10 Years of ‘4’
Today in 2011, Beyoncé released her fourth studio album, 4. In many ways, it marked a new phase in Bey’s career. With Dangerously in Love a whole eight years behind her, she was now a veteran solo artist, and whatever novelty she might’ve enjoyed on her first three albums had waned. Also, it was during this era that we found out that she was expecting her first child, Blue Ivy — in fact, Bey herself found out about the pregnancy while in Paris to shoot the album cover.
With “Run the World (Girls)” being chosen to lead that era, you kind of got a sense that its parent album would be artistically unfocused at best — and at worst, trash. The song sampled — and by “sampled,” I mean “repurposed the beat of” — a Major Lazer song that was less than two years old at the time. And its lyrics were every bit as unimaginative as its production. It was followed by a second lead single, “Best Thing I Never Had,” which was an improvement but still unremarkable.
When 4 finally dropped, it became clear that Beyoncé was holding out on us. “Run the World” was literally the worst song on the album and “Best Thing” was by no means a highlight. From “Party” (featuring Andre 3000) to “Love on Top” to “Start Over,” 4 was stacked with songs that were easy to fall in love with. Artistically, it was a clear break from the typical Beyoncé sound, and depending on who you ask, it is her “poppiest” and most “adult contemporary” album (i.e., it doesn’t have a lot of songs that the girls can get ready and party to). However, regardless of what genre you place the album, its quality cannot denied.
Unfortunately, 4 was released at a time when the music industry wasn’t particularly receptive to an artist like Beyoncé. First of all, the media was actively trying to make Lady Gaga the “white Beyoncé” — but fetch never really happened. But elsewhere in the industry, it just seemed like audiences had a taste for something else — Katy Perry and Rihanna, for instance, were at the height of their popularity. And lest we forget Adele, who was in the midst of a history-making era.
4 failed to crack the top 10 with any of its singles, but it was Bey’s fourth consecutive No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Looking back, the album seems to have been a victim of bad timing (and perhaps the poor lead singles didn’t help). A decade later, it has not only aged well but is even thought of as one of Bey’s better albums.
Favorite track: “Party” (featuring Andre 3000)
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