The album accompanied by the 2013 surprise release of “Drunk in Love” was Beyoncé.
Beyoncé is the artist’s fifth studio album, released unexpectedly on December 13, 2013, through Columbia Records. It arrived without the usual pre-release campaign, and the surprise strategy quickly became a major topic in music marketing.
The self-titled album was released with a video for every song, leading Beyoncé to describe it as a visual album. “Drunk in Love,” featuring Jay-Z, was one of its prominent singles, alongside songs such as “Partition” and “Pretty Hurts.”
The album won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in 2015. It is distinct from Lemonade, Beyoncé’s 2016 visual album, and from her 2022 album Renaissance, the first installment of a later trilogy.