Beyoncé
B’Day [20th Anniversary Edition]
PARKWOOD/SONY
While it may seem curious as to why Beyoncé is celebrating her sophomore solo effort after having missed the anniversary of her debut, the answer is simple once you consider who she was in 2003: still primarily a member of Destiny’s Child. Once she dispensed with that glossy trio’s final studio album a year later, and got past the filming of the Dreamgirls musical, Beyoncé was truly free and solo.
Expanding this celebratory effort to four albums seems excessive at first, even before you consider the package’s book, art prints, and $150 price tag. Good, it’s supposed to be. Along with remastering its original mix to bring out the disc’s vibrantly wild percussion (truly the detail that’s long made Bey revolutionary beyond her peers), there’s a warmth to B’Day: 20 that was forever missing. The bottom end of its soaring, chiming banger-ballads (such as the ultimate relationship fuck-you, “Irreplaceable”) and its hyperkinetic hip-hop cuts (the stuttering “Déjà Vu” and “Upgrade U,” both featuring Jay-Z) now match their top tier: the salacious, bodacious, expressive agility of Beyoncé’s vocals, whether raging or romancing—or both at the same time.
As good as “Irreplaceable” is, an even better way of hearing how Bey approaches these upbeat ballads comes with the newly issued “Morning Dew (Donk).” With a warping melody line, a minimalist drum kick beneath her, and zig-zagging, multi-tracked harmonies besides, the vocals take on a low, rangy, flinty sound—something jazzy and not-jazz at the same time. The rest of the bonus material may indeed cost you, but it’s mostly worth it: the racy Pharrell co-production “Can I Watch You,” or the Gullah-Geechee “Creole.”
Then there’s the never-before-heard Spanish-language “Irreemplazable (Como La Flor)” with the late great Selena, and “Cuerpo (Tumbao)” co-starring reggaeton star Maluma’s rich machismo-driven tenor besides Beyoncé’s fierce, cocksure croon. Along with several additional Latin-language B’Day reconfigurations, this now means that, after having recently conquered country and disco (I know, there’s a rock record coming), Bey has ably, solidly, and winningly set her sights on another market.
