Beyoncé releases self-titled album
CBC News | Posted: December 13, 2013 5:37 AM | Last Updated: December 13, 2013
Self-titled album features collaborations with Drake, Jay-Z
Singer Beyoncé Knowles released a self-titled album on iTunes early Friday morning.
At 12 a.m. ET, the album Beyoncé appeared on the iTunes website, surprising fans. Since the artist announced a 2014 world tour, rumours had been speculating Beyoncé would release an album in the coming months.
Beyoncé updated her Instagram account shortly after the album dropped.
"Surprise!" she wrote to accompany a video teaser for the new album, which has 14 songs and 17 videos.
"I didn't want to release my music the way I've done it," she said in a press release. "I am bored with that. I feel like I am able to speak directly to my fans. There's so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fans. I felt like I didn't want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it's ready and from me to my fans."
Her husband and fellow musician, Jay-Z, is featured on the album. So is the couple's young daughter, Blue Ivy Carter.
Other collaborations include songs with Frank Ocean and Toronto's Drake.
This is Beyoncé's fifth studio album.