Publishing date: Jun, 17, 2022
If you’re anything like us, we see an interesting headline during our daily scroll—pause to read it—but then keep scrolling without reading the actual story. So at the end of each week, we’re rounding up all the buzziest, news-worthy headlines you might have missed. Think of it like the “saved” feature on Instagram but for news instead of aesthetically pleasing photos. Mark your calendars because Beyoncé announced a new album, Drake dropped a surprise “dance” album, and Brent Faiyaz teased his forthcoming album—this is what you missed this week.
#1
Beyoncé’s New Album ‘Renaissance’ Out Next Month
Late into the night on June 15th (or really early in the am on the 16th depending on how you tell time) the beyhive started buzzing as they noticed that Beyoncé changed her social bios one by one. The update was the title of her forthcoming album “Act I Renaissance” and the date it’s dropping, July 29th. After Bey fans collected themselves from this shocking announcement, they realized she did something else unusual—invisible merch. Yes, invisible, her website is selling a bundle of merch that includes a “renaissance” box, a T-shirt, and a CD but there are zero photos or details about said merch. Why would she do this? Because it’s Beyoncé and if there was an artist that could convince the masses to blindly buy something—it’s her (maybe Rihanna too). There are four boxes to choose from; Pose 1, 2, 3, and 4. Beyoncé fans know four is her favorite number, her and Jay-Z’s wedding anniversary is April 4th (4/4), her birthday is September 4th, and Jay-Z’s birthday is December 4th. Will Pose 4 be the best box? The boxes ship out the day the album is released so everything remains a mystery until then. Beyoncé hasn’t dropped an album since 2016 and the only thing known so far is from her British Vogue cover story, unveiled soon after the album announcement. Edward Enninful, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, described hearing the album in person. “Soaring vocals and fierce beats combine and in a split second I’m transported back to the clubs of my youth. I want to get up and start throwing moves. It’s music I love to my core. Music that makes you rise, that turns your mind to cultures and subcultures, to our people past and present, music that will unite so many on the dance floor, music that touches your soul. As ever with Beyoncé, it is all about the intent.”
#2
Drake Drops Surprise Album ‘Honestly, Nevermind’ & Music Video
While the world was still recovering from Beyoncé’s album announcement, Drake entered the chat revealing he was dropping an album—a mere few hours before it was released. If the drop feels random it’s fitting for the album categorized as “dance” music from an artist who’s known as one of the most prolific hip-hop stars. The LP, Honestly, Nevermind, includes 14 songs, executive produced by Drake, Noah “40” Shebib (no surprise here), Oliver El-Khatib, Noel Cadastre, and Black Coffee. He premiered the album on his new SiriusXM Sound 42 show, Table for One, and also released the music video for the album track “Falling Back” in which he marries 23 women—at least this is on-brand. The only feature on the album is 21 Savage on the song “Jimmy Cooks”, an ode to Drake’s Degrassi character Jimmy Brooks. The album is dedicated to the late Virgil Abloh, and if you’ve followed Abloh’s career then you know the dedication makes a lot of sense. If anyone would encourage Drake to experiment, do a new genre, or try different vocal ranges—it would be Abloh. He also had a known affinity for house and basement funk party vibes, often djing parties with those exact sounds, and the beat selection on Honestly Nevermind is representative of that—think funk motifs, racing guitars, and piano flourishes. The release on Apple Music included a written statement, which I’ll spare you because it’s lengthy, in true Drake form it includes his usual rhymes, riddles, and Instagram caption-ready quotables, and ends with the dedication to Abloh.
#3
Brent Faiyaz’s Forthcoming Album Set to Feature Drake, Jorja Smith, The Neptunes
This was the week of surprise album announcements and it started off with Brent Faiyaz. Taking to Twitter, he posted a trailer detailing the artists and producers featured on his upcoming full-length project. The teaser shows Faiyaz leaning on a car while someone spray paints a “W” on the wall behind him, “Wasteland” appears suggesting the album title, and then quickly flashes a series of names. In the order shown: Raphael Saadiq, Jordan Waré, Alicia Keys, L3gion, The-Dream, Tre’ Amani, Drake, Nascent, No I.D., Paperboy Fabe, Dpat, Mike Dean, Jorja Smith, Lil Rece, The Neptunes, Jonathan “Freeze” Wells, Tyler, the Creator, Mikeblud, OG Che’ The Sensei, Joony, DJ Dahi, Beat Butcha, Steve Lacy, Prep Bijan, Itai Schwartz, Loshendrix, Jayne Andrew, Coop The Truth, Sam Wish, Malcolm Mays, and Jimi Cravity. Faiyaz has some heavy hitters on this album and I am ready. So is Twitter if you search “Brent Faiyaz” there are endless memes about waiting for this album to drop so it can bring out everyone’s toxic side.
#4
IKEA Launches Turntable in Collaboration With Swedish House Mafia
As part of IKEA’s new OBEGRÄNSAD home audio collection designed in collaboration with Swedish House Mafia, the furniture brand is releasing a turntable—their first one since 1973. The player was created with affordability in mind but IKEA hasn’t released pricing yet, it’s set to launch in Fall 2022. IKEA designer, Friso Wiersma says they aimed to “make something so simple, so accessible, and sort of plug-and-play that you could basically buy it as a gift for anyone who enjoys music.” The USB-powered turntable comes with a built-in pre-amplifier, RCA ports, a needle of well-known make and quality, and a replaceable cartridge. Also, it can be connected to standard speakers or other sound systems with an adapter.
#5
Steve Lacy Drops New Song & Teases ‘Gemini Right’ Album
Steve Lacy released the first track, “Mercury”, from his forthcoming sophomore album Gemini Rights and we are, after all, in the thick of Gemini season. The song also came with a music video directed by rubberband. Lacy sat down with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe to discuss what fans can expect from his album, which is 10-tracks long and essentially represents his whole philosophy on music at large. On the decision of runtime and number of tracks, Lacy said “I don’t want to take people’s lives, I want them to make a decision to want to keep playing it again. I try my best to make my music to where you want to do that again. I produced about 90 percent of the record.”