“I got to fan myself off!” Tina Knowles captioned the video of her dancing at the release party for Beyoncé’s new album, Renaissance. When “Heated” came on, Ms. Knowles, 68, felt the urge to get out of her seat and dance along. She nailed the choreography, grooving in front of a set of balloons that spelled out the new album’s title. Ms. Knowles was clearly having fun with this new song, judging by the smile at the end (and how she released her wiggle.)
Beyoncé, 40, thanked her mother in the note she posted on Thursday (Jul. 28) before her album officially hit the streaming services. “Mama, I Luhhh you,” wrote Beyoncé, who also thanked the rest of her family. “I want to give a special thank you to Rumi, Sir, and Blue for allowing me the space, creativity, and inspiration,” she wrote, while also crediting her Uncle Jonny for being “the first person to expose me to a lot of the music and culture that serve as inspiration for this album.”
The ”Break My Soul” singer also gave credit to her father, Matthew Knowles (“my O.G., my first teacher: you inspire me in every move that I make”), and her husband, Jay-Z (“who held me down during those late nights in the studio.”)
Beyoncé also thanked her fans in the note before Renaissance’s release – and after the album was available on all the DSPs. As is the case with many releases, Renaissance leaked ahead of its July 29 release date, with social media users sharing photos of the CD on sale in Europe. “So, the album leaked,” Bey wrote in a note posted to her social media, “and you all actually waited until the proper release time so you all can enjoy it together.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” she added. “I can’t thank ya’ll enough for your love and protection. I appreciate you for calling out anyone that was trying to sneak into the club early. It means the world to me.”
Early reviews of Renaissance gave the album high marks. Rolling Stone gave the album 4.5/5, saying that with Renaissance, “Beyoncé is more relatable than ever, giving listeners all the anthems and sultry slow burners we love and have come to expect from her.” The Guardian called it “a celebration of living abundantly and outside the realms of others’ expectations, and acts as a reminder of how rare it is to witness this hyper-disciplined artist simply having fun on her own terms.” Consequence said that while Renaissance is “not a perfect album, [it] is pretty damn close. It’s infectious and not overbearing, elegant, but not shallow. Beyoncé’s seventh album builds a bridge to the next phase of her career.”