to turn the volume down. It also gets repetitive and annoying rather quickly, and her vocals are too aggressive for my liking, making them sound irritative. Still, I do like the verses, which kept my score afloat in the 5+ zone I may regret that depending on the upcoming cuts.
Hopefully this is an indicator that the similar "Back Up" will leave very soon (or has already left since we've peeked into the future with this one).
 
allyshone

allyshone

Such a huge...














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SCORE: 7.033
TOTAL POINTS: 211

2016: 90/113 (-26) | 5.813 (+1.22)
HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 1 ( @godspeed )
LOWEST SCORE: 2 x 1 ( @Daniel_O, @Purple )
MY SCORE: 5/10

Released as the fifth overall US single and the fourth international single alongside Sweet Dreams, Ego was initially written for Chrisette Michele, you know that singer who KO-ed her own career by agreeing to sing at Donald Trump’s inauguration. Anyway, Michele turned it down for a plethora of reasons, however Beyoncé liked it and decided to record it and add it to the deluxe edition of I Am… Sasha Fierce. The song was co-written with Elvis Williams and Harold Lilly and is one of the jazz influenced moments on the album. For the innocent-minded, Beyoncé is simply singing about the love for her man, including his “huge ego”, but we all know what she’s actually talking about.

I’ve never enjoyed Ego a whole lot, even though I understand it’s definitely an easy listen and inoffensive. However, if we’re going to talk about highlights on I Am… Sasha Fierce, I look towards moments that are undeniably anthemic like Halo or the more fun moments like Sweet Dreams. Ego is just too mid and it doesn’t help that it is chock full of corny innuendos. Kanye West joined Beyoncé on the remix of the song, which earned them both a Grammy nomination for Best Rap/Sung performance.



The song was a decent success and has amassed around 1.9 million sales worldwide. It peaked at No.40 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the fifth single from I Am… Sasha Fierce to reach the Top 40. Despite never really being pushed elsewhere, Ego still charted in some other countries including the UK, where it peaked at No.60 and received some mild airplay. The song currently has around 60 million streams including the remix version with Kanye West. Apparently, Ego got a bit of a boost from going viral on TikTok in 2020, which I wasn't on at that time so I have no idea.



The video was directed by Beyoncé herself and longtime creative director, Frank Gatson Jr. It was shot in black and white and features Beyoncé with two female backup dancers, like many of the I Am… Sasha Fierce music videos. It’s a simple video with Beyoncé performing choreography in front of the same set up, sometimes with a chair or sometimes with a stick. There was a video for the remix version featuring Kanye and then a ‘fan exclusive’ version which just includes Beyoncé performing the song on a chair. That version is available on TIDAL. The main version has amassed over 100 million views on YouTube.

Beyoncé has only performed the song as part of the I Am… World Tour. Also, Kanye joined her onstage for a couple of the dates to perform the remix.​






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Maki

Maki

LOVEHAPPY - 5.5
~ Had no recollection of this one and, upon relistening, it is quite nothingy yet still a nice enough listen. I like the more old-school take on the rap, makes it set apart a bit from the rest of the album, and the sample is among the highlights here. The chorus isn't anything special but I really enjoy the outro. Could've bumped its score a little bit, I guess I got a bit grumpy after listening to the previous 8 songs from this album.

Ego - 6.5
~ Even if we put the significant cringe factor aside, this song is not that strong at all. Kinda sounds like a watered down version of some of the bops from "B'Day". The melody doesn't really hit the spot, either. It's a perfectly fine for an album track, so I'm surprised that the chose it to be released as a single. That little breakdown with the piano bit and her raspy falsetto is a standout, I must say.

From the "Sasha Fierce" side of the album, "Video Phone" and "Diva" can also leave anytime.
 
godspeed

godspeed

I'm not sure how to express it... But do you have this relation with certain songs where you feel like they were much bigger than they actually were because you have a specific memory of hearing it in public so it kind of feels like it was a hit single when in reality it didn't do much and not a lot of people have love for it?

Well, that's "Ego" for me. I have a very clear memory of hearing it being blasted out of a car while on vacation in New York in the summer of 2009 and becoming obsessed with it during my entire stay there because I thought it was a big hit for Beyoncé in the US. The Kanye West remix also felt massive and iconic to me, being a stan of both artists during my teenage years, and is still the version I listen to the most. And I just really love this more organic and jazzy approach to the instrumentation compared to the rest of the Sasha Fierce songs. It was a bit of an outlier on the album and added something fresh and exciting (but probably only for me) to the entire project.
 
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daninternational

daninternational

he/him
godspeed said:
I'm not sure how to express it... But do you have this relation with certain songs where you feel like they were much bigger than they actually were because you have a specific memory of hearing it in public so it kind of feels like it was a hit single when in reality it didn't do much and not a lot of people have love for it?

Well, that's "Ego" for me. I have a very clear memory of hearing it being blasted out of a car while on vacation in New York in the summer of 2009 and becoming obsessed with it during my entire stay there because I thought it was big hit for Beyoncé in the US. The Kanye West remix also felt massive and iconic to me, being a stan of both artists during my teenage years, and is still the version I listen to the most. And I just really love this more organic and jazzy approach to the instrumentation compared to the rest of the Sasha Fierce songs. It was a bit of an outlier on the album and added something fresh and exciting (but probably only for me) to the entire project.
Click to expand...

I couldn't get my scores in in time, but I'd have been a similar-reasoning 10 with you! @godspeed
 
allyshone

allyshone

This one hurts a little... I thought you all were my...














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SCORE: 7.048
TOTAL POINTS: 211.45

2016: N/A
HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 2 ( @allyshone, @sesita )
LOWEST SCORE: 3 x 1 ( @Purple )
MY SCORE: 10/10

When Beyoncé tells us how her "friends are goals", I believe her. Despite growing up in the industry and being a celebrity for a long time, Beyoncé keeps her private life under lock and key and her friends must be goals, because you will never see or hear of them breaking her trust to make some little coins. FRIENDS is an homage to this tight knit circle and how important it is for someone of Beyoncé's stature to maintain these friendships and get her through the tough times. That being said, she claims she, "ain't makin' no new friends", so my hopes are dashed!



FRIENDS was co-written with Brittany Coney and Denisia Andrews of NOVA WAV, along with Boi-1da, Jahaan Sweet, Tavoris Hollins Jr, Cash (XO), NAV and Sevn Thomas. The song is the longest on the record, coming in at 5m45s and I'm probably in the minority here, but I think it truly deserves it's runtime. Beyoncé's voice dominates the track, as she sings the majority in her gorgeous lower register before ascending to the music gods in the outro. THAT OUTRO! I got chills when I first listened to it.

Jay gets a long verse here where he shouts out to his friends. Most notably, he makes a subliminal reference to skipping Kanye West's wedding to Kim Kardashian. At the time, the media was busy talking nonsense like "Beyoncé and Kim hate each other" or "Beyoncé's jealous of Kim" etc, which is all quite ridiculous. Jay reveals, "I ain't goin' to nobody nothin' if me and my wife beefin', I don't care if the house on fire... If ya'll don't understand that, we ain't meant to be friends" (hence why the house on fire in the graphic), suggesting the couple were going through a dark time and the last thing they would have wanted is reality show cameras in their face at a wedding.

I say all this to say, I really like the more candid approach the couple take on Everything Is Love. It fills in more blanks than it leaves questions. Also, FRIENDS marks a nice change of pace from the previous songs on the album. The production and Bey's vocal delivery makes it feel close knit, like her circle.
Definitely one of the best on the album.

The song has never been performed live and has over 30m streams on Spotify.



#Justice4EverythingIsLove





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Aester

Aester

She/Her
I gave LOVEHAPPY a 7.5, but I wish I had bumped it up by at least a point. I've been listening to it a lot since doing my scores. The playfulness to Beyonce and Jay's banter is really charming.
 
Maki

Maki

Daniel_O said:
I don’t like much about the Everything Is Love album, but Friends is one of the few songs that I do (kinda) like.
Click to expand...
Same. The album doesn't appeal to me as a whole but there are some very nice songs, including "FRIENDS".

FRIENDS - 7
~ As mentioned, this is one of the best songs from this album, I'm surprised to see it miss out on the top 100. I would've scored it higher if it wasn't for that overly long verse by Jay Z, because Bey's parts are mostly great and the song doesn't feel like it goes on for nearly 6 minutes. While the beat is generic, I really like the slight melancholy vibe here, especially during the hook, which makes the track stand out on the album. And, yes, that outro is lovely.
 
allyshone

allyshone

A little extra in between all the album tracks...














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SCORE: 7.05
TOTAL POINTS: 141

2016: N/A
HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 1 ( @sesita )
LOWEST SCORE: 3 x 1 ( @Daniel_O )
MY SCORE: 6.5/10

The producer, BOOTS (real name Jordan Asher), signed to Jay-Z's record label in 2013 and upon the release of Beyoncé's Self-Titled, he went from obscurity into the mainstream, as he ended up working on the majority of the album. The following year, BOOTS started to release tracks from his upcoming mixtape, WinterSpringSummerFall, and in April 2014, he released a song with Beyoncé called Dreams, which ended up being the last track on the mixtape.



The song is well within the realms of what BOOTS was doing on Self-Titled and that's definitely not a bad thing. Beyoncé provides background vocals before taking over the track just over half way through and the result is a pretty lush R&B track, which lives up to its title. I could have definitely bumped this score up a little on re-listen. It's a whole vibe.




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