on the day of today, September 4thwe celebrate the birthday of one of the biggest names not only in contemporary music, but in the history of the music industry: Beyonce Knowles-Carter.
Owner of some of the most successful songs of all time, Beyoncé started her career as a member of the girl group Destiny’s Childlaunching his solo career in 2003, with the release of ‘Dangerously in Love’. Since then, she has broken countless sales and acclaim records, eventually becoming the most awarded woman at the Grammy Awards and enshrining an unending and immortal legacy.
To commemorate this very special day, the CinePOP created a list listing their top ten songsfocusing on his solo career (so don’t expect to find tracks like “I’m a Survivor” and “Bootylicious” in our choices).
See below and tell us which one is your favorite or which one we left out:
10. “I WAS HERE”
Enjoy watching:
album: 4
In one of her many reinventions, Beyoncé gave life to ‘4’, one of his most memorable albums (although it’s hard not to embrace all of his releases as memorable). The conclusion of this sonic adventure is accompanied by the applauseable “I Was Here”easily one of the best songs in the Queen B catalog – whose messages go beyond the mere concept of exalting who you are, crossing an ethereal line that talks about existence itself (“I was here, I lived, I loved, I was here” ) and moving through an exciting personality.
9. “LISTEN”
Album: B’Day
‘B’Day’Beyoncé’s second album, features countless singles and is brushed with powerful ballads that enchant us from beginning to end. “Listen”configuring itself as one of those incursions, mixing soul and R&B and was part of the soundtrack of the film ‘Dreamgirls’. Building a narrative that talks about love and about refusing to abandon dreams, the track takes the time to build itself into an exciting plot (“listen: I’m alone at a crossroads”), which won the singer numerous awards.
8. “PURE/HONEY”
Album: Renaissance – Act I
‘Renaissance – Act I’ it became an event when it was finally released to Beyoncé fans, reiterating, once again, the enviable versatility of one of the greatest artists in history. And, as you might expect, picking the best songs from this immaculately compiled testament is no easy task; In any case, it is remarkable how “Pure/Honey” is one of the entries that steals our attention for its ostentatious and elegant construction, based on electro-house and neo-disco (which is summed up by the honorable line “it must cost a billion to look this good”).
7. “ALREADY”
Album: The Lion King: The Gift
Despite ‘The Lion King: The Gift’ Having its problems, the album takes on considerable importance when juxtaposed with Beyoncé’s curation and celebration of the importance of black culture to, well, everything we know. The mix of dancehall and afrobeat from “ALREADY”the album’s best track, is spectacular from start to finish and is consecrated like a jewel in a vast ocean – with the collaboration of Shatta Wale and Major Leisure. More than that, it’s remarkable how the performer has fun performing the track, exploring all the skills we know very well.
6. “HOLD UP”
Album: Lemonade
“Hold Up” brings Beyoncé as Oxum, Yoruba deity of love, sensuality and fertility – well, it’s no surprise that the artist declares in the chorus “they don’t love you like I love you”, starting from a very personal scope for an incredible universality that has already proven itself of its musical identity. The song, in turn, brings beats of a delicious reggaein addition to making clear references to bands that influenced her to build the CD itself – such as Soulja Boys. Perhaps here, Knowles-Carter opens up space to explore vocal timbres without any artificial weight, fluidly oozing in a categorical and emotional subtlety.
5. “LOVE ON TOP”
album: 4
In ‘4’, the singer-songwriter decided to build a scope that embraced both the mainstream and the conceptual impulses that had been growing since the beginning of the decade. And, in this precept that has become a recognized hallmark of her compilations, the aforementioned track engulfs us in a breathtaking R&B and pop vocal exuberance – especially when she gives us a singing lesson by going up octaves and more octaves in the final part of the song. song. It is not by chance that several musical experts, including this one who writes to you, consider “Love On Top” as one of the best-produced and written forays in the performer’s career (courtesy of her and the partnership with producer Shea Taylor).
4. “DADDY LESSONS”
Album: Lemonade
“Daddy Lessons” is one of several summits of ‘Lemonade’ and one of the songs that deserved more recognition than it has.. With the song in question, the lead singer raises expectations of its own sound, starting with the beginnings of Jazz just to cultivate fertile ground for the insurgency of a country Texan who praises, as the title premeditates, the lessons his father taught him: “he told me not to cry; my father said ‘shoot’”, repeating the chorus over and over again as a way of finding the strength to keep going; all this included in a paradoxically nostalgic and modernized scope.
3. “BLACK PARADE”
Album: The Lion King: The Gift (Deluxe)
Queen B knows very well how to use her art in favor of important social issues and, in 2020, she used her outrage at events in the United States to architect the impeccable “Black Parade” – which deserved more attention than it has and proves that Beyoncé remains active as one of the most versatile and sagacious artists of the last generation, living on with a legacy that will never be erased. Guided by the brutal death of George Floyd and to the growing and retrograde discrimination of the black community – and aided by the well-known production of Derek Dixie -, the performer paints a raw portrait of what is faced today. She does not spare acid sociological incursions on white supremacy and the constant segregation promoted by its aggressors, summarizing this long and welcome anthem in “being black, maybe that’s the reason they are always angry”.
2. “ALIEN SUPERSTAR”
Album: Renaissance – Act I
Beyonce returned with full force in 2022 by launching the long-awaited and highly anticipated ‘Renaissance – Act I’. The project, the first chapter of an ambitious sound trilogy, has already risen to the level of the best of the year and of the decade (at least in the opinion of the one that speaks to you) and honored black culture with an anthemic celebration of house and disco. And among the many songs, “Alien Superstar” draws our attention for its impeccable production and the explosive character of its textures, immersing itself in the power of synthesizers, voguing and Brooklyn ballrooms from the 70s and 80s (“eyes on you when you perform, eyes on me when I put on”)
1. “FORMATION”
Album: Lemonade
“Formation”seeking elements of an avant-garde R&B, bubbles with imagery and sound references that come to life and take us through a history erased by white egocentrism. It is here that the singer embraces once and for all her heritage from “my father, [do] Alabama; my mom, [de] Louisiana”, in addition to poking with delicious sarcasm the multiple conspiracy theories that have arisen in recent years to deny the importance it has brought to the appreciation of African-American culture. In other words, the track in question reaches levels of perfection that sarcastically screams “I am proud to be who I am”.
BONUS: “BREAK MY SOUL”
Album: Renaissance – Act I
In our bonus section, we decided to give due credit to “Break My Soul”. Although it didn’t officially make our list of the top ten Beyoncé songs, the track carries undeniable importance to the musician’s career and her claim to black culture. In the track, there are several references agglutinated in the excellent and concise opening of this new era of the artist, permeating, for example, the nineties environment of Crystal Waters and the vibrant nostalgia of Steve Angello. And, despite not synthesizing an urgent originality, Beyoncé does not abandon the stylistic peculiarities that put her in the spotlight and takes the opportunity to transform marketing inflections into an anthemic and functional narrative (you won’t break my soul, I’ll tell everyone).
Don’t forget to watch:
