Beyoncé’s self-titled album was released as a surprise iTunes exclusive in December 2013. The album appeared without advance announcement on December 13, 2013, and was accompanied by music videos for every song.
The release was presented as a visual album, making the relationship between audio and video central to the project. Beyoncé described the format as a way to let listeners experience the music and imagery together rather than receiving a conventional promotional campaign first. The album included “Drunk in Love,” “Partition,” and “Flawless,” among other tracks.
The surprise strategy became one of the most influential album-release events of the 2010s. It is sometimes confused with Lemonade, another Beyoncé visual album, but Lemonade was released in 2016 and used a different rollout involving a television film and streaming availability. The 2013 project is officially titled Beyoncé.