Beyoncé Drops ‘Grown Woman’ on Streaming to Celebrate 10 Years of Her Self-Titled Album
It’s a big day for Beyoncé and the Beyhive. On Wednesday (Dec. 13), Queen Bey commemorated 10 years of her self-titled surprise visual album, and she’s treating fans to some new music — kind of — to celebrate.
When Beyoncé arrived on iTunes with no pre-release announcement or promotion in the wee hours of Dec. 13, 2013, the 14-track record came complete with 17 music videos. While certain songs on the album — namely “Partition” and “Haunted” — got two music videos to honor their long-winding structures, there was a bonus music video that did not accompany an audio track.
For a decade, Beyoncé fans have only been able to stream “Grown Woman” as a music video. On YouTube — where the clip was uploaded to honor the album’s one-year anniversary and the release of its platinum edition — the Jake Nava-helmed video has amassed over 145 million views. Before that, however, Beyoncé first teased a lengthy snippet of “Grown Woman” in a career-reflecting Pepsi ad that debuted just a few months after she rocked the Super Bowl Halftime Show stage in 2013.
Now, fans can enjoy the track as they would any other Beyoncé song. The Afrobeats-tinged single finally arrived on streaming platforms on Dec. 13, marking the second gift from Queen Bey following an Instagram video montage acknowledging the album’s anniversary.
“Grown Woman” is co-written by Beyoncé, The-Dream, Timbaland, Kelly Sheehan, Garland Mosley, Chris Godbey and Darryl Pearson, with production contributions from Timbaland and J-Roc.
Despite dropping in the middle of the tracking week, Beyoncé debuted atop the Billboard 200 with just three days of sales, becoming the fastest selling album in iTunes history at the time. The three-time Grammy-winning LP housed the Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 hit “Drunk in Love” (with Jay-Z), as well as “7/11” (No. 13), “Partition” (No. 23) and “Flawless” (No. 41).
Listen to “Grown Woman” via YouTube above.
Kyle-Brandon Denis
Billboard