With the recent release of the single "Break My Soul," Beyoncé fans were able to get a first glimpse of the sound and aesthetic of her upcoming studio album Renaissance, her first solo album release in six years. Her last album, Lemonade, along with the hour-long film she released on HBO to accompany the music, was a cultural phenomenon back in 2016.
Although Renaissance will be her seventh album, Beyoncé has kept busy in the interim years, recording and releasing a collaborative album with her husband Jay-Z as well as curating the soundtrack album for Disney's The Lion King remake. Most recently, she earned her first Academy Award nomination for her original song "Be Alive," which was written for the film King Richard. As fans continue to prepare themselves for a true Beyoncé renaissance, here are ten music videos to binge in the meantime!
"Beautiful Liar"
This video from the B'Day era was Beyoncé's collaboration with Shakira. "Beautiful Liar" was released on the deluxe edition of the album and featured both singers with their unique vocal stylings and impressive dancing skills.
"Beautiful Liar" represents a recurring trend in Beyoncé's music videos: well-choreographed dance breaks. Rather than leaning on visual effects or too much cutting, the video stays largely on Beyoncé and Shakira's elaborate dance break, which also resembles Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie."
"Get Me Bodied"
The music video for "Get Me Bodied," which was a track on Beyoncé's second studio album B'Day, is a fan favorite. The video is accompanied by the extended mix of the song, which includes an additional segment with another engaging dance break.
For the video, Beyoncé was inspired by the black and white dance sequence from director Bob Fosse's movie Sweet Charity. Many of the shots, costumes, and choreography are an homage to the original film. This is certainly not the last Beyoncé music video to include subtle tributes to Fosse's aesthetic and style.
"Run The World (Girls)"
"Run The World (Girls)" was the lead single off of Queen Bey's fourth studio album, aptly titled 4. This album would become a turning point in Beyoncé's already successful career, as her music veered further away from contemporary pop and more towards traditional R&B.
This song is a female empowerment anthem and is one of the most played Beyoncé songs in film and television. The video features the singer among an army of women as well as traditional Mozambican choreography from a local dance group called Tofo Tofo.
"Drunk in Love"
One of Beyoncé's relatively simplistic music videos was the video for "Drunk in Love," featuring Jay-Z. "Drunk in Love" was the third track off of Beyonce's self-titled album, which was released without any promotion or warning on December 13th, 2013.
"Drunk in Love" gained attention for being one of Beyoncé's more sexually frank tracks from that album, but it also has an improvisational quality to it. The video reflects this with Beyoncé and her husband dancing and posing on a beach. The video makes perfect sense given the album's focus on the unfiltered and the improvisational.
"Partition"
Arguably the most provocative track off of Beyoncé's self-titled album was "Partition," and rather than run away from the explicit lyrics, the video leans into the sexuality of the song. Directed by Jake Nava and partially filmed in the Parisian nightclub Crazy Horse, the video also features Jay-Z in a cameo.
Beyoncé has commented on the subject matter depicted in the video in a behind-the-scenes interview on her YouTube channel. She stated defiantly: "I wanted to show my body. I wanted to show that you can have a child and you can work hard and you can get your body back." This comment also reflects a recurring theme on this album of maintaining one's sexuality after becoming a parent.
"Halo"
Produced and co-written by Ryan Tedder, "Halo" was the fourth single off of Beyoncé's third studio album I Am...Sasha Fierce, a double album in which the first half includes more internal, personal ballads while the second half includes flashy, uptempo tracks associated with the singer's stage persona.
The music video for "Halo" focused on the essence of the song as a true love ballad. The video co-starred actor Michael Ealy, who was recently seen on the Peacock reboot Bel Air. Many of the shots in this video have become iconic, from the dreamy images of the two lovers to the shots of Beyoncé in the dance studio.
"Hold Up"
Released as part of a one-hour television special, "Hold Up" is the second track on Beyoncé's critically acclaimed album Lemonade, which famously lost the Grammy Award for Album of the Year to Adele's 25. The album was lauded for its complex portrait of infidelity, generational trauma, and Black womanhood.
"Hold Up" includes the now-famous sequence of Beyoncé in a regal yellow dress breaking cars and cameras with a bat on the streets. In fact, this video was so popular that it was memorably parodied by Tituss Burgess in the Netflix comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
"Crazy In Love"
The lead single from Beyoncé's debut solo album is still to this day one of her most recognizable songs. "Crazy in Love" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and was one of Beyoncé's first collaborations with Jay-Z.
The video for "Crazy in Love" has all the classic elements of a Beyoncé video and would set the standard for all her major videos to come. There's her iconic strut to the car wearing jean shorts, the dancing by the large fan, and the kind of choreography that fans could learn on their own by rewatching the video over and over again.
"Formation"
"Formation" was the first track associated with Beyoncé's Lemonade era, and the video was released right before Beyoncé performed the hit at the Superbowl. "Formation" is a trap-influenced song celebrating southern Black culture. Her subsequent Superbowl performance was widely acclaimed despite igniting some controversy from conservatives.
The video for "Formation" is integral to the experience of the song. Directed by Melina Matsoukas, who would go on to direct several episodes of Issa Rae's hit series Insecure, "Formation" includes footage of New Orleans plantation houses and Renaissance-esque portraits of Black Americans. Most memorable, however, was Beyoncé posing on a sinking New Orleans police car, a reference both to Hurricane Katrina and to police brutality.
"Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)"
There is no question that the most popular Beyoncé music video is still "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," which won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 2010. The song is another female empowerment pop record and is memorable in and of itself, but it was the video that took the song to the next level.
Once again, Beyoncé was inspired by Bob Fosse, borrowing some of the choreography from a scene in Sweet Charity. The black-and-white aesthetic was simple and much of the video appears to be shot in one take as Beyonce and two backup dancers perform a long dance sequence that would become one of the first dance crazes of the YouTube era.