| Name | B'Day |
|---|
| Type | studio |
|---|
| Artist | Beyoncé |
|---|
| Cover | Beyoncé - B'Day (2006).jpg |
|---|
| Border | yes |
|---|
| Alt | Cover shows a young woman in a low cut dress, with dark eye liner and hair piled high on her head. |
|---|
| Released | |
|---|
| Recorded | April 2006; Sony Music Studios(New York City), Great Divide Studios(Aspen, Colorado) |
|---|
| Genre | R&B;, soul, funk, pop |
|---|
| Length | 37:40 |
|---|
| Label | Columbia, Music World |
|---|
| Producer | Beyoncé Knowles (also exec.), Swizz Beatz, Sean Garrett, Rich Harrison, Rodney Jerkins, Walter Millsap III, The Neptunes, Shaffer "Ne-Yo" Smith, Shea Taylor, Stargate, Cameron Wallace |
|---|
| Last album | Dangerously in Love(2003) |
|---|
| This album | B'Day(2006) |
|---|
| Next album | I Am... Sasha Fierce(2008) |
|---|
| Name | B'Day |
|---|
| Type | studio |
|---|
| Single 1 | Déjà Vu |
|---|
| Single 1 date | July 31, 2006 |
|---|
| Single 2 | Ring the Alarm |
|---|
| Single 2 date | October 17, 2006 |
|---|
| Single 3 | Irreplaceable |
|---|
| Single 3 date | December 5, 2006 |
|---|
| Single 4 | Beautiful Liar |
|---|
| Single 4 date | April 28, 2007 |
|---|
| Single 5 | Get Me Bodied |
|---|
| Single 5 date | July 10, 2007 |
|---|
| Single 6 | Green Light |
|---|
| Single 6 date | July 27, 2007 |
|---|
}}
B'Day is the second studio album by American R&B; recording artist Beyoncé Knowles, released on September 4, 2006 by Columbia Records in collaboration with Music World Music and Sony Urban Music. Its release was meant to coincide with Knowles' twenty-fifth birthday. The album was originally planned for a 2004 release as a follow-up to her debut album Dangerously in Love (2003). However, the project was put on hiatus due to the recording of Destiny's Child's final studio album Destiny Fulfilled and her starring role in the 2006 movie Dreamgirls.
While on vacation after filming for Dreamgirls, Knowles began contacting various producers; she employed techniques for faster collaboration, and completed B'Day in three weeks. Most of the lyrical content of the album was inspired by Knowles' role in the film. The album's musical style ranges from 1970s–80s funk and balladry to urban contemporary elements such as hip hop and R&B.; Live instrumentation was employed on most tracks as part of Knowles' vision of creating a record using live instruments. B'Day Anthology Video Album was released alongside the deluxe edition of B'Day, and contains thirteen music videos to accompany the songs.
The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 541,000 copies in its first week, and it has been certified triple platinum by the RIAA. It was also successful in international music markets and yielded six singles, including three commercial hits: "Déjà Vu", "Irreplaceable" and "Beautiful Liar". Upon its release, B'Day received generally positive reviews from most music critics and earned Knowles several accolades, including the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B; Album at the 49th Grammy Awards. Knowles embarked on her second solo concert tour in 2007, which she titled The Beyoncé Experience. A live album, The Beyoncé Experience Live, was released which featured footage from the tour.
Background
In 2002, Knowles had productive studio sessions while making her debut album,
Dangerously in Love,
recording up to forty-five songs. After the release of
Dangerously in Love in 2003, Knowles had planned to produce a follow-up album using several of the left-over tracks. In late 2005, Knowles decided to postpone the recording of her second album because she had landed the starring role in
Dreamgirls, a film adaptation of the 1981
Tony Award-winning
Broadway musical of the same name. As she wanted to focus on one project at a time, Knowles decided to wait until the movie was completed before returning to the recording studio. Knowles later told
Billboard magazine, "I'm not going to write for the album until I finish doing the movie."
While having a month-long vacation after filming Dreamgirls, Knowles went to the studio to start working on the album. She said, "[When filming ended] I had so many things bottled up, so many emotions, so many ideas," Knowles kept the recording of B'Day somewhat quiet, telling only her artists and repertoire man Max Gousse, and the team of producers they contacted to collaborate for the album. She began working with songwriter-producers Rich Harrison, Rodney Jerkins, Sean Garrett, Cameron Wallace; the Neptunes, Norwegian production duo Stargate, American hip hop producer-rapper Swizz Beatz, and Walter Millsap. Knowles rented the Sony Music Studios in New York City with four recording studios going simultaneously. She booked Harrison, Jerkins and Garrett, each with a room to work in. was completed in three weeks, ahead of the originally scheduled six weeks.
Swizz Beatz co-produced four songs for the album, the most from a single producer in the team.
Composition
Themes
Many of the themes and musical styles of the album were inspired by Knowles' role in
Dreamgirls.
Musical style
B'Day was influenced by a variety of American genres, and, like Beyoncé's previous album, incorporated urban contemporary elements including contemporary R&B; and hip hop. Some songs have 1970s and 1980s styles, inspired through record sampling. "Suga Mama", which employs blues-guitar samples from Jake Wade and the Soul Searchers' "Searching for Soul", contains a 1970s funk- and 1980s go-go-influenced melody. "Upgrade U" is sampled from the 1968 Betty Wright song "Girls Can't Do What the Guys Do". "Resentment" used Curtis Mayfield's 1972 "Think (Instrumental)", from the Super Fly soundtrack. "Déjà Vu" has '70s influence, "Green Light" is a classic groove, and "Get Me Bodied" features twang, a musical style that originated from Texas.
", which she sang in the film Dreamgirls]]
Knowles crafted most songs in B'Day through live instrumentation and diverse techniques. Evident on the song "Déjà Vu", which features rap from Jay-Z, the track utilizes bass guitar, conga, hi-hat, horns and the 808 drum. In an interview with MTV, Knowles said, "When I recorded 'Déjà Vu' [...] I knew that even before I started working on my album, I wanted to add live instruments to all of my songs..." The album's second single "Ring the Alarm" is noted for the use of a siren in its melody. It was called a song that "shows a harder edge to Beyoncé's sound". The song "advises women who have partners with straying eyes to put on sexy dresses and grind on other guys in the club to regain their affections." Meanwhile, the use of the "uh-huh huh huh" vocals and brassy stabs in the song "Green Light" is a direct echo to "Crazy in Love", according to Peter Robinson of The Guardian.
Releases and promotion
B'Day was first released outside of North America through
Columbia Records in collaboration with
Sony Urban Music and Music World Music on September 4, 2006 to coincide with Knowles' 25th birthday. It was later released on April 23 in the United Kingdom. Aside from the original track listing, the new edition features five new songs, including "
Beautiful Liar", a duet with
Colombian singer
Shakira. The single marked
Billboard chart history having moved ninety-one positions from number ninety-four to number three on April 7, 2007. "
Amor Gitano" ("Gypsy Love"), a
flamenco-
pop duet with Mexican singer
Alejandro Fernández and a soundtrack for
Telemundo's "El Zorro"
telenovela, is included in the new edition, alongside several Spanish re-recordings. The idea of recording songs in foreign language emanated from her experience when, four or five years ago, Destiny's Child collaborated with Alejandro Sanz for "Quisiera Ser". Knowles worked with producer Rudy Perez for these recordings. it is more on retro, colors and black hair styles which Knowles thought would be like her character Deena. The shooting of the videos was completed in two weeks. At first, the DVD was available exclusively in
Wal-Mart,
Singles
"
Déjà Vu" was released on July 31, 2006, as the album's
lead single. "
Green Light" was planned to be released as the second single for the international market, but the management opted for "
Ring the Alarm" instead, which was released in the United States only while "
Irreplaceable" was serviced to international markets as the second single and third overall single from the album. "Ring the Alarm" was released on October 3, and became her highest-charting single debut, opening at number twelve on the
Billboard Hot 100. "
Upgrade U", also featuring Jay-Z, was released as a
promotional single in November 2006, and charted well.
The album's third single "Irreplaceable" became the best-selling single in the U.S. in 2007 and the 25th most successful song of the 2000s, according to the Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Decade. Rolling Stone ranked it number sixty on their list of 100 Best Songs of the 2000s decade. "Irreplaceable" was the most successful single off the album, having earned positive critical response and performance in the music market, noted for staying on the Billboard Hot 100 at number one for ten consecutive weeks. The single's music video features the debut performance of her all-female band, Suga Mama. "Get Me Bodied" was the album's lowest-charting U.S.-released single, having reached the Billboard Hot 100 below top fifty. The single's accompanying music video features former band-mates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams and sister Solange Knowles in its 1960s-influenced instructional music video. "Green Light" was released in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2007. Along with the release of the single, the remix EP Green Light: Freemasons EP was released on July 27, 2007 as a digital download.
Tour
In mid-2006, Knowles looked for an all-female band for her 2007 tour,
The Beyoncé Experience, to promote the album. She held an audition for
keyboard players,
bassists,
guitarists,
horn players,
percussionists and
drummers around the world. Knowles named the band Suga Mama. As well as singing songs from
B'Day, Knowles also performed tunes from
Dangerously in Love and gave a Destiny's Child
medley. She embarked on the tour in Japan on April 10, 2007 At the Los Angeles show Jay-Z and Destiny's Child bandmates
Kelly Rowland and
Michelle Williams made guest appearances. Footage from this show was filmed and released on November 20, 2007 as a live album titled
The Beyoncé Experience Live. her highest so far achieved compared to her other three albums. The album gave Knowles her second highest-charting album following
Dangerously in Love, which also topped the chart on its debut. This feat was noted by Keith Caulfield of
Billboard magazine, surmising that perhaps "its handsome debut was generated by goodwill earned from the performance of her smash first album
Dangerously in Love." By the end of 2006, the album was certified platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), it had sold 214,000 copies since its release at the beginning of April.
| rev4 =
The Guardian
| rev4Score =
| rev6 =
Pitchfork Media
| rev6Score = (7.2/10)
| rev7 =
PopMatters
| rev7Score = (6/10)
}}
B'Day received generally positive reviews from music critics. At
Metacritic, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an
average score of 70, based on 23 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Bill Lamb of
About.com complimented it for exuding the "work of a woman with focus, energy, empathy, and vocal firepower to spare", giving it four and a half stars out of five.
Entertainment Weeklys Jody Rosen commented that "the songs [in the album] arrive in huge gusts of rhythm and emotion, with Beyoncé's voice rippling over clattery beats". Jonah Weiner of
Blender gave the album four out of five stars and commented that "sweaty up-tempo numbers prove the best platform for Beyonce's rapperly phrasing and pipe-flaunting fireballs". Sal Cinquemani of
Slant Magazine compared the album to the work of Destiny's Child and wrote,"
B'Day is reminiscent of Knowles' former group at their commercial peak". In his consumer guide for
MSN Music, critic
Robert Christgau gave
B'Day an A- rating and wrote favorably for it themes concerning wealth and empowerment: "On most of them she's wronged yet still in control because she's got so much money".
However, some critics deemed the album's production weak. Roger Friedman of Fox News reviewed the album negatively and stated that "the result of so many cooks in the kitchen ... is that ... Beyoncé serves up a [mix of] ... shrill singing and invariably tuneless songs". Los Angeles Times writer Richard Cromelin gave the album three out of four stars and commented that "Some of the experiments don't click, but by reconfiguring and repurposing century-spanning components of black music [...] she's gained an artistic high ground". Andy Kellman of Allmusic stated that Knowles' "hurryness" in the album produced "no songs with the smooth elegance" of "Me, Myself and I" or "Be with You"; he however added, "... there is nothing desperate or weak about this album".
The album was nominated for five Grammy Awards, including "Best Contemporary R&B; Album", "Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance" for "Ring the Alarm" and "Best R&B; Song" and "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" for "Déjà Vu". The Freemasons club mix of "Déjà Vu" without the rap was put forward in the "Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical" category. B'Day won the award for "Best Contemporary R&B; Album" at the 49th Grammy Awards in 2006. The following year, B'Day received two Grammy nominations for Record of the Year for "Irreplaceable" and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Beautiful Liar". She also received a Grammy nomination for her work on Dreamgirls.
Controversies
The artwork for
B'Day, including the cover for the single "
Ring the Alarm", fueled controversy after Knowles used alligators during the photo shoot. Knowles revealed that using the animal and taping their mouths shut was her idea.
PETA, an animal rights organization which had previously confronted her after she had used furs for her fashion line's clothing design, contacted a
biologist who later wrote a letter to her, stating "As a specialist in reptile biology and welfare, I'm concerned about your posing with a terrified baby alligator for your new album cover. Humans and alligators are not natural bedfellows, and the two should not mix at events such as photo shoots. In my view, doing so is arguably abusive to an animal."
In 2007, Knowles appeared on billboards and newspapers across Australia showing her holding an antiquated cigarette holder.
Three weeks after their release, the deluxe edition and the video anthology DVD was temporarily ceased for retail in stores. A lawsuit was filed for breach of contract of using "Still in Love (Kissing You)", a version of British singer Des'ree's original song "Kissing You". Not intended for the album's inclusion, Des'ree's deal also stipulated that the title of the song was not to be altered, and a video was not to be made.
Track listing
Deluxe Edition
;North American deluxe edition
On digital copies "World Wide Woman" is a non-hidden track placed at track 8, and other song are pushed down the order.
;International deluxe edition
;Notes
"Suga Mama" samples "Searching for Soul" by Jake Wade and the Soul Searchers.
"Upgrade U" samples "Girls Can't Do What the Guys Do (And Still Be a Lady)" by Betty Wright.
"Resentment" samples "Think (Instrumental)" by Curtis Mayfield.
"Encore for the Fans" contains "Encore for the Fans (Interlude)", "Listen" and "Get Me Bodied (Extended Mix)".
Personnel
Credits for
B'Day are adapted from album liner notes.
Jason Agel – assistant recording
Omar Al-Musfi – Arabic percussion
Roberto Almodovar – recording engineering
Allen "Al Geez" Arthur – horns
Aplril Baldwin – artists and repertoire administration
Aureo Baqueiro – vocal direction for Alejandro Fernández
Reyli Barba – writing
Robert Becker – viola
Andres Bermudez – recording
Angela Beyincé – writing
Amund Bjorklund – writing
Tim Blacksmith – Stargate management
Aaron Brougher – artists and repertoire coordinator
Denyse Buffum – viola
Bun B – vocals (Rap-a-Lot)
David Campbell – string arrangement and conducting
Roberto Cani – violin
Tim Carmon – keyboards
Sean Carrington – guitar
Jim Caruana – recording engineering
Gustavo Celis – recording engineering
Olgui Chirino – vocal production
Fusako Chubachi – art direction, design
Willie Clarke – writing
Andrew Coleman – assistant recording
Larry Corbett – cello
Tom Coyne – mastering
Jasmin Cruz – background vocals
Scott Cutler – writing
Danny D. – Stargate management
Lawshawn Daniels – writing
Mario Deleon – violin
Ian Dench – writing
Robert "LB" Dorsey – recording
Andrew Duckles – viola
Bruce Dukov – violin (concertmaster)
Nathan East – bass
Paco "El Sevillano" – gypsy chant
Mikkel S. Eriksen – writing, instruments
Alejandro Fernández – vocals (Sony BMG Mexico)
Jaime Flores – writing
Paul Forat – artists and repertoire
Sean Garrett – writing, production
Amanda Ghost – writing
Jason Goldstein – mixing
Aaron "Goody" Goode – horns
Erwin Gorosita – art direction
Max Gousse – artists and repertoire
Alan Grunfeld – violin
Rich Harrison – writing, production, mixing
Tor Erik Hermansen – writing, instruments
Geraldo Hilera – violin
Jean-Marie Horvat – mixing
Dabling "Hobby Boy" Howard – recording
Ty Hunter – styling
ILoveDust – logo design
Jun Ishizeki – recording
Eric Jackson – guitars
Quincy S. Jackson – marketing
Jay-Z – writing, vocals (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam)
Rodney Jerkins – writing, production, mixing, music, horn arrangement
James Johnson – bass
Jon Jon – assistant production, bass
Ronald Judge – horns
Suzie Katayama – cello
Gimel "Young Guru" Keaton – recording
Hannah Khoury – violin, viola
Kimberly Kimble – hair
Rob Kinelski – assistant recording, assistant recording engineering
Beyoncé Knowles – writing, vocals, production, vocal production, executive production
Mathew Knowles – artists and repertoire, executive production, management
Solange Knowles – writing
Tina Knowles – styling
Henry Krieger – writing
Ricky Lawson – drums
Jolie Levine – music contracting
Espen Lind – writing, guitars
Dave Lopez – assistant recording, Pro Tools editing
Nathan Jenkins – recording
Julia Knapp – artists and repertoire operation
MK – writing
Riley Mackin – assistant recording
Miriam Makeba – writing
Manny Maroquin – mixing
Harvey Mason – percussion
Curtis Mayfield – writing
Vlado Meller – mastering
Chuck Middleton – writing
Colin Miller – assistant mixing, digital prep engineering, Pro Tools prep
Walter W. Millsap III – writing, production, music, Pro Tools editing
Mo Horns – horns
Naser Musa – oud
Candice C. Nelson – writing, co-production, music
The Neptunes – production
Ne-Yo – writing, co-production
Sara Parkins – violin
Dave "Hard Drive" Pensado – mixing
Rudy Perez – production, vocal production, arrangement, keyboards, programming, Spanish guitar, background vocals, vocal direction for Fernández
Clay Perry – keyboards, programming, Pro Tools editing
Denaun Porter – programming
Anne Preven – writing
Keli Nicole Price – writing
Boujemaa Razgui – ney
Clarence Reid – writing
Aaron Renner – recording
Geoff Rice – recording
Michele Richards – violin
Jared Robbins – assistant recording
Jamie Rosenberg – assistant recording
Kareem Roustom – violin arrangement, additional string arrangements
Shakira – vocals (Epic Records), additional production, arrangement, vocal production, violin arrangement, remixing
Haim Shtrum – violin
Dexter Simmons – mixing
Slim Thug – vocals (Star Trak/Geffen Records)
Daniel Smith – cello
Chris Spilfogel – recording
Stargate – production, arrangement, recording engineering, programming
David Stearns – assistant recording engineering
Swizz Beatz – writing, production, additional production, mixing
Syience – writing, production
Shea Taylor – writing, production
Delisha Thomas – writing
Stayve Thomas – writing
Michael Tocci – recording
Rene Luis Toledo – Spanish guitar
Steve Tolle – assistant mixing
Francesca Tolot – makeup
The Underdogs – production
Max Vadukul – photography
Jeff Villanueva – recording
Rommel Nino Villanueva – recording
Visitante – programming
Cameron Wallace – production
John Weston – recording engineering, digital editing (strings)
Pharrell Williams – writing
John Wittenburg – violin
Shane Woodley – recording, assistant recording
Kenneth Yerke – violin
Charts and certifications
Charts
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Chart (2006)
!Peakposition
|-
|
Australian Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|8
|-
|
Austrian Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|3
|-
|
Danish Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|3
|-
|
Finnish Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|5
|-
|
Greek International Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|3
|-
|
Hungarian Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|22
|-
|
Irish Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|3
|-
|
Italian Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|4
|-
|
Mexican Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|33
|-
|
Portuguese Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|3
|-
|U.S.
Billboard 200
| style="text-align:center;"|13
|-
|Japanese Albums Chart
|align="center"|55
|-
|
UK Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|62
|-
|U.S.
Billboard 200
| style="text-align:center;"|38
|-
|U.S.
Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums
| style="text-align:center;"|8
|}
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Chart (2007)
!Rank
|-
|Australian Urban Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|13
|-
|U.S. Billboard 200
| style="text-align:center;"|11
|-
|U.S. Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums
| style="text-align:center;"|6
|}
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Chart (2008)
!Rank
|-
|U.S. Billboard 200
| style="text-align:center;"|170
|-
|U.S. Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums
| style="text-align:center;"|85
|}
Certifications
Awards
References
External links
B'Day at Discogs
B'Day at Metacritic
|-
Category:2006 albums
Category:Albums certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan
Category:Albums produced by Rich Harrison
Category:Albums produced by Rodney Jerkins
Category:Albums produced by Sean Garrett
Category:Albums produced by Stargate
Category:Albums produced by Swizz Beatz
Category:Albums produced by The Neptunes
Category:Beyoncé Knowles albums
Category:Columbia Records albums
![★♪Anime mix- Lollipop [ Happy Be-late B-day xbbypink-sys-chan x3] ★♪](http://web.archive.org./web/20110815102513im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/mxP3I7x5NnE/0.jpg "★♪Anime mix- Lollipop [ Happy Be-late B-day xbbypink-sys-chan x3] ★♪")
