Beyonce – The Relevant Music Blog

Beyonce | ‘Beyonce’ Surprise Album.

Nash Mariah — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 07:53:09 +0000

It seems Jay Z is rubbing off on Beyonce. First he shocked the industry when Magna Carter went platinum before its release and now Beyonce just surprised everyone with the release of her self titled fifth solo album, which is now available exclusively on iTunes. The “visual album” includes 14 songs — featuring musical collaborations with Jay Z, Drake, Frank Ocean, Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, Michelle Williams, Kelly Rowland, Sia, Justin Timberlake, and yes, even Blue Ivy. The album also comes complete with 17 videos from directors like Jonas Akerlund, Hype Williams, @lilinternet, and Terry Richardson, making this one of the most monumental album releases in history.

“I see music. It’s more than just what I hear. When I’m connected to something, I immediately see a visual or a series of images that are tied to a feeling or an emotion, a memory from my childhood, thoughts about life, my dreams or my fantasies. And they’re all connected to the music.” – Beyonce

You can watch previews for all 17 videos below.

All hail the queen.

Beyonce + H&M | “Standing On The Sun” Commercial.

Nash Mariah — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:07:20 +0000

Beyonce goes full-on island babe in her new commercial for H&M, which she also used to preview one of her new songs, “Standing On The Sun”. Watch it below.

Lana Del Rey + The Great Gatsby | “Young & Beautiful”.

Nash Mariah — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:52:32 +0000

After the long wait we finally get to hear Lana Del Rey’s lead single for The Great Gatsby soundtrack, which was produced by Jay-Z and also features heavyweights Beyonce, Andre 3000, Fergie, Q-Tip, Nero, Will.I.Am, and Gotye. Lana was pretty much born to be on this soundtrack/in the movie and sounds just as you’d expect her to – amazing.

Jay-Z | “Open Letter” + White House Response.

Nash Mariah — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 07:57:26 +0000

Yesterday, Jay-Z released a new song called “Open Letter”, which was an attempt at clearing the air amidst all the stories currently flying around about his vacation to Cuba with Beyoncé — a trip that a couple of Congressmen decided to investigate — and for selling his shares in the Brooklyn Nets to become a sports agent, among other things. Within hours White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was asked about the reference made to Obama in the song, which was filmed and is pretty entertaining. Hear the controversial song and watch the White House’s response to it below.

Beyoncé | “I Been On” Remix.

Nash Mariah — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 06:32:15 +0000

A couple of weeks ago Beyoncé released the completely unexpected “Bow Down/I Been On” – an ode to hard-as-fuck Texans and now, for the “I Been On” remix, she’s rounded up a number underground Texan rappers to take ‘hard-as-fuck’ to a whole new level. To be honest, this song can’t really be classed as a “Beyoncé” song, but I’m sure fans all around are just happy to hear voice on new material, even if she is almost unrecognisable.

Photo by Terry Richardson.

Playlist: James Conde Rutherford

Nash Mariah — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 12:54:39 +0000

Playlists are designed to introduce all of you to relevant people and their relevant tastes in music. For this installment I’ve got James Conde Rutherford, former UCT dropout who spent his time making music, throwing parties and reading comic books. He now works for The Assembly handling marketing and promotion as their OPM (Online Presence Manager) and is also a DJ/producer, who goes by the stage name, Einstein Adonis. With the launch of Assembly Radio, he’s begun producing programming and also co-hosting the SYNW show with Stone-Age Citizens. Rutherford has been featured on TRMB previously for an Einstein Adonis mixtape, called “Ferngully” (go here). I LOVED the mixtape so much that I had to get him to share more of what he’s been listening to with me (and with all of you of course). So, here are the 10 songs that Rutherford is currently obsessing over:

Einstein Adonis is scheduled to play alongside Wildebeats and the Glow LDB crew at Kool Turkey TONIGHT at Zula Bar on Long Street. So if you want to hear even more great music from him you should definitely be there! For the event page, go here.

Photo by Stewart Innes, courtesy of The Assembly