All hail Beyoncé, queen of the viral moment

As the pioneering pop legend drops a surprise seventh album, Joe Stone looks at how she changed music releases forever

WHEN Beyoncé says jump, the only appropriate response is: how high, queen? For evidence, look no further than the way in which she revolutionised album roll-outs. On Friday December 13, 2013, Beyoncé pioneered the surprise album drop when she released her self-titled fifth album unannounced. The internet duly imploded, with the ensuing delirium induced in fans nicknamed “Beyoncé Syndrome” by the BBC. Such was her impact that record companies later adopted Friday releases as the industry standard. (In the US, albums had been released on a Tuesday since the Eighties).

Beyoncé repeated the surprise drop in 2016 with her visual album, Lemonade. The gimmick was copied by artists from Kanye West to Kendrick Lamar, who also uploaded albums with none of the usual promotion or fanfare expected from a major artist. But just as the music industry had reconfigured itself by her example, Bey had another surprise in store. Last week — on the same day that Drake surprise-dropped his seventh album, Honestly, Nevermind — Beyoncé announced her seventh album, Renaissance, in the traditional manner with a release date pegged for July 29 (a Tuesday). The moral of the tale? Beyoncé can do whatever she damn pleases.

Dropping breadcrumbs

In the run-up to the announcement, Beyoncé hinted that a new era was coming. She removed the profile pictures from all of her social media accounts, leading some fans to speculate that she couldn’t possibly be telegraphing the arrival of new music (after all, she’s spent almost a decade releasing records without warning, while teasing decidedly less, err, exciting projects, like activewear lines and vegan meal services).

However, once placeholder art appeared on her website, captioned “Image, B7” — the nickname fans have used to refer to her seventh album — it seemed undeniable that new music was imminent. Rumours gained pace on June 15 when her charitable foundation, BeyGOOD, marked Black Music Month by posting a collage of albums by black musicians. These including an unfamiliar image of a red gloved hand pointing to a photo of R&B singer Brandy’s 2020 album. It’s title? B7. A day later the news