Beyoncé released the surprise self-titled album Beyoncé in December 2013.
The album appeared on the iTunes Store on December 13, 2013, without the traditional advance campaign of singles, interviews, or public release-date announcements. Beyoncé described it as a visual album because every song was accompanied by a music video, creating a connected audio-visual project.
The record was her fifth studio album and followed 4, which had been released in 2011. It included songs such as “Drunk in Love,” “Partition,” “Flawless,” and “XO.” The unexpected release strategy had a major effect on how large music projects could be marketed digitally.
The album title is simply Beyoncé, which can cause confusion with the artist’s name. It is often informally called the “visual album” or “self-titled album,” but those descriptions identify its format rather than replacing its official title.