Beyoncé’s 7th Studio Album ‘Renaissance’ is Here

'New era'

Beyoncé’s long-awaited and highly anticipated seventh studio album, Renaissance, is now available for the world to hear. The 16-song LP marks her first solo album in 6 years, following the pivotal visual album Lemonade. Critics, including NPR Music’s Sidney Madden and Ann Powers, have said of previews that Renaissance signifies a musical evolution for the global superstar.

Renaissance includes guest features from Grace Jones, Tems and BEAM, as well as a variety of credits from heavy hitters in the music industry, including several from The-Dream, a collaborator on the megahit “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” and producer Mike Dean, and features from Drake and Raphael Saadiq.

On her website, Beyoncé wrote of Renaissance, “This three act project was recorded over three years during the pandemic. A time to be still but also a time I found to be the most creative,” an indication that the new release is the first of three parts.

Last month, she surprise dropped a single from the record, “BREAK MY SOUL,” an energetic track rooted in dance music influences, featuring Big Freedia and sampling the 1990 diva house hit “Show Me Love” by Robin S.

Despite a proven ability to give the world exactly what Beyoncé wants when Beyoncé wants to, no more and no less, the new album was leaked online just two days before its release; some fans alleged that they’d seen the CD for sale early in media stores in France and the Netherlands.

She addressed the leak, and the backlash from patient fans it received on social media saying: