Beyoncé is the album presented as a visual album built around a series of music videos.
Released without advance announcement on December 13, 2013, Beyoncé contained fourteen songs and seventeen accompanying music videos. The surprise release changed expectations for how a major artist could launch an album and became a defining event in digital music distribution.
The project explored intimacy, sexuality, motherhood, feminism, and celebrity through linked audio and visual works. Songs included “Drunk in Love,” “Partition,” and “Flawless.” Jay-Z appeared on “Drunk in Love,” while Blue Ivy appeared at the end of “Blue.”
The album is often confused with Lemonade because both combine music with strong visual storytelling. Lemonade, however, was released in 2016 and used a single film-length visual presentation. Beyoncé's surprise strategy also influenced later album releases by other artists.