Beyonce is shocking fans with her newest song, “Bow Down/I Been On,” a stern, gritty departure from the pop music she is known for. The track, released on her website Sunday, features a “trap” style beat, in the vein of viral “Harlem Shake” sensation, and Beyonce commanding the respect of those who would try and take her position as the current queen of pop.
“Bow down, b—–s,” she demands on the track’s chorus, a line that has already divided fans.
“I took some time to live my life/but don’t think I’m just his little wife,” she sings, referring to her husband Jay-Z and the birth of her daughter Blue Ivy. Beyonce’s position as a black female role model makes her use of the “b-word” questionable, but that may be the song’s goal. Fans will now wonder what to expect from the star’s upcoming solo album, due for release during his world tour later this year.
Meanwhile, Justin Timberlake has received nothing but good press leading into the Tuesday release of his long-awaited album, The 20/20 Experience. Timberlake held an intimate “secret show” Saturday at South by Southwest, joined by The Roots drummer/DJ Questlove. An audience of about 700 was invited to the Myspace sponsored event, where Timberlake performed his hits with a live band.
Questlove also dropped a bomb shell on Okayplayer.com Saturday, announcing that volume two of The 20/0 Experience is due out in November, adding “10 songs now…..10 songs later= 20 vision.” Neither JT nor producer Timberland has commented on a second release.
Rapper Lil Wayne also made headlines over the weekend after he was hospitalized Friday night. Rumors of the artist’s medical condition were apparently greatly exaggerated, with some news sources reporting that he was using a respirator in the hospital. Mack Maine, the president of Wayne’s Young Money label, posted to Twitter in an attempt to dispel the rumors.
“Don’t believe the nonsense about comas and tubes to breathe … that’s false!!” he wrote. “Wayne is alive and well!”
The label did confirm that Wayne suffered a seizure on Friday, and the hospital stint was his second in less than six months.
