It’s been 10 years since Beyoncé dropped her self-titled visual album, and even the notoriously quiet Queen Bey had to acknowledge the momentous occasion. When the clock struck midnight on Dec. 13, Beyoncé took to her official Instagram page to share a brief video montage commemorating her critically acclaimed, career-shifting fifth studio album.
“I still get scared with every album release,” Beyoncé says in the background of the reel. “I’m constantly searching for the deeper purpose of my art.” The “Cuff It” singer’s reel is a compilation of behind-the-scenes footage previously seen in her five-part Self-Titled documentary, performance clips, pieces of the album’s 17 music videos, media clips and vintage fan reactions on that fateful night of Dec. 13, 2013.
With the release of Beyoncé, Queen Bey unleashed a 14-track visual album in the middle of the tracking week with absolutely no pre-release announcement or promotion. The album proved to be a commercial smash, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with just three days of sales. At the time, Beyoncé was the fastest selling album in iTunes history.
The record — which spawned the Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 hit “Drunk in Love” (with Jay-Z), as well as “7/11” (No. 13), “Partition” (No. 23), “Flawless” (No. 41) and “XO” (No. 45) — also won three Grammys and landed on several year-end and decade-end album lists. The record-breaking LP found Beyoncé at her most experimental and political at the time, proudly wearing the “feminist” label on the MTV VMAs stage and heavily incorporating trap into her R&B base for the first time.
Most of the reel’s narration is taken from the first episode of the album’s accompanying Self-Titled documentary, but Beyoncé did record a new message. At the very end of the clip, she sweetly says, “Happy tenth anniversary.”
Now, 10 years after her iconic visual album, fans await the elusive visuals for Queen Bey’s Renaissance album — which is currently blasting in movie theaters around the world thanks to her box office-topping Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé concert documentary film.
Celebrate 10 years of Queen Bey’s industry-revolutionizing self-titled album by watching Beyoncé’s commemoration reel below:
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