B'Day

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Glamour girl busts out! Beyonce Knowles has certainly had her funky moments – need we even mention “Crazy in Love”? – but until <i>B’Day</i>, she’s never laid so many of them end to end. With producers including Rodney Jerkins and Rich Harrison (who hooked up both “Crazy” and Amerie’s “1 Thing” with vintage funk-soul samples), <i>B’Day</i> has the superstar trying on one street-ready style after another – and they all fit. Whether a thumping chant with clipped delivery (“Get Me Bodied”) or a playful duet with “friend” JAŸ-Z (“Upgrade U,” which posits Beyonce as competition for Mary J. Blige in the no-nonsense sweepstakes), she handles the material with aplomb: These may be her best, most assured performances. Even the two ballads (“Irreplaceable,” with its step-team hook, and “Resentment,” which draws heavily on Curtis Mayfield’s “Think”) feel like they have dirt on them. Beyonce wears it well.

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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