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Beyonce Explains Her Secret Midnight Album Release

By Sarah Koo, .

Update:  Beyonce’s self-titled digital release shatters records and is the fastest selling album ever on the iTunes Store worldwide, with an unprecedented 828,773 albums sold in just its first three days. Miss B.  also breaks the US first week album sales record with 617,213 sold, and is now number one  in 104 countries.

 

Bow down to Beyonce!  Queen B. almost destroys the Internet with her secret self-titled album release. Although she’s been open about her new collaborations with the likes of Drake and Frank Ocean, most fans were shocked when she dropped a digital-only release at midnight.  Half an hour before the big  announcement she teased fans with an Instagram video with the word “Surprise!”;, and soon after released a longer preview on Facebook.

Now 17 videos and 14 songs are available for download on iTunes. In her teaser, Bey explains in her own voice her artistic vision for a “visual album”; saying, “It’s more than just what I hear. When I’m connected to something, I immediately see a visual or a series of images that are tied to a feeling or an emotion, a memory from my childhood, thoughts about life, my dreams or my fantasies. And they’re all connected to the music.”; Beyonce says her inspiration came from “watching Michael Jackson reveal his landmark Thriller album in the ’80s.”

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Just like MJ’s groundbreaking release, it looks like Bey is setting out to transform the industry and the way music is sold to fans with her guerilla release. “Now people only listen to a few seconds of song on the iPods and they don’t really invest in the whole experience,” she says. “It’s all about the single, and the hype. It’s so much that gets between the music and the art and the fans. I felt like, I don’t want anybody to get the message, when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it’s ready and from me to my fans.”;

Along with Drake and Frank Ocean, her fifth solo studio-album also features collaborations from: Jay-Z, Pharrell, Justin Timberlake, Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams and even baby Blue Ivy!

Her release isn’t just thrilling fans, it’s also flooring fellow artists, and they’ve taken to Twitter in droves to show love!

Katy Perry writes:

 

Demi Lovato says:

And:

 

While Emma Roberts tweets:

 

Checkout Beyonce’s preview: Post by Beyoncé and see all the images from her digital booklet. 

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