Beyoncé Casually Dropped A Surprise Live Album, Because That's How She Rolls
I can't believe I'm typing this again... but BEYONCÉ DROPPED ANOTHER SURPRISE ALBUM! This is not a drill! To go along with the drop of her Netflix documentary Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé, the queen dropped an entire live recording of her 2018 Coachella performance. And Beyoncé's surprise live Homecoming album is giving her fans life, as it lets them relive the iconic Beychella show on repeat. And it's actually on streaming services other than TIDAL! What a time. What a blessing. What a woman.
Beyoncé's Netflix film documents the behind-the-scenes process that brought her Beychella performance to life. Its impending arrival was announced by Netflix previously, but in true Beyoncé fashion, she didn't inform fans that a live recording of her now historic performance (her pyramid stage for the show is literally on display as an exhibit at Coachella this year) would also be dropping the same day as the film. But that's just how it works with Bey! You don't question when she's going to give us a new album. You patiently wait until she deems us worthy of one.
The album takes you right back to the Coachella performance. Whether you were in the audience (lucky f*cking you) or you were like me, eyes glued to the screen watching the livestream, watching this performance was witnessing some music history. And now she's documented it fully for everyone in the form of her film and the live album.
Mother hath blessed us! Consider Twitter slain.
The album clocks in at nearly two hours long, with a total of 40 songs. But get this: the last two songs are bonus tracks!
That's right, there are TWO NEW BEYONCÉ SONGS ON THIS ALBUM. When I say we stan, we stan. The songs are called "Before I Let Go" (a cover of Frankie Beverly and Maze's song of the same name) and "I Been On" (a track that she performed live during Beychella but has never actually released as a song). So not only did fans wake up to a new Beyoncé documentary and a new Beyoncé album this morning, but they also woke up to two brand new Beyoncé songs. And with that, she has completed the holy trinity.
The entire Beychella performance, plus the accompanying film and album, are all about the black experience told through the lens of the historically black college and university (HBCU) experience. At one point on the Homecoming album (during the track "So Much Damn Swag"), Beyoncé explains why she wanted to focus on this in her Coachella performance.
"I always dreamed of going to an HBCU," she says on the track. "My college was Destiny's Child. My college was traveling around the world, and life was my teacher."
She continues to explain how impressed she was by her cast. She says,
I wanted a black orchestra. I wanted the steppers. I needed the vocalists. I wanted different characters, I didn't want us all doing the same thing. And the amount of swag is just limitless. The things these young people can do with their bodies and the music they can play. The drum rolls, and the haircuts, and the bodies, and the... it's just not right. It's just so much damn swag.
Imagine being described that way by Beyoncé. Ugh.
Thank you for the gift that is this album, Queen Bey!
