As anticipation continues to build for Beyoncé’s new album, a tracklist for Renaissance has been released.
The 28-time Grammy-winning superstar revealed details for her seventh solo album, which drops July 29, via Instagram. And as with her previous efforts, she has an eclectic mix of old-school and new-school collaborators and hitmakers among the credits.
In addition to the project’s first single, the Robin-S “Break My Soul,” the buzzy opus has 15 more songs, with titles including “Alien Superstar,” “Church Girl,” “Virgo’s Groove,” “America Has a Problem,” “All Up in Your Mind” and “Move.” (The full tracklist is below.)
Among the songwriting credits, revealed in Apple Music, Renaissance collaborators include her husband Jay-Z, Drake, Pharrell, The-Dream, Raphael Saadiq, Hit Boy, Tems and hitmaker Nile Rodgers.
Even the late R&B powerhouse Teena Marie is noticeably listed, under her legal name Mary Christine Brockert — along with her “Call Me (I Got Your Number)” co-songwriter Allen Henry McGrier — on the songs “Cuff It” and “Energy.”
The Rick James protégé, who died in 2010, remains in high regard among the hip-hop elite; Marie’s 1988 Quiet Storm radio hit “Ooh La La” was famously sampled on the Fugees breakthrough song “Fu-Gee-La” in 1995. Jay-Z also used the sample and referenced the group’s frontwoman Lauryn Hill on his 2017 track “Moonlight” from his 4:44 opus.
Gospel music veteran Twinkie Clark (of the Clark Sisters) scores a songwriting credit on the “Church Girl” track under her legal name Elbernita Clark Terrell, and James Brown and late disco diva Donna Summer also appear elsewhere among collaborators.
Beyoncé, whose last full-length recording project was 2016′s Lemonade, said the new album allowed her to dream and find escape during a scary time for the world when she released the eye-popping album artwork June 30.
“It allowed me to feel free and adventurous,” she shared on Instagram, “in a time when little else was moving.”
Beyoncé added, “My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom. It was a beautiful journey of exploration. I hope you find joy in this music. I hope it inspires you to release the wiggle. Ha! And to feel as unique, strong, and sexy as you are.”
Renaissance tracklist:
1. “I’m That Girl”
2. “Cozy”
3. “Alien Superstar”
4. “Cuff It”
5. “Energy”
6. “Break My Soul”
7. “Church Girl”
8. “Plastic Off the Sofa”
9. “Virgo’s Groove”
10. “Move”
11. “Heated”
12. “Thique”
13. “All Up in Your Mind”
14. “America Has a Problem”
15. “Pure/Honey”
16. “Summer Renaissance”
Album cover photo by Carlijn Jacobs.
