WHY B'DAY WILL FOREVER BE ICONIC.

 

KITTY KAT!

DEJA VU! (BET AWARDS)

UPGRADE U!

need I say more?

I think I do.

B'Day, Beyonce's second studio album as a solo artists hit the airwaves in 2006. This ladies and gents is the album that made me a Beyonce stan. I remember watching the Deja Vu video on AOL video and getting my life. Even today, the Deja Vu video still leaves me speechless. 

The album went on to be successful (obviously), selling over 540,000 copies in it's first week. Beyonce also went on to win several awards for the album including a Grammy for Best R&B album. If that's not enough, Beyonce recorded the album in 2 weeks. 

2 WEEKS!

Imagine being able to create a work of art in 2 weeks. One of your best works in 2 weeks?! Beyonce Knowles Carter, y'all.

This album also spawned one of my favorite Beyonce tours, The Beyonce Experience. Beyonce looked ethereal during this tour, and I was surprised to find out that she did her own makeup during the entire tour. Beyonce also made it a point to have an all female band for the tour which she dubbed the, "Suga Mama's". 

In my opinion, this tour introduced us to the ways in which Beyonce can manipulate a song. I remember hearing her mix Crazy In Love with Crazy by Gnarles Barkley and realizing the magic she possesses as an artist. Now, it's a regular thing for Beyonce to mix her records with her peers, or just remix records so they can be apart of her tour tracklist. *Cue's Everybody Mad

Let's get into some of my absolute favs on the album.

Deja Vu

Green Light

The power this song has. It's loud, bass-y, and funk filled, taking you back to the 70's courtesy of The Neptunes. I love how aggressive Beyonce is on the track. In the video, we're able to see a new side of her. The set is fairly simple, her and her background dancers in several latex inspired looks. 

"Ain't no problem you can go, I can find somebody else". 

Kitty Kat

Kitty Kat has to be in everyone's top 3 when it comes to B'day. The track feels smooth, sensual, and sultry thanks to the iconic Neptunes production. Bey was singing DOWN about her man not calling her back, returning home, or fulfilling her in the bedroom. B'day did a great job at gradually introducing us to another side of Beyonce. It was the time where she wasn't quite Dangerously In Love B, but had not yet reached her Sasha Fierce pinnacle. With this album, you can sense that she was becoming more comfortable singing "sexier" songs, and I for one loved it!

The rap at the end is my favorite part of the record. It's very relatable, because I too was coming dine riding Lexus at 16. It's the moment when you realize that you're actually that girl and you don't need that raggedy guy anymore. And who else could spit, "got diamonds on my neck, got diamonds on my records" so effortlessly??

"Got diamonds on my neck, got diamonds on my records"

"Yo sex ain't all that"

Suga Mama 

"Damn, that was so good I wanna buy him a short set"

The perfect introduction to this perfect record. The track may not be widely known outside of the Beyhive, but Prince did a cover of it which I think is the most important thing you need to know. 

Get Me Bodied