Beyonce revisits Sasha Fierce in new track ‘Bow Down / I Been On’
Beyoncé is ordering everyone to “Bow Down,” heralding the return of Queen Bey and Sasha Fierce. Her alter egos seem to be back with a vengeance and staking claim to the next female summer anthem. And guess what: She “don’t need no hype.”
The Grammy-winner posted a track (warning: contains profanity) called “Bow Down / I Been On” on her website Sunday, teasing to what fans can expect from her upcoming work. She also posted a childhood picture of herself dressed up as a queen and posing in front of a mantle full of her trophies and achievements. Royal status, yo. The Ministry is not going to pretend it has a PhD in music theory, so here’s a sampling of the charged lyrics:
“I know when you were little girls / You dreamt of being in my world / Don’t forget it / Don’t forget it Respect that Bow Down ... “
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“I took some time to live my life / But don’t think I’m just his little wife / Don’t get it twisted, get it twisted / This is my ... / Bow Down ... “
The song later distorts into a different track with what we can only assume is a chopped and screwed version of her voice that promptly shuts down more haters. She teased to this sound with the UK ad for her “Mrs. Carter Show” tour. Oh yeah, and she’s also got this operatic thing going on in the background. Per “rapper Bey”:
“I’m bigger than life / The name in the lights / I’m the the No. 1 chick I don’t need no hype / The capital B means I’m about that life / The capital B means I’m about that life / I’ve been on I’ve been on I’ve been on / Tell me who’s going to take me off”
Here’s an unoffical version of the track sans all the fancy sound tools -- you can hear her rapping with her own voice too.
It’s the first new music she’s released since 2011’s “4” album. The song is produced by Houston’s Hit-Boy, who also worked on Kanye West’s “Clique” and is just a sampling of what fans can expect from her and possibly her new tour.
The track is also causing a Twitter frenzy, with usage of the term “Bow Down” rising by 500,000+ tweets in the last 24 hours, according to the social media giant. As of publication time, there had been more than half a million mentions of the new song.
But who are Queen Bey’s orders being barked at? Inauguration detractors? Super Bowl haters? Or people claiming she didn’t actually carry daughter Blue Ivy herself? All of the above or none of the above?
One thing for sure: It’s not her daughter, Blue Ivy.
In softer Beyoncé news, the singer’s mommy alter ego opened up to Shape about her life sinced Blue Ivy arrived.
“I just adore being a mother, hearing her say Mama and call me when she needs something,” said Bey, who said she gained 57 pounds while pregnant. “It makes me feel like I have a real purpose here. I enjoy all the things people warned me would be tough to handle.”
So there you have it. Bow down to the baby.
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