Everything Is Love

''Everything Is Love'' (stylized in all caps) is the debut studio album by American musical duo the Carters, consisting of spouses Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter. It was released on June 16, 2018, by Parkwood Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, S.C Enterprises, and Roc Nation. Beyoncé and Jay-Z produced the album alongside a variety of collaborators, including Cool & Dre, Boi-1da, and Pharrell Williams. Additional vocalists recorded for the album include Williams, Quavo, Offset (both from Migos), and Ty Dolla Sign, among others. The hip hop and R&B album explores themes of romantic love, fame, wealth, and black pride.

The album was not made public until its release was announced by Beyoncé and Jay-Z while onstage at a London concert for their On the Run II Tour and later through their social media accounts. It was originally exclusive to the music distribution service Tidal, before given a wider release on June 18, 2018. In its first week, ''Everything Is Love'' debuted at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200, earning 123,000 album-equivalent units. At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, the album won for Best Urban Contemporary Album, and was nominated Best Music Video for "Apeshit" and Best R&B Performance for "Summer".

Recording

Plans about a joint album by the couple were announced by Jay-Z during an interview with ''The New York Times'' in 2017 when he said that they used "art almost like a therapy session" to create new music. However, since they also worked on their respective albums '' 4:44'' and ''Lemonade'', and Beyoncé's music progressed more rapidly, the project was temporarily stopped. Rumors about the collaborative project began emerging in March 2018 when the couple announced their On the Run II Tour.

The majority of the album was recorded at U Arena in Paris; "Friends", "Black Effect" and "Salud!" were recorded at Kingslanding Studios West in Los Angeles, while further recording for "Summer" and "Nice" was done at The Church Studios in London. Beyoncé and Jay-Z co-produced all of the songs on the album themselves, with further producers including Pharrell, Cool & Dre, Boi-1da, Jahaan Sweet, David Andrew Sitek, D'Mile, El Michels, Fred Ball, Illmind, MeLo-X, Mike Dean and Nav. The album was predominantly recorded by Stuart White and Gimel "Young Guru" Keaton.

Music and lyrics

According to ''Exclaim!'' journalist Riley Wallace, ''Everything Is Love'' is a hip hop album. Mike Wass from ''Idolator'' observed a "trap sound and flashy bravado" on the record, while ''Respect'' magazine's Jasmine Johnson said it "involves trap with a hint of love". Alexis Petridis found the music more rooted in hip hop than R&B, as did Jogai Bhatt of ''The Spinoff'', who viewed it as a departure from "the sort of contemporary R&B traditionally associated with Beyoncé." Craig Jenkins from ''Vulture'' said the singer played the role of an "R&B heavyweight" doubling as a "formidable rapper" throughout the album, showcasing her talents for vocal belting and complex rap cadences.

The album contains lyrics about the couple's romantic love, lavish lifestyle, media worship, wealth, black pride and fame; themes that were found to be characteristic of the whole record. Other songs feature the pair singing about their family affairs as well as maintaining their relationship following hardships (i.e. infidelity). ''Time'' magazine's Maura Johnston regarded the album as another "blockbuster duet in R&B and hip-hop"; comparable to Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's soul songs from the 1960s and the 1995 Method Man and Mary J. Blige recording "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By"; while incorporating contemporary elements in the form of trap beats, critical references to the National Football League and the Grammy Awards, and playing with "public perceptions of the duo's relationship". Jenkins said it extolled African-American entrepreneurship while presenting Jay-Z as "a doting father and husband, an entrepreneur and altruist with ideas about how everyone else should handle their businesses, a king-tier braggart, and a rap legend".

Artwork

The artwork for the album is a still frame from the music video for "Apeshit". It features two of Beyoncé's background dancers, Jasmine Harper and Nicholas "Slick" Stewart, at the Louvre—Harper is seen picking the hair of Stewart while standing in front of Leonardo da Vinci's ''Mona Lisa''.

Release and promotion

On June 6, 2018, Beyoncé and Jay-Z embarked on the joint On the Run II Tour, a sequel to their 2014 On the Run Tour. At the end of their second show at London Stadium in London on June 16, 2018, Beyoncé announced to the crowd that the duo had a surprise before leaving the stage. Then, the music video for "Apeshit" played on the LED video screen onstage. Following the conclusion of the video, the words "ALBUM OUT NOW" came across the screen. ''Everything Is Love'' was subsequently released exclusively via Jay-Z's streaming service Tidal and all audience members received a free six-month trial subscription in order to be able to stream the album. The album was also made available for purchase on Tidal's online music store. The release was announced worldwide on the Beyoncé and Jay-Z's respective social media accounts with the artist of the album being monikered as the Carters. On the same day, the music video for the album's second track and lead single, "Apeshit", was released on Beyoncé's official YouTube channel. It was directed by Ricky Saiz and filmed at the Louvre in Paris.

On June 18, the album was made available across numerous other platforms, including iTunes Store, Apple Music, Deezer, Amazon Music, Napster, Google Play Music and Spotify.

Critical reception

''Everything is Love'' was met with general acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received an average score of 80, based on 22 reviews.

Reviewing the album for ''The New York Times'', Joe Coscarelli said it "completes the Knowles-Carter conceptual trilogy"—referring to the previous releases of ''Lemonade'' and ''4:44''—"in an expert, tactical showing of family brand management". Music critic Nicholas Hautman of ''Us Weekly'' wrote: "It's clear from the very first listen that Beyoncé outshines her husband on much of the record, which really should have been marketed as 'Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z' rather than 'Beyoncé ''and'' Jay-Z' (or 'the Carters', in this case). His verses are few and far between in comparison to hers, but it still somehow feels like a balanced body of work from two of the greatest artists of our time." In ''The Guardian'', Petridis believed the album retreads braggadocio centering around the duo's wealth and excellence, with less musical daring, but still does so with likeable music, genuine wit, and energy. As per ''The Daily Telegraph'' music critic Neil McCormick pointed, "''Everything Is Love'' certainly doesn’t have the musical expansiveness of ''Lemonade''. There are neither ballads nor bangers, and not much in the way of melodic song construction at all. Rather, these are snappily repetitive beats on which the stars can put across their message as a form of hip hop conversation." For ''Variety'', Jim Aswad described it as "solid and generally satisfying, but not the best from either."

Will Hodgkinson of ''The Times'' reviewed track-by-track, stated: "Jay-Z is as dynamic as ever and the new, though Beyoncé demands attention on this surprise album, ..despite the ups and downs detailed on Beyoncé's ''Lemonade'' and Jay-Z's subsequent mea culpa ''4:44''. Instead they are coming out fighting, with all that fame and money making them defensive, even paranoid, while a mix of classic soul, hard-hitting hip-hop and slinky R&B." ''Pitchfork'' contributor Briana Younger wrote that the album "is a compromise between the spoils of ''Lemonade''s war and the fruits of ''4:44''s labor", and that "within this complex, messy and beautifully black display, the Carters find absolution." Giving the album one and a half stars, Adam Rothbarth of ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' stated that everything about the album "feels superficial, from the artists' constant pronouncement of their love for each other to their engagement with topics like fashion". He also added that the "most boring aspect of the album is its centerpiece: the couple's obsession with their wealth".

Accolades

Commercial performance

''Everything is Love'' debuted at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, earning 123,000 album-equivalent units, (including 70,000 copies as pure album sales) in its first week. The album debuted on the chart after less than six full days of activity on Tidal, and four days of activity on all other digital retailers and streaming services. In its second week, the album dropped to number four on the chart, earning an additional 59,000 units. In its third week, the album dropped to number eight on the chart, earning 33,000 more units. In its fourth week, the album remained at number eight on the chart, earning 29,000 units. In 2018, ''Everything is Love'' was ranked as the 70th most popular album of the year on the ''Billboard'' 200. On January 14, 2019, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 units in the United States.

Track listing

* All tracks noted as "ChopNotSlop Remix" and credited to, The Carters, OG Ron C, Slim K and DJ Candlestick

Notes
* Simon Mavin is incorrectly credited as Simon Marvin
* Jun Kozuki is incorrectly credited as Jan Kozuki

Sample credits

* "Apeshit" contains
** elements of an A$AP Rocky broadcast on Instagram Live.
** an interpolation of "Faneto", performed by Chief Keef, written by Keith Farrelle Cozart.
* "713" contains
** an interpolation of " Still D.R.E.", performed by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, written by Melvin Bradford, Shawn Carter, Scott Storch and Andre Young.
** samples from "Sphinx Gate", performed by Hiatus Kaiyote, written by Paul Bender, Simon Mavin, Perrin Moss and Naomi Saalfield.
** samples from "The World It Softly Lulls", performed by Hiatus Kaiyote, written by Paul Bender, Simon Mavin, Perrin Moss and Naomi Saalfield.
** an interpolation of " The Light", performed by Common, written by Robert Caldwell, Norman Harris, Lonnie Lynn, Bruce Malament and James Yancey.
* "Heard About Us" contains
** an interpolation of " Juicy", performed by The Notorious B.I.G., written by Sean Puffy Combs, James Mtume, Jean-Claude Olivier and Christopher Wallace.
* "Black Effect" contains
** a sample of "Broken Strings", performed by Flower Travellin' Band, written by Jun Kozuki.
* "LoveHappy" contains
** a sample of "You Make My Life a Sunny Day", performed by Eddie & Ernie, written by Eddie Campbell, Ernie Johnson and Pete James.
** elements of "Victory Is Certain" from ''APC Tracks Vol. 1'', written by Bill Laswell, Jean Touitou and Thierry Planell.
** an interpolation of "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)" performed by Erykah Badu and Common, written by Lonnie Lynn, Robert Ozuna, James Poyser, Raphael Saadiq, Glenn Standridge and Erica Wright.
** samples from the Graham Central Station recording "The Jam", written by Larry Graham.

Personnel

Credits adapted from Beyoncé's official website, Tidal and the album's liner notes. "Salud!" is track 10.

Musicians

* Beyoncé – vocals
* Jay-Z – vocals
* Rory Stonelove – additional vocals
* Anthony Wilmot – additional vocals
* Offset – additional vocals
* Quavo – additional vocals
* Blue Ivy Carter – additional vocals
* Ty Dolla Sign – additional vocals
* Pharrell – additional vocals
* Nija Charles – background vocals
* Dr. Lenora Antoinette Stines – additional vocals
* Andre Christopher Lyon – additional vocals
* Derek Dixie – string arrangement & additional keyboards ; horn arrangement
* Chala Yancy – co-arrangement & strings
* Nathalie Barrett-Mas – co-arrangement & strings
* Crystal Alforque – co-arrangement & strings
* Jessica McJunkins – co-arrangement & strings
* Corbin Jones – co-arrangement ; horns
* Christopher Gray – co-arrangement ; horns
* Christopher Johnson – co-arrangement ; horns
* Crystal Torres – co-arrangement ; horns
* Arnetta Johnson – co-arrangement ; horns
* Lessie Vonner – co-arrangement ; horns
* Michael Jones – co-arrangement & horns
* Damien Farmer – bass guitar
* Peter Ortega – horns
* Randy Ellis – horns
* Richard Lucchese – horns
* 808-Ray – additional programming

Technical

* Tyler Scott – string engineering , recording , assistant mix engineering
* Stuart White – recording ; mixing
* Gimel Keaton – recording ; mixing
* Mike Larson – recording
* DJ Durel – recording
* Zeph Sowers – recording
* Tony Maserati – mixing
* Leslie Brathwaite – mixing
* Chris Godbey – mixing
* Dan Ewins – assistant mix engineering ; assistant engineering
* Henri Davies – assistant mix engineering
* Andy Maxell – assistant mix engineering
* Adrien Crapanzano – assistant engineering
* Marcus Locock – assistant engineering
* Lester Mendoza – assistant horn recording ; assistant string recording
* Colin Leonard – mastering
* Teresa LaBarbera Whites - A&R

Production

* Beyoncé – production ; co-production ; vocal production
* Jay-Z – production ; co-production ; vocal production
* Cool & Dre – production
* Pharrell – production
* Boi-1da – production
* Jahaan Sweet – production
* D'Mile – production
* Vinylz – production
* !llmind – production
* David Andrew Sitek – production
* El Michels – co-production
* Nav – co-production
* Sevn Thomas – co-production
* Beat Butcha – co-production
* Fred Ball – additional production
* Stuart White – additional production
* Derek Dixie – additional production
* Mike Dean – additional production
* MeLo-X – additional production
* 808-Ray – additional production
* Nova Wav – additional production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

*

{{Authority control

2018 debut albums
Albums produced by Beyoncé
Albums produced by Boi-1da
Albums produced by Cool & Dre
Albums produced by Illmind
Albums produced by Mike Dean (record producer)
Albums produced by Nav (rapper)
Albums produced by Pharrell Williams
Albums produced by Beat Butcha
Beyoncé albums
Collaborative albums
Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album
Jay-Z albums
Roc Nation albums
Sony Music albums
Surprise albums
Trap music albums