Beyoncé is celebrating her 45th birthday today (Sept. 4) with a deluxe, expanded 20th anniversary edition of her sophomore B’Day album. While the set was initially promoted as having 27 tracks, the released version has a robust 31 songs, including previously unheard collaborations with Maluma on the hip-swiveling bilingual jam “Cuerpo (Tumbao),” a bright, percussive version of “Irreemplazable (Como La Flor)” with previously released vocals from late Queen of Tejano Selena Quintanilla, as well as the previously unheard slinky, late night Pharrell collab “Can I Watch You” (co-produced by both singers) and a grinding, banging Timbaland remix of “Get Me Bodied” featuring Puerto Rican rapper Voltio.
The original, Grammy-winning 13-track B’Day dropped in September 2006, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It featured songs co-produced by the then 25-year-old singer and producers including Ne-Yo, the Neptunes, Stargate, Swizz Beatz, Darkchild, Nellee Hooper. It spun off the Billboard Hot 100 No. 4 Jay-Z-featuring hit “Déjà Vu,” the No. 11-charting “Ring the Alarm” and No. 3 hit “Beautiful Liar.”
“I wanted the album to be big, percussive, hard, up-tempo, and energized, and it was important to me that we used live instrumentation,” Bey said in a statement about the deluxe album in reflecting on the original sessions. “Hip-hop was taking over at the time, but I was fighting to preserve the bridges, melodies, and harmonies that have always been at the heart of R&B. The goal was to blend those two worlds through the art of sampling. I loved the minimalism of a beautiful vocal arrangement over a simple drum loop or a classic guitar like ‘Irreplaceable’…but only if that 808 was banging underneath.”
The release reveals that Bey’s first-ever collab with Maluma samples Queen of Salsa Celia Cruz’s 2001 Latin Grammy-nominated “La Negra Tiene Tumbao” and that the anniversary edition is a celebration of Spanish-language songs that “speak to Beyoncé’s love and admiration for the culture and the incredible artists who contributed and continue to build on the genre.” In particular, it says the Cruz sample was chosen because Bey has long “admired Cruz’s pride in her African culture; her refusal to bend in the wake of racism, colorism and the narrow definition of beauty. In a time when society wanted her to be bitter and broken down, she boldly claimed her Blackness. The sample was the perfect fit for a song that pushes strength and confidence on the dancefloor and in life.” The track was produced by Beyoncé, Edgar Barrera, CASTA and co-produced by Ali “Ali Ali” Alvarez.
Noting that since her murder in 1995 the estate of Selena has rarely granted rights to the use of her music, the release also touts the “resounding approval” from the estate that made the posthumous collaboration possible on the “timely and meaningful duet” by two women from Texas,” calling them “Two unmistakable and irreplaceable voices that broke down and continues to break down barriers.”
B’Day was previously released in a number of versions, including an expanded, two-disc deluxe reissue less than eight months after the original dropped, which included a duet with Shakira on “Beautiful Liar,” as well as the duet with Fernandez on “Amor Gitano” and Spanish-language takes on “Listen,” “Irreplaceable” and “Beautiful Liar.” That deluxe collection was accompanied by the B’Day Anthology Video Album, which pulled together 13 videos directed by the singer, as well as Jake Nava, Sophie Muller, Diane Martel, Melina Matsoukas and Anthony Mandler.
According to the release, Beyoncé was involved in remastering the songs for the anniversary edition and the videos originally shot on 35mm film have been remastered and re-colored in 4k resolution. The various configurations of the 20th anniversary edition also include never-before-seen photos shot on location in New Orleans, which was then digging out from the devastating damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.
A revamp of the video for the Billboard Hot 100 Nov. 4 hit “Déjà Vu” featuring husband Jay-Z was also released on Friday (see below). The set also includes a number of other new and rare tracks, including the recent single “Morning Dew (Donk),” as well as the slinky R&B jam “My First Time,” “Lost Yo Mind,” the horn-spiked New Orleans bounce track “Creole” and the fierce “Back Up.”
The deluxe editions come in two vinyl formats, as well as a CD package, with the deluxe, 4LP version pressed on 180G bayou blue vinyl accompanied by a 60-page commemorative booklet.
Listen to the B’Day 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition and watch the remastered “Déjà Vu” video below.
