Beyoncé’s anticipated visual accompaniment to “Renaissance” did not drop on Friday. But don’t let it break your soul, beybey, it’s coming soon.
On Friday, Beyoncé’s seventh studio album, “Renaissance,” premiered on major streaming platforms, notably without visuals. A press release from her production company Parkwood Entertainment revealed fans will have to sit tight.
According to a press release, visuals are scheduled "for a later date." Parkwood did not clarify the nature of the visual component.
Beyoncé "decided to lead without visuals giving fans the opportunity to be limitless in their expansive listening journey,” the press release from Parkwood explained. “It is a chance again to be listeners and not viewers while taking in every gem of the pristine production.”
News of a drawn-out release has the BeyHive activated and buzzing with questions. Below are all of the answers that we know so far.
We know the visual album is on the way — but when?
According to the Parkwood Entertainment press release, fans can expect a visual component — just not right now.
With her history of surprise albums and single releases, we’re unsure if the singer will make fans wait for a specific date as she did with the release of “Renaissance” or drop visuals on a random surprise date.
Fortunately, we know for sure that visuals and more are to come. “Renaissance,” also referred to as “Act I: Renaissance,” is part of a three-act project, which means we can expect an act two and three.
Beyonce has released visual albums in the past
There’s a reason why the demand for visuals is so high. The singer set the bar for creative music formats years ago.
While known to her devoted fans as Queen Bey of their BeyHive, the singer is also known for being the queen of the visual album format. "'B’Day' Anthology Video Album," released in 2007, was a preview of the era of visual albums to come.
In 2013, each song from her self-titled album “Beyoncé” was accompanied by a music video — and it was all released via a surprise drop.
In the years that followed, the singer created similar a similar art piece for the surprise drop album “Lemonade” in 2016, which was accompanied by a 65-minute film of the same name on HBO.
Four years later, she released “Black Is King,” a visual interpretation of her 2019 album "The Lion King: The Gift," which she created for the live-action Disney remake of “The Lion King.”
Fans are ready for the visuals
A theme emerged amid the fan reactions to "Renaissance" the day it dropped: People were ready to see the visuals.
“Okay, beyoncé, at this point, please just confirm or deny that renaissance will be a visual album or not…” one fan wrote in a tweet ahead of the album’s release on Friday. “We won’t be mad.”
But some fans are happy to spend time with the songs on their own and, as one Twitter user said, "sit with the quality."
Beyoncé hasn't confirmed what act two and three of "Renaissance" entail — but the fans are ready.
