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A little after midnight last night (well, technically this morning) Beyoncé—otherwise known as Queen Bey, Mrs. Carter, and sometimes Sasha Fierce—dropped the mic on the entire music industry, year of pop culture, and world as we know it: She released a surprise visual album, exclusively available on iTunes, without any warning. For fangirls, boys, and general society alike, this meant that there were 14 never-before-seen, unpromoted new songs and 17 new videos ripe for the picking without any prior marketing ploys, sneak peeks, or leaks. But the best part of this late-night bomb (which promptly set off a frenzied explosion of excitement and awe on the internet, particularly Twitter) for us was husband Jay Z and daughter Blue Ivy's involvement in the album release.
Technically, two songs on the album, "Drunk in Love" (a nod to a previous collab between the love-struck pair—"Crazy in Love" anyone?) and "Blue" feature her hip hop royalty husband and daughter. "Drunk in Love" expresses Bey's deep desire for her husband—lyrics include lines like "Why can't I keep my fingers off of you, I want you"—while the corresponding video focuses on a black and white Beyoncé, dancing on the beach against her husband. They laugh tenderly, and look at each other in a way that made our hearts instantly melt.
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"Blue," naturally, take a sweeter turn in the album's lineup. The lyrics, including lines such as "When I look in your eyes, I feel alive" and "each day, I feel so blessed to be looking at you" repeat throughout the song, which, of course, made us tear up big time. The icing on the cake is not only Blue's sweet voice as a back beat, but her appearance in her mother's arms in the video. To top it off, Jay Z approaches his two favorite women on the beach with a huge smile across his face. It's clear from this video that the family couldn't be any happier and truly enjoy and cherish their time together. After all, from the Bey and Jay's recent venture into vegan fare, it's obvious that this couple loves to do everything together.
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Lyrics in other songs on the album, although not directly sung to him, also illuminate Bey's love for her man. "Xo" professes, "In the darkest night I'll/I'll search through the crowd/your face is all that I see/I give you everything/baby love me lights out," and "Mine" (featuring Drake) says, "I just wanna say, you're mine, you're mine" and "All that I can think of is, we should get married/We should get married/Let's stop holding back on this and let's get carried away."
Plus, this isn't the first time the ultimate power couple has collaborated: Beyoncé regularly makes cameos in Jay's work as does he in hers. They even met while working together—how could anyone forget "Bonnie and Clyde?" And how can we miss her other major surprise announcement: Beyonc—'s epic performance of "Love on Top" at the 2011 VMA's where she adorably announced her pregnancy with Blue!
It's evident that Bey has a penchant for making unexpected, incredibly thrilling news. She also clearly loves to integrate snippets of her personal life in her work. After all, the only photo we ever saw of her wedding dress was in her music video for "I Was Here." Who knows, maybe she'll even announce her next pregnancy with another late-night surprise? We can only hope! For now, we'll just sit back, watch Jay and Blue join Queen Bey and inspire the world with their shared love.
—Lauren Frankfort
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