Digest Review: A New Music Renaissance

The Queen Bey is back and better than ever! It had been six very long years since the world was gifted a Beyonce album. On July 29th, Beyonce made her return to the music scene with her album, Renaissance. This sixteen-track compilation was definitely a new sound for Beyonce. While the name of the album quite literally means rebirth, there is a very apparent inspiration from the dance/house music hits of the 80’s and 90’s.
Renaissance was bound to be a hit with the multiple collaborators that worked together on the piece. Some of the people responsible for the chart-topping tunes The-Dream, Syd, Skrillex, and Lucky Daye. The album starts with the affirmation filled song “I’M THAT GIRL”. This opening number truly set the tone for the rest of the album. The next song “COZY” is the next up and coming anthem for self-acceptance. The song then has a breakdown to include the many colors that can be seen on the gay pride flag, an ode to the community Renaissance was written for and where Beyonce and her team found most of their inspiration.
Multiple seamless transitions are sprinkled throughout the track list. This is the type of musical body of art that you wouldn’t ever want to put on shuffle. One of the rising stars of the album is the futuristic vibe heard in “ALIEN SUPERSTAR”. The song’s chorus is beyond any doubt out of this world. On “CUFF IT”, Beyonce explains the joy of falling in love.
The chants of Big Freedia give that extra special touch on “BREAK MY SOUL”. One of the most shocking songs was none other than “CHURCH GIRL”. The song starts with a sample from the notorious gospel singing group The Clark Sisters, and quickly transitions into a bounce music reminiscent. One thing Beyonce can do is shake the table and this hit does exactly that.
“I literally listen to this album on repeat, she (Beyonce) did such a great job on it,” said Valerie Johnson, a senior English major. It is evident that a lot of labor was put in to making this album be filled with high energy, nice rhythms, and lyrics that almost anyone can relate or sing along to.
Beyonce then slows done things for a little bit with “PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA” and “VIRGO’S GROOVE”. These songs were made to be played in clubs like Studio 54.
As if the collection of hit records couldn’t be any more iconic, the one and only Grace Jones is featured alongside Tems on “MOVE”. All in all, this album is amazing and should be added to one of your playlists as soon as possible.