Beyoncé’s self-titled visual album was released without advance promotion in December 2013.
The album appeared on the iTunes Store on December 13, 2013, arriving as a surprise release. Beyoncé described it as an “album” and a visual project because every song was accompanied by a music video. The unexpected launch became a major moment in digital music marketing.
Beyoncé is her fifth studio album and was released through Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records. Its songs include “Pretty Hurts,” “Drunk in Love,” “Partition,” “Flawless,” and “XO.” Jay-Z appears on “Drunk in Love,” while Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s speech is sampled in “Flawless.”
The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album. It is often confused with Lemonade, another Beyoncé visual album, but Lemonade arrived in 2016 and used a different narrative framework. The self-titled album’s defining release feature was its surprise presentation.