Photo: Getty Images
The new era of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has begun.
Without actually uttering a single word, Queen Bey announced her seventh studio album on Thursday (July 16). The existence of the project, titled Renaissance, became known around 1:30 a.m. ET when Bey's website updated to all black with "act i" and "RENAISSANCE" written in white on each side.
The album, which reportedly drops on July 29, is said to have 16-tracks total, according to BeyLegion. Four box sets for the project are currently available for pre-order on Beyoncé's website. The sets include a CD, T-shirt, mini-poster, and a 28-page photo booklet. The product “begins shipping July 29th upon album release."
In keeping with her infamous hush-hush release strategies, no further information was revealed.
Hours after Bey's album announcement, British Vogue unveiled its latest cover story featuring Queen Bey, written by Editor in Chief Edward Enninful, who described hearing Bey's upcoming album in person:
Instantly, a wall of sound hits me. Soaring vocals and fierce beats combine and in a split second I’m transported back to the clubs of my youth. I want to get up and start throwing moves. It’s music I love to my core. Music that makes you rise, that turns your mind to cultures and subcultures, to our people past and present, music that will unite so many on the dance floor, music that touches your soul. As ever with Beyoncé, it is all about the intent. I sit back, after the wave, absorbing it all.
The creation has been a long process, she explains, with the pandemic giving her far longer to spend thinking and rethinking every decision. Just the way she likes it.
In Queen Bey fashion, the cover story featured no words from her, only this second-hand quote about what she "refers to her innermost unit":
"'My earth, my heart, my soil and my sanity' is how she refers to her innermost unit, and a great deal of protection goes into allowing her to experience her pocket of the world as calmly as possible," Enniful wrote.
Read Bey's full cover story HERE!
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