Watch: Power couple Beyonce and Jay-Z drop new album 'Everything is Love'
Beyonce and Jay-Z are best known for keeping their secrets sacred, and the pair has done so once again by the launch of their surprise joint album titled 'Everything is Love', and fans are already loving it.
The USAToday reported that the news of the launch of the album was announced during their On The Run tours, including Beyonce's social media accounts, Tidal (where the album is now streaming), and Jay-z's Roc Nation. Beyonce also shared some clips and photos of the new music video, 'Apes**t', from the album, on Instagram.
The song 'Apes**t' has been shot in The Louvre, Paris, sometime during last month with director Ricky Saiz, who according to the Rolling Stone had previously led up Beyonce's 'Yonce' video. The video is exceptionally well-made with long shots of the hallways and close-up shots of the more darker parts of the set. The two artists are seen standing in the empty hallway, in front of the 'Mona Lisa' staring straight into the camera, with a serene face. The shot at once changes with the dropping of the beat, as the semi-nude bodies along the staircase contract and expand according to the rhythm.
The song comes only two days before 'Juneteenth'. June 19, 1865, marks the date when the last slaves in America were freed. The actual emancipation of the news of freedom came when General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, and issued the General Order No. 3 on June 19. This was done almost two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Over the years, the date has come to symbolize freedom for many African-Americans and serves the purposes of the American spirit of a triumph of humanity over slavery.
In the song too, there are certain lines and phrases which are directly allegorical to the event. The background of the Renaissance paintings, along with the nude dancers whose movements in a way symbolize the gradual independence from slavery, and the African-American community holding a significant position in today's USA.
The tracklist of 'Everything is Love' includes:
01. Summer
02. Apes..t
03. Boss
04. Nice
05. 713
06. Friends
07. Heard about us
08. Black Effect
09. Love Happy
Album contributors include Offset and Quavo of Migos, who appear on Apes**t; Ty Dolla $ign, who guests on Boss and Pharrell Williams, who sings on Nice. Pharrell also has co-writing credits on Apes**t and Nice, while TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek contributes to Love Happy.
The album marks the couple's first-ever collaborative album, also serving as the first new music from Beyonce since her LP, 'Lemonade', which was released in April 2016. Beyoncé and Jay-Z are currently touring together as part of their OTR II Tour.